This is a figurative idea, as evolution does not go backwards. To evolve is to change and the simple formula for evolution is: similarity to parent, dissimilarity to parent and adaptability to change. The first biggest force affecting the de-evolution of the human race is overpopulation. One of the side effects of global warming is that there are fewer resources, water, for more people. Global warming itself is caused by greed, which is the second biggest force affecting the de-evolution of the human race. Human beings are getting more desperate in their fight for survival and less co-operative all the time. More and more as human beings fight for control of diminishing resources will we fall back towards the fight for survival, with increasingly deadly weapons that do not just eliminate the “enemy” but destroy our Earth as well.
From the Industrial Revolution until today the problem has been that civilization did not advance apace with technology. In 1921 Dr. Albert Schweitzer said that civilization in the early 20th century was committing a slow suicide because of the lack of a positive philosophy whose core was respect or reverence for life. In 1948 Albert Einstein said, “I do not know how World War III will be fought, but I can tell you that World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.” In 1961 the philosopher Bertrand Russell said that only if the world’s superpowers stopped over-producing nuclear arms would the human race enjoy a renaissance of creativity and live in peaceful co-existence.
That same year US President John F. Kennedy made a very famous inaugural speech:
“And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”
Nearly everyone over the age of 40 remembers that line. However in my brief 56 years I have yet to meet the person who remembers the next line:
“My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”
Americans did not pick up the challenge of President Kennedy; they did not assume their role as citizens of the world. The de-evolution of man is caused by the failure of humanity to grow more compassionate and co-operative and to be good stewards of planet Earth. Desperate competition for diminishing resources caused by greed, the barbarity of slavery, the diminished worth of human life and of all life has brought the 21st century to a make or break decision.
First on the agenda for the survival of the planet is Global Warming. The effort must be two-fold: to eliminate carbon gas emissions, and to replant the Amazon rainforest and restore other eco-systems destroyed in the last 50 years. The next challenge is over-population and a more equitable distribution of resources, water being the most important. Next is nuclear disarmament not just for the small countries, but most importantly the super-powers or the G8 countries. From there it is the obligation of the richest countries to pledge resources to help the poorest countries to develop sustainable economies.
Is it possible to stop the advance of humanity’s de-evolution? Yes. Is it probable? Given our history of the last 50 years, no it doesn’t look probable. History shows that not until human beings are brought to the very brink of extinction will they choose to be more co-operative, compassionate and ecologically responsible. Despite all this, is there any hope?
Yes, certainly. As long as people like Warren Buffett and Bill Gates and the Billionaires Giving Club show the way for a new kind of future for human beings to live co-operatively and to mutual benefit, yes, there is hope. As long as there are people like Oseola McCarty who quit school after 6th grade, worked as a laundress until she was 86 years old and donated her life’s savings to the University of Southern Mississippi so that disadvantaged Afro-Americans might get a university education. People like these, great and humble, are the ones who will bring about the evolution of a new kind of human being and a future that is not merely sustainable but worth living for.
