Family History

A million years ago our direct ancestors lived in an Eden of forests, grasslands, rivers, and lakes. Everything they needed for an idyllic existence lived around them. Sure there were lions, but the lions did not often hunt those pre-Men; there was plenty of game that did not fight back in packs. Yes, Man had competition, but nothing he couldn't handle. Everything was in balance.

Then it all changed. Climate change drove off the antelope, and the lions followed them. Drought changed the very nature of the land, killing fruit trees and leaving arid grasslands. Competition for berries and small game grew fierce, even deadly. Deserts slowly advanced, consuming all as they moved. Change was forced on those hominids from every direction.

Some, lacking imagination perhaps, stayed and struggled to survive. Some probably stayed to prey on those other survivors, taking up raiding and cannibalism. Some decided to do as the herds did and move on. Extinction took most of those who would not leave and tracked the others across Africa. We learned to ruthlessly take all we could from the land, then move on.

In other words, nature made us what we are today. Only those that moved survived. Slash and burn was a way of life. We learned to take what we needed from around us, regardless of what those actions caused. Food gone? Time to move. Want shelter? Don't look for a cave, chop down a tree and build a hut. Predators taking your game, or even hunting the tribe? Kill it. Forest thickets allowing wily game to escape? Burn it.

That part of us survived. Today some people moan and cry about our lack of ecological savvy, but there is good reason for that lack. We were bred for it by Mother Nature herself. She honed us into a weapon of destruction, aimed it at the future, and pulled the trigger.

Maybe she is doing us a favor, making us tough enough to survive that next killer asteroid, ice-age, or other extinction-level event. Maybe we are that disaster, designed and destined to reset the biosphere. Maybe we are just the inevitable result of our solar neighborhood becoming more stable, allowing us to evolve and thrive beyond any previous species because there are fewer killer asteroids, solar flares, etc.

Whatever the reason, here we are. Nature may soon pay the ultimate price for making us what we are today. It seems likely that we will pay that same price shortly thereafter. Feel no remorse or shame for nature; over time she will recover. Once the sea revives, sky clears, and ice recedes, she will begin the entire sordid show again.

And this is not a call for world-saving, eco-social changes. Ecology is the bad guy in this tale of familial abuse. If anything this is a reminder that, when the time comes, we must be prepared to do what we do best – move on. This is what Nature meant us to do, curse or gift, and nothing else will save Mankind in the end.

I'll be the guy with his thumb out.