The Big Picture
The current House of Representatives has spent its time and resources not on creating jobs, but on doing all it can to achieve the completely unfettered corporatism big business desires. At the top of the hit list is environmental regulation.
I don't know why any thinking person would think the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act are bad things. Perhaps it's the collective amnesia we have. (Do people not remember that in our recent past, polluted lakes burned?) Instead, they live in fear that a company somewhere might actually have to invest some of its considerable profit in measures to avoid destroying the planet for the rest of us.
But there are none who chant the mantra of "regulation bad" with more religious fervor than those who insist the activities of man have had zero impact on climate change. All the hoopla about this made me think of an analogy I've considered before.
When a person has an infection, the illness is not noticeable at first. Sometimes we "catch" something and never know it at all. Our immune system just takes care of it before we even have a symptom. Or sometimes, the symptoms are mild, then our immune system kicks in and nips the bug in the bud. Our natural state includes all sorts of microbes living happily and harmoniously together, in balance.
And sometimes, the germs or microbes (bacteria or viruses or retroviruses or whatever), multiply fairly unchecked, at first. They use our body's resources to make more germs, and they release toxins or poisons into our bodies. When there are just too many of them, or they start to live in places they don't belong, we get sick. And at some point, our immune system has to kick into a higher gear. We develop symptoms (coughing, sneezing, nausea, vomiting, fever) both as a means to rid our body of the infection or toxins, and as a signal to us to slow down, take it easy, and take care of that body -- get some rest, drink more fluids to get rid of the nasty stuff, etc.
Over time, the germs develop mechanisms to avoid being wiped out by our immunity. Often, we reach a natural balance, or stasis. We always harbor a certain number of germs -- and as along as they don't get out of hand, there's no problem, no symptoms, no illness. The germs don't hurt us, and our immune system just hums along at its normal rate, keeping the numbers within certain tolerances.
The other possible outcome is that our immune system is overwhelmed. The germs win -- the patient dies.
Think of the earth as a single organism. (If you don't think this is a reasonable concept, think again: There are ten times as many NON-human cells as human cells in your body right this moment. You aren't a single, monolithic organism, but a whole ecosystem -- or maybe a biome. If you're a collection of organisms, minerals, water, and chemicals, but you consider yourself one organism, it's not a stretch to think of the earth in the same way.)
Our earth is infected with a severe case of humanity. In the past, the earth has taken care of overpopulation through disease, famine, natural disasters, etc. But we've been very creative and successful germs. We've developed techniques to survive the planet's natural immunity -- and we've overrun that low-level immune response. So now the planet's immune response is kicking into high gear -- symptoms are popping up everywhere. Climate change almost seems analogous to a giant, earthly respiratory infection. The earth is running a fever (and occasionally has the chills), sneezing, coughing, wheezing...
We have a choice. We can change our behaviors and stop triggering the major immune response. We can release fewer toxins that make the planet "sick." We can stop diverting quite as many of the planet's resources. We can find that balance.
Or, we can overrun the immune system and kill the patient.
I don't know why any thinking person would think the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act are bad things. Perhaps it's the collective amnesia we have. (Do people not remember that in our recent past, polluted lakes burned?) Instead, they live in fear that a company somewhere might actually have to invest some of its considerable profit in measures to avoid destroying the planet for the rest of us.
But there are none who chant the mantra of "regulation bad" with more religious fervor than those who insist the activities of man have had zero impact on climate change. All the hoopla about this made me think of an analogy I've considered before.
When a person has an infection, the illness is not noticeable at first. Sometimes we "catch" something and never know it at all. Our immune system just takes care of it before we even have a symptom. Or sometimes, the symptoms are mild, then our immune system kicks in and nips the bug in the bud. Our natural state includes all sorts of microbes living happily and harmoniously together, in balance.
And sometimes, the germs or microbes (bacteria or viruses or retroviruses or whatever), multiply fairly unchecked, at first. They use our body's resources to make more germs, and they release toxins or poisons into our bodies. When there are just too many of them, or they start to live in places they don't belong, we get sick. And at some point, our immune system has to kick into a higher gear. We develop symptoms (coughing, sneezing, nausea, vomiting, fever) both as a means to rid our body of the infection or toxins, and as a signal to us to slow down, take it easy, and take care of that body -- get some rest, drink more fluids to get rid of the nasty stuff, etc.
Over time, the germs develop mechanisms to avoid being wiped out by our immunity. Often, we reach a natural balance, or stasis. We always harbor a certain number of germs -- and as along as they don't get out of hand, there's no problem, no symptoms, no illness. The germs don't hurt us, and our immune system just hums along at its normal rate, keeping the numbers within certain tolerances.
The other possible outcome is that our immune system is overwhelmed. The germs win -- the patient dies.
Think of the earth as a single organism. (If you don't think this is a reasonable concept, think again: There are ten times as many NON-human cells as human cells in your body right this moment. You aren't a single, monolithic organism, but a whole ecosystem -- or maybe a biome. If you're a collection of organisms, minerals, water, and chemicals, but you consider yourself one organism, it's not a stretch to think of the earth in the same way.)
Our earth is infected with a severe case of humanity. In the past, the earth has taken care of overpopulation through disease, famine, natural disasters, etc. But we've been very creative and successful germs. We've developed techniques to survive the planet's natural immunity -- and we've overrun that low-level immune response. So now the planet's immune response is kicking into high gear -- symptoms are popping up everywhere. Climate change almost seems analogous to a giant, earthly respiratory infection. The earth is running a fever (and occasionally has the chills), sneezing, coughing, wheezing...
We have a choice. We can change our behaviors and stop triggering the major immune response. We can release fewer toxins that make the planet "sick." We can stop diverting quite as many of the planet's resources. We can find that balance.
Or, we can overrun the immune system and kill the patient.
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