Recently German marine biologist Hans Poertner warned in his report 'Inhospitable Oceans' Acidifying at Rate Unseen in 250 Million Years' that, "The current rate of change is likely to be more than 10 times faster than it has been in any of the evolutionary crises in the earth's history." The article is interesting as it foreshadows the rapid and disastrous decline the broader environment is suffering because of the unsupportable demands of materialism.
Materialism is 'a deal with the devil'. Unless humans somehow learn to live within their means, learn that hard work isn't a sin - debt is - Mephistopheles wins. Unless short term gratification and the veil of self-delusion that allows materialism to prosper is overcome, Evil wins.
There may be uncertainty about the percentage that industrial capitalism is contributing to global warming. About the other disasters our biosphere suffers there is no uncertainty, no wiggle words. Why are all those other non-wiggly issues like fresh water contamination and depletion, disappearance of pollinators, species extinction rates, ocean acidification, soil degradation from chemical ag., etc, getting so few headlines while wiggly climate change gets so many? They're all the same issue really. They're all manifestations of consumer capitalism in different disguises. None of them can be solved without solving the others also which can only happen with the collapse of our deal with the devil - materialism.
As Pogo famously said, "I've seen the enemy and he is us." Unless people stop driving to the mall [or aspiring to], stop consuming needless crap, slow down and recognize that we have nothing to fear and nothing to lose by abandoning this ignorant deal our descendants will live short brutal lives far worse than our ancestors ever did. This all encompassing environmental death spiral is the result of our deal, it devours any and all short term material comfort, it owns our collective soul. Mephistopheles wins
“When all the trees have been cut down,
when all the animals have been hunted,
when all the waters are polluted,
when all the air is unsafe to breathe,
only then will you discover you cannot eat money.”
― Cree Prophecy
