The Destructive Nature of Evolution

“We lose ourselves in the ecstasy of superiority, forgetting that our victories may be fleeting, should we not consider the preservation of ourselves and our descendants.”

Imagine yourself as an extraterrestrial being, far from Earth, with no worry for its well-being or the wellness of its inhabitants. Still, detached from this world, you find yourself amazed by the decisions of its people. As you gaze down upon a civilization adamant about going to war with its own kind, you’d find yourself fairly perplexed. Why would a species speed forward with such zeal toward extinction? Well, we humans on Earth don’t even seem to know. With alarming frequency, it looks as though we have become so bewitched by the thrill of chasing the highest status attainable that we forget to think about our futures. Why waste our lives fighting to be king when we will only have the throne for a day before the entire castle is destroyed? The more we advance technologically, bulking up our weapons and tech, the less we think about the damage our progress does to the world around us. We lose ourselves in the ecstasy of superiority, forgetting that our victories may be fleeting, should we not consider the preservation of ourselves and our descendants. Even an extraterrestrial creature, completely disconnected from the fear of human extinction, would find themselves dumbfounded by our repeated decision to distance ourselves from the nature that surrounds us. Why have we as a species ever deviated from the values of our indigenous ancestors, centered around the protection of the Earth that provides for us and promises us a future? To understand a thought-provokingly simple question such as that, you need to understand both how we have gotten here, and why we stay. 

The reality is that we have not only lost touch with our role in planetary preservation but have taken it a step further, wandering rather far in the opposite direction. Be it greed or misdirection, we have clearly been led astray. We have learned to look down on those who remain steadfast in their commitment to a conscious carbon footprint. For any extraterrestrial beings who are not familiar with our politics, or future historians who may only have been taught the annotated versions of our past (in the interest of maintaining our devotion to destruction, of course), it is widely known that any opinion shared in the interest of health over opulence is often reproached. Here now on Earth, it is remembered that even Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez — the leader of a major oil-exporting country — “was the object of mockery, insult, and hatred throughout the Western world” for encouraging a mindful reduction of fossil-fuel usage.¹ It was virtually unheard of for a nation’s leader to prioritize ecological wellness over profit, and Chavez’s comments drew vehement disdain from many other officials who did not share this order of concerns. According to Chomsky, Chavez “elicited all sorts of ridicule” for expressing disapproval of United States President George W. Bush's support for oil drilling. Chavez’s willingness to make unpopular comments was rebuked by those heading other nations and unfortunately, a disconcerting number of those they led. Communities that share Chavez’s values are often thought of as our world’s “least developed societies,” despite being the most aware of and responsive to how our present actions affect our potential futures. But why? Have we as a species become so pessimistic that we scoff at those who encourage change for our youth? Or have we all been groomed to believe that these people are foolish for fighting the technological advancements that nourish our wars while poisoning our land? If this is true, then who is to blame?

To understand why we have become complicit in an entire species’ disordered priorities, we must examine where this shift in perspective began. The idea that our impact on the ecosystems around us is not as damaging as environmental activists claim is a narrative often spread by the media. Major news outlets funded by larger corporations tend to favor the financial wellness of the economies those corporations thrive in. As of now, the United States is the richest country in world history. To maintain this power, it must also sustain its connections and sources of income (one of which being the oil industry). It can’t very well do this if more and more countries are listening to their populations of activists and joining the eco-conscious movement. American news sources understand this, and do their very best to help steer people in the other direction. How does America do this? It instills in the minds of young people that the very idea of environmental preservation is a ludicrously needless ideology altogether, proposed by savage individuals who do not understand that the benefits of advancement outweigh the costs. The men at the top know what they are doing, so we should trust them, no? The idea that those who lead us have our best interests in mind keeps the vast majority of our population satiated and happy, blissfully ignorant about the increasing damage we incur each day. 

Furthermore, in case mass media manipulation doesn’t work, our leading governments reinforce their institutional structures that ensure the blockage of any change. Thus, the United States preserves its status, its people march haughtily towards extinction, and those trying to halt the race to disaster are silenced by international condescension. While I’m sure this will have seemed preventable to any future historian looking back, it seems to us now not obvious enough. While there are marches in the streets protesting American corporations’ greed, praying that they will see the harm they cause and fall back, there are not enough people optimistic enough to demand change. Many of us have been raised under this idea that established systems are not to be trifled with, and so we should not bother trying. Unfortunately, to enact a change in the long-established systems we live in, we must have supporters throughout every generation, so the fight for our futures may live on (because yes, it will take years). So yes, to an extraterrestrial, the answer to solving our rapidly approaching extinction may seem clear, but we humans have never been too good at seeing the bigger picture without it being shoved in our faces. Perhaps one day we will learn, but until then, we must remain hopeful.