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KY_EnviroGuy

(14,480 posts)
4. I should have better explained my context, which is....
Tue Jun 25, 2019, 02:22 AM
Jun 2019

that unfettered capitalism, human greed and denial of reality are some of the reasons we have plastics throughout our environment and the reason sending more stuff into space is not well controlled. Global mankind just doesn't like to follow rules if it affects his profits, thirst for power, or territorialism. Mankind also refuses to be responsible for our future.

Where does the power exist on the planet that can establish and enforce (with teeth) basic global rules on things like plastics usage and disposal, fresh water usage and conservation, resource extraction, subsistence income/basic healthcare, population control, water/air pollution and space debris management? It really doesn't and probably won't until we're facing the point of near extinction.

Ultimately, humanity will hit brick-wall limits on many aspects of our existence. It appears we're hellbent on just letting laissez-faire capitalism run past those limits as it will, and to the point where millions have to die before anything is done. For example, what happens when it's no longer safe to eat any seafood and fresh water becomes too scarce to use for irrigation? What happens when border controls in a few nations are massively overwhelmed by refugees? What happens when high-value satellites are knocked out of service due to debris collisions, or power grids of practical size can no longer meet demand during extended heat waves with high population density?

And, these just barely touch on the big elephants in the room: climate change and the beginnings of biosphere collapse. Hell, currently we can't even provide a reasonable means to deal with severe malnutrition around the globe, yet millions people have time to mobilize against traditional disease vaccinations. And that's the sort of irony and short-sightedness I was trying to point out. Eventually, problem severity will far exceed the capacity of global charities and voluntary government/corporate measures.

Very few humans are currently willing to ask this very basic, logical question and be honest with (and take responsibility for) the answer: "What are the long-term consequences of my actions?" Perhaps that's in part due to our relatively short life span.

I was not trying to draw an equivalency of water pollution and the proliferation of space debris. There is no comparison other than a core moral one.

...sorry for the rant, but this is a huge long-range big-picture issue humanity is not addressing.

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