All of the tortured debate in the world’s political life and all of the desperate vying for attention on social media will be as nothing, compared with the predicted collapse of Earth’s systems, which will inevitably result in the collapse of human society that’s imminent, according to a 1972 MIT prediction.

That study, done by a team of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers about a half-century ago, itself has been studied and found to be most accurate. And, one doesn’t have to be a scientist or researcher to know that collapse in major sectors of modern life is happening now: Unrelenting wildfires, killing droughts, floods that wipe out whole villages, hunger on an unknown scale, wars (mostly for resources and domination) that never end, vastly diminished food production, the sixth extinction not seen in millions of years, and climate devastation caused by human activity.

Humanity is a very destructive species and it’s done that work well. According to various recent press accounts of the MIT study, a world simulation model was used to try to predict what would happen to humankind from the time of the study, 1972, to 2060. So far, the forecast is quite accurate, as it surveyed industrial production, pollution of all earthly systems, population growth, and such things as the mania in modern times of never-ending economic growth. The latter, in the modern era, has become something of an article of faith, usually believed most fervently by those in power and who stand to make the most money and profits from doing everything exactly as they are being done now.

For those who have the ability to see (and are willing to see and comprehend), they know that something is profoundly wrong. That’s most of us, at least those of us who think rationally but have little power as individuals to do anything about what we see before us. The power that we do have comes from unity, from solidarity, that is, if sectarianism, racism, and fear can be overcome to see that, in the aggregate, there is power to do great and good things through solidarity.

Some experts and others who have studied the plight of Earth and humanity are not giving us much time to turn things around. Most recently, it’s been speculated that we have days (maybe 160), not weeks or months to begin deep changes that might help us survive. We’ve all heard that before, but personal interest and other factors have resulted in inaction. In the U.S., after all, much of the riches of the world are found in our systems and our daily lives (think oil, and the precious metals that make our cell phones work). We have gone to the ends of the earth to bring those myriad things home, and here they are. Woe be to the nation and its government and its people, if those resources are not given up to us. The evening news is filled with disasters, both “natural” and human-made. Most are of the latter variety, although the airwaves are also filled with politicians who are willing to stand before the television cameras and say that “it’s just a cycle,” because their corporate keepers have given them the script to put out there for public consumption.

On top of the natural disasters, humanity is dealing with a pandemic that is quite preventable if a few simple steps are followed. But those simple steps and the vaccine that would prevent the worst of Covid-19 have become politicized: liberals have taken the shot and followed the protocols, but right-wingers have convinced their followers by the millions that the whole thing is a hoax, or that the shot will sicken or kill them, so millions are contracting the new Delta variant of the virus and being hospitalized and dying at alarming rates. The past year has seen great disruption of the society of humans, with quarantines, stay-at-home orders, and the closing of most schools, restaurants, and other places where people congregate in large numbers and, thus, are able to pass on the virus with ease.

The warnings of ecological disaster have been around for a long time. It is often said that awareness of the negative human effects on the world started around 1960, with the publication of Rachel Carson’s book, “Silent Spring.” In it, she warned about the abuse of chemicals that were created and dispersed into the environment of the world, to the extent that song birds would be wiped out and, thus, we would see the silence of spring. The first Earth Day was 10 years later and there was great hope that humans would start changing their ways and start living more sustainably. Her book was a great success and sold millions of copies. It still sells, but its message is not honored in the real world.

Twelve years before “Silent Springs,” William Vogt, an ecologist and ornithologist, wrote “The Road to Survival,” said to be a primary inspiration for the environmental movement beginning in 1970, including Rachel Carson and many others. He was one in a long line of writers and thinkers who warned of the condition of Earth. His book was not listed in some obscure corner of the world. It was, in fact, a Book-of-the-Month-Club selection. It was available to most readers, but the powers that be were not having any of it. To them, if it threatened profits, it might as well not have been published. One of the better-known organizations warning of coming disasters if life continued as usual, was the Worldwatch Institute, which produced research papers on various issues pertaining to sustainability, including its annual “State of the World” book. It too warned of such things as the coming search for potable water, the liquid of life that has been treated as if it is in endless supply. We have found it isn’t.

We have been warned for a long time. Eventually, lots of the people began to listen and then they began to act. But they were up against those who rule the world and those people are not interested in what is happening to Earth, because they believe that, when the catastrophe comes, they can escape it. In that, they are like the billionaires who have flung themselves into space for a few minutes this summer. For them, it’s like a trial run and the first step to colonizing other celestial bodies, when Earth becomes inhabitable. They had a good time and they came back safely. Their little adventures might seem harmless and they certainly don’t see themselves as the cause of the threat to life on the Earth, but they are of the class that goes about their daily business as if the rest of humanity just doesn’t matter. It shows in how they conduct their businesses. For them, it’s a dog-eat-dog world, but they are far above it. The dogs in their lives are those in the working class, they’re minorities, they’re marginalized people of all kinds. It’s nothing personal. It’s just business. And they’re in charge of the nation and the world.

Those who suffer the most in the increasingly frequent “natural” catastrophes are the poor and the oppressed. They have no choice but to suffer and try to live for another day. Band-aids like food drops and water tankers can do very little. They help, but they have virtually no long-term positive effects. What’s needed are massive changes to restore the many balances of Earth’s systems, systems that we are just beginning to understand. Humans will never understand completely the intricate systems that allow all of creation to thrive as a living thing, but humanity must try. The alternative is what has been predicted for generations: Collapse of all of the systems on which we depend to live.

There are many issues that take the attention of all, including the struggle for equality and equity and fairness, and against white supremacy, structural racism, corrupt politics, and perpetual war. But underneath it all is the issue of ecocide, the crime that is being committed every day that modern life is lived. In Native American tradition, life should be lived in consideration of the good life of seven generations to come. We are living in such a way that the survival of even one more generation, our children, is in question.

BlackCommentator.com Columnist, John Funiciello, is a former newspaper reporter and labor organizer, who lives in the Mohawk Valley of New York State. In addition to labor work, he is organizing family farmers as they struggle to stay on the land under enormous pressure from factory food producers and land developers. Contact Mr. Funiciello and BC.