Are We Doomed?

Over a year ago, a librarian at one of the schools I visited told me that I had to read a book. Its title is A Short History of Progress by Ronald Wright.

I like it when people share information like this. I followed up by buying the book and reading it.

The book is about how the predicament our civilization faces now has been repeated many times in history. Progress is made by a society, which brings on a crisis. Unfortunately, there are too many examples of where the result was utter ruin.

The example that I remember the most is the story of the Easter Island.

When it was discovered by the Dutch hundreds of years ago, the tribe that made the many carvings of heads on the island inhabited it. The island also had many trees. The wood was used to prop up these heads, for building homes and for fire.

Today, Easter Island is a barren, uninhabited, inhospitable place.

As the inhabitants’ society flourished, so did their need for the wood. Tree after tree was felled until there was only one left. The point is then made that somebody had to cut down the last tree knowing that there were no others.

When I look at the dilemma we face in today’s world, I don’t think we are any different. There are people who would kill the last elephant for its ivory, the last leopard for its skin or the last anything to make some money. It’s nice to believe that we are more intelligent now.

The book points out, though, that the stakes are much higher now. The whole planet is at risk. We can’t afford to fail.

Considering how the price of food has shot up dramatically in the past few months, I can’t help but wonder how it can get better. Some countries are experiencing food riots.

Meanwhile, we are using valuable agricultural land to grow corn to make ethanol gasoline for our automobiles. We seem to care about our cars more than people.

Will we learn from our past mistakes? The next few years will be quite interesting.