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The
biblical story of Noah's ark is today more relevant than it has been
for hundreds of years.
Remember
it? All of the animals are shepherded onto the ark, two by two, so
that no species will be made extinct in the coming flood.
The
Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) was merely the modern-day
embodiment of the act of saving all of the animals by making room for
them to ride out the flood and begin anew to populate the Earth. It
was that important to the early peoples, who obviously saw that
Mother Earth would be greatly diminished, if all of the animals were
drowned and only a few humans were left to live out their lives
without the joy of companionship of the staggering array of other
life forms.
Enter
modernity and the post-Industrial Revolution and the world is facing
the same trauma that the people of biblical times faced. Although we
can't know exactly what was happening at the time of Noah, we can be
sure that many were fearful of the loss of the irreplaceable and
vital variety of living things that they could see all around them.
Certainly there are those in the 21st Century who say that
that was just a story and we should not look for any deeper meaning.
They would be wrong. It was likely a warning to humans centuries in
the future: Whether it is a natural disaster or a man-made one makes
no difference, since the result would be the same: Catastrophe and
collapse.
Whether
it was intended or not, the ESA (signed into law by Richard Nixon)
became the modern version of Noah's Ark. It was intended to protect
all of life, starting with those species that were most in peril of
extinction, but, by extension, to all species, including homo
sapiens, which species seemed (and seems) hell-bent on exploiting
Earth for profit and power, no matter the cost.
The
cost is phenomenal, starting with massive human exploitation of the
Earth's resources. There doesn't seem to be a place or substance
under the ground that will be spared, if there is a dollar and mass
profit to be made. To do this, humans need power and those who rule
have accumulated great power. The stripping bare of the surface and
bowels of the Earth continues unabated. When the substance sought is
safely in the (few) hands of the international corporations which
more and more rule the planet, they can sit back for just a moment
and know that, in the process, they have accumulated more power,
which leads to more profit. The average inhabitant of the planet has
no idea where this will end. It's likely that those who plunder the
resources and displace and destroy peoples and cultures don't even
know. All they can see ahead of themselves is profit and money in
their individual investment accounts.
The
question for most people is, why bother? The lives of modern humans
are so far removed from the soil and the creatures that live on it
and in it that all of the rest of the biosphere might as well as be
featured in the pages of a child's nursery book. There are so many
other “vital issues” that exist that the most fundamental
issue, survival of the planet, can be put aside. That is a profound
mistake. The fight to protect and preserve all life on Earth is
above all other concerns.
“The
degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its
prisons,” wrote Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Russian novelist, essayist,
philosopher, and journalist (1821-1881). One only has to look at the
state of prisons in the U.S. to understand the “degree of
civilization.” This nation has more people in prison (2.3
million in 2013) than any other nation and the conditions are often
deplorable.
But
prisons are only one way to look at society. Another way is to see
the direction of the U.S. by way of its protection of the
environment. This also gives us a measure of the commitment of the
rich and powerful to the protection of life on earth and it appears
that there is no commitment to anyone or anything other than their
impulse to sweep aside any protective laws and regulations that are
aimed at saving Earth or protecting humans and other life forms, just
to make money.
Not
long ago, President Donald Trump wondered why the U.S. is not
encouraging immigration from such places as Norway, probably because
Norwegians look more like him than those who are coming from the
southern parts of our own hemisphere. However, Norwegians seem to be
at times even more averse to recognizing the precarious nature of
wildlife and the biosphere. According to Time magazine in 2016,
“Norway kills more whales every year than some of the most
notorious whaling countries combined according to a new report.
Co-written by three environmental and animal rights NGOs—Animal
Welfare Institute, OceanCare and ProWildlife—the report
concludes that Norwegian whalers are responsible for killing some
12,000 whales since 1993. Norway killed more whales than infamous
whale hunters Iceland and Japan combined, later exporting nearly
400,000 pounds of products made from whale oil to those countries and
the Faroe Islands.”
The
Time story also noted, “The International Whaling Commission
banned commercial whaling in 1986, but Norway resumed hunting in
1994, according to the report. Since 2014, when Japan briefly put a
stop to whaling, Norway has become the global leader in whale
hunting.” So much for endangered species, even though Norway
might be more protective of its wildlife than the U.S., except for
whales and wolves. As in the U.S., there is a constant battle
between agriculture and hunters and environmentalists and their
organizations.
What
is arguably the greatest threat to all species of life on Earth is
the destruction of habitat, especially rainforests, where there is
constant and largely illegal logging to sell lumber on the global
market and clearcutting to make way for plantations of such crops as
palm oil, which is used in myriad prepared foods that are sold
widely in the rich countries. Indigenous people suffer in the
plundered countries, particularly in Africa, Central and South
America, and Asia. They are displaced and, in many cases, their
very environment and culture are destroyed in the process. Where do
they go? The exploiters don't care, as long as they're gone. That
is, if they don't kill them outright.
There
is no endangered species act for them and there isn't one for humans
of any description. Should there be one, it is likely that the
powerful would ignore such laws and go about their business. For
example, see what happened to the water protectors on the Standing
Rock Indian reservation in the Dakotas. They wanted no part of the
Dakota Access pipeline that was driven through their land, even
though 10,000 from a hundred tribes and other supporters gathered to
keep the pipeline from going through, the victory was temporary, as
the Trump Administration has opened up the way for the corporations
involved to clinch their win over the people, once again. There is
no endangered species act to protect the lands and cultures of
Native Americans and, if there were, be sure that the powerful would
use their influence and wealth to overcome the people.
Depending
on the U.S. Constitution and all of the international laws and
conventions that supposedly protect the people has proven that power
and money will win every time. Even if governments were inclined to
protect peoples (which most are not) from displacement and
destruction, there are not enough monitors to ensure that they are
protected and preserved. The Trump Administration is the most
contemptuous of environmental laws and species protections, with an
open attack on national parks and national monuments, either
reducing them in size or opening them up for the extraction
industries, such as exploring and drilling for oil, mining, logging,
and unregulated grazing.
In the
case of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) a few years ago, the power
of governments and corporations was on full display. A highly
militarized police presence pulled out all the stops and their
actions led to the severe punishment of scores of water protectors,
including long jail terms and surveillance and racial profiling of
those involved in the actions. Many received long jail times for
things that, in other circumstances, would have amounted to
disorderly conduct or lesser charges. The severity of the
punishments, governments and corporations felt, would prevent others
from protesting or organizing opposition to the destructive and
deadly actions of business interests.
So
goes the war against wildlife species and the environment, itself,
by those who live only for the next dollar, which it appears is
their only god. All kinds of animals are endangered or on the brink
of extinction because of human activity and, no matter how much lip
service is paid to their protection and preservation, if the laws
and people get in the way, they will be removed and silenced. It
has been pointed out over many years, there is so much to learn
about the millions of plant and animal species, so many of which
hold the key to cures for illnesses and disease, that it should be a
crime that the habitats are being destroyed before we know the
importance of them to all humanity.
If you
want to know about how humans are going to be treated in a human
society in the 21st Century, study the treatment of
endangered species and the laws that purport to protect them. Pay
particular attention to what is happening in the U.S. So far in
this nation's history, the laws that have been passed or agreements
and treaties that have been signed to protect groups' cultures and
human rights have, to the greatest extent, failed. A renewed effort
needs to be made to see that the ESA does not fail and, by the way,
society might make a concerted effort to see that the human species
survives, in all of its glorious varieties.
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