34 The Environment

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">We are at the mercy of our environment: no water, no air, no food, no us. These particular things can all be leveraged, exploited & abused if owned by private interests, which makes the environment a socialized function, meaning the needs of the group supercede the wants of an individual. Other natural resources, the ones responsible for maintaining our computer-lifestyle, may be privately owned but they must be closely regulated by government to monitor the effects on the biosphere, from such things as mining, harvesting, pesticides, and the other social costs of procurement. Benefits cannot accure to the individual at the cost to society.<br /><br />On-the-other-hand, the environment is not mystical but something to benefit humans. When the debate wanders into topics like “organic,” “animal Rights” or “it's for the children,” beware self-righteous exclamations of outrage & calls for protection. People as a group aren't motivated to act by the effemeral needs & desires of somebody else's grandkids, and sanctimonious bleating about what is good for the future is nothing more than self-delusion & an attempt at control. Unfortunately, any discussion of the environment often comes up in this context. No species has a need to exist for any other reason than that humans are reassured when they do. The outdoors is not reserved for anything but humans, and other creatures are nothing more than organic robots & have no Rights nor are humans responsible to them. It's only our live-n-let-live liberal ideology & the concept of conservation that have any claim on us at all.</p>