What is green politics for? Is ‘saving the planet’ really worth the effort? And is ‘saving the planet’ really what we’re talking about anyway? If we are honest, people who talk about saving the planet are essentially talking about preserving a world inhabitable by humans. Think of it this way – a few large amounts of time ago, some big thing hit the planet. The consequences of the ‘big thing’ (I think it was Disco) wiped out many thousands of species. Among these species were the dominant life-forms of the time (Estate Agents). In fact, all that was left was a large crater and an opportunity for cute balls of fluff to slowly occupy the world. The death of the dominant life-forms (or more realistically the transformation of the atmosphere of the world into something uninhabitable by those life-forms) did not result in the end of life on earth. It just shifted things in another direction. And a sexier direction at that.
And while we are at it, why should it matter that life should die out on earth? Does energy die? Do molecules die? No, like good jokes, they just get bashed around a bit and then put to use again in a new form. Face it, we live in a great moral vacuum of remorseless emptiness, and I for one wouldn’t have it any other way. So if you could please stop waving those little plastic guilt-mollifying money-cannisters outside my face every morning on my way to work, I’d be really grateful – I don’t care about the Pandas or the Badgers or the Trout. If I was in the mood to give money to anyone it would be these people, and frankly I’m not because I fear they might not be quite normal. [Link courtesy of the Barbelith Collective]