Tom Ellis
Nov 3, 2023

If we were rational beings, there might have been some hope of persuading us to make fewer babies in order to provide a better future for those we have already. But I have seen little evidence that humans, in the aggregate, are any more rational than flies and maggots in a feeding frenzy on a rotting carcass, or proliferating yeasts in a fermentation vat. The meat on the carcass, or sugar in the vat, is fossil fuel, which we will feed on until it runs out, and then, like yeasts, die in our own waste products. So collectively we are doomed; individually, we have options, for now. The best option I know of, for now, is to grow gardens, grow community, and grow awareness—by creating subcultures based on learning, teaching, healing, and creating, rather than buying more toys and exploiting the less fortunate.

Tom Ellis
Tom Ellis

Written by Tom Ellis

I am a retired English professor now living in Oregon, and a life-long environmental activist, Buddhist, and holistic philosopher.

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