Thursday, September 11, 2008

Humans, We Are As Though Cancer Cells

Another wonderful thing I read this morning was a quote by Ed Abbey:
Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell.
I think he's one-hundred percent right. As humans, one of our biggest failings is a belief that everything MUST grow. I'm not sure if this is a societal thing or just part of our evolution, but we seem incapable of equilibrium, even in the face of real emergency. Whether it's a government or a business or a family or a single person, we too often ignore long-term consequences or the needs of others because we have a single bottom line: growth for the sake of growth. It's like we're hardwired for it.

I don't believe that capitalism has a corner on this, not by any means. And I'm not saying that I have a solution, or that I'm in any way less growth-centered than anybody else. All I'm saying is that Abbey's quote speaks volumes to me, and it should be painted in huge black letters on the walls all around us.

4 comments:

Adrian said...

Yep, you are right.

While cancer is clearly not good for its host, since its growth is not sustainable, the jury is still out on humans.

But one thing is for sure, just like cancer, when the host dies (the planet), we all die along with it... or maybe we just go into space to fight Cylons.

Adam Thornton said...

I'm betting on the Cylons! Because they're sexier.

Anonymous said...

There is more to life than increasing its pace. google that!

Anonymous said...

Scale, scale, scale...

Keep it sustainable. I think it was Paul Ehrlich who wrote a book called, "Small is Beautiful." It's that kind of philosophy.

It is about the journey, not just the destination. So keep the pace sane and sustainable. And have fun along the way.