The
Earth doesn’t need saving. What can hurt the Earth? The Sun can. In a
few billion years, the Sun will destroy the Earth. We can start worrying
about that in a million years or so. A huge asteroid, say 1000 miles in
diameter, could destroy the Earth. Not much we can do about that, so
there’s no reason to worry about it.
What about
saving life on Earth? Life has existed on Earth for well over 3 billion
years. It has survived ice ages, large asteroids, diseases, and
everything else that’s been thrown at it – for 3 thousand million years.
At present, life exists on land, under the land, in the oceans, and in
the air. Life on Earth is not likely to die off until the Sun does it
in.
Certainly, some species will go extinct,
and some new ones will crop up. This is as it always has been. Over 99%
of the species that ever existed are now extinct. This is how nature
works. Don’t feel bad: no species cares if they go extinct, except for
humans.
So “saving the Earth” mostly means
“saving humans”. Well, there’s good news about humans. There are human
communities on every continent except for Antarctica. And we’re smart.
We find solutions to problems that occur. We can adapt to many
environments. Thus, it is difficult to see how a large portion of
humanity can be killed off.
Disease? No. Many
countries have modern sanitation and clean water and good medical care.
Diseases that may have killed a large portion of humanity in the past
can no longer do so.
Nuclear war? Only the
United States and Russia have thousands of nuclear weapons. What
president of the US or Russia would start a large-scale nuclear war? A
small-scale nuclear war, say between India and Pakistan, would kill
millions, but would not be a threat to humanity.
Global
warming? The Earth is warming at the rate of about 2C per century. And
by 2100, we’ll mostly have energy generated from sources that do not
emit greenhouse gasses, so that will be the end of humanity’s
contribution to global warming. Global warming may be disruptive in some
areas, but it won’t pose a significant threat to humanity.
Overpopulation?
The current population is just over 7 billion. But the rate of growth
is slowing, and human population is expected to top out just after
mid-century at 9 to 10 billion people. Right now, we could provide
enough food for that many people. Technological advances will make food,
water, and other resources inexpensively available to all.
So that’s it. Humanity is not under threat. We do not need to save the Earth.
------------------------------------------------
Yet
many people are suffering and dying who don’t have to be. And this
breaks the heart of all people of good will. What can be done about
this? What is the major cause of this?
At its essence, it is the lack of freedom that results in needless suffering and dying.
In the developed world, there is relatively little needless suffering and dying.
But in the developing world, millions are dying and suffering each year from:
- Pollution (mostly from coal-burning power plants)
- Lack of sanitation and potable water
- Terrorism (in Syria alone, millions are affected by terrorism)
- Lack of modern health care
- Lack of crime control
Why
are these things happening? The governments in the developing world do
not protect their citizens’ freedom to live and believe as they wish. In
fact, they mostly violate it.
In many
predominantly Muslim countries, you can be arrested or killed for having
the wrong belief system. And if you are a person who was a Muslim and
converted to another religion, that person can, by Sharia Law, be killed.
In
most African countries, the governments are so corrupt that the ruling
class keeps most of the wealth to themselves. And they don’t protect
property rights, making it difficult for the majority to accumulate
wealth.
When governments don’t protect their
citizens’ freedoms, especially their economic freedom, their people will
not become prosperous. Without prosperity, getting a good education is
difficult. And having a good sanitation system is difficult. And being
able to afford pollution controls. And conservation measures are
difficult.
Without freedom, there is no
prosperity. And without prosperity, many of the things we need to lead
happy and productive lives are not affordable.
Prosperity
is the key to a better world for all. And the single, best thing we can
do to assist humanity in becoming prosperous is to promote individual
freedom, especially free markets and free trade.
------------------------------------------
Tim
Farage is a Senior Lecturer in the Computer Science Department at The
University of Texas at Dallas. The views expressed herein are those of
the author. He writes about mathematics, computer science, physics, the
reconciliation between science and spirituality, and the application of
Natural Law to our various systems such as education, government and
economics. You are welcome to comment upon this blog entry and/or to
contact him at tfarage@hotmail.com.
