Globalization has made us a consumer society. We
are consuming the natural world that has kept
us alive for millions of years,
in order to gain short-term wealth.
Many states now have thousands of nuclear missiles to deter
attacks on their wealthy lands. But we are reaching the
limits to this growth, and the risk of nuclear war is
increasing.
There's a capsule heading into outer space
Carrying a message from the human race
And sometime just the other night
It left our solar system on an unknown
flight
How I wish that I had written this song
Put it out on a CD and sent it along
With some rhythm’n’blues and a fond "So
long"
From the late great Planet Earth
It was a small world, you’re prob’ly not
aware of it
Big enough for each to have a share of it
I can’t say that we took care of it
The late great Planet Earth
On the whole, people’s intentions were good
Took care of each other the best they could
But it was all based on a fatal flaw
Those with more than enough wanting even
more
If you come across this galaxy
And you find yourself in our vicinity
You might even fly through the debris
Of the late great Planet Earth
It’s hard to believe it’s true
She spun through the blackness shining white
and blue
But all it took was just one fool
To end the late great Planet Earth
Sometimes in the middle of the night
When I’m lying awake ‘til the early light
I can’t stop crying or wondering why -
So beautiful, it was so beautiful
There’s a capsule heading into outer space
With some intelligence from the human race
But it was all based on a fatal flaw
Those with more than they need wanting more
and more and more
You wouldn’t really credit it
Or say that any creature could merit it
But tell me - who were the meek to inherit
it?
The late great planet Earth
You couldn’t say that we took good care of
it...
All it took was just one fool...
You might even fly through the debris...
Here’s some Ludwig and Chuck and a fond
farewell...
I hope you get into this music
From the late great Planet Earth
Our Population Explosion
In the
1800s, humans learn how to harness coal to make
steel on a large scale, enabling machinery to be built
that can produce food, clothing and transport on a vast
scale. The world population grows to one billion.
In the early 1900s, humans also learn how to use
sanitation, vaccines and antibiotics to defeat the
diseases that had kept the numbers of humans under
control. By
the 1940s, the world population has grown to two
billion.
In the 1960s a contraceptive pill is invented to
stop this dangerous population explosion. Industrialists
are making fortunes out of ever-increasing numbers, so
they persuade Catholic Church leaders to declare this
contraception to be 'sinful' and numbers continued to
grow exponentially, away past 3 billion.
The
Limits to Growth
In the
1970s a group of leading scientists point out that
population, pollution and consumption of finite natural
resources are still increasing exponentially. Their
computer predicts that unless we have fewer children,
the world populationblue
line will reach 8 billion in the 2020s, then
collapse as depleted resources and omnipresent pollution
make more and more parts of the world unlivable.
In
the late 1970s, the Voyager
1 spacecraft leaves planet Earth, and in 2014
it leaves our solar system.
In
the 2020s Voyager is 23 billion km from the
sun, and the Limits to Growth
scientists are still being ignored, despite a worldwide
Extinction Rebellion by teenage schoolgirls in 2019.
We have almost reached 8 billion souls and pollution is
still increasing. In
an attempt to replace the 13,000 hectares of
over-used food-growing land that becomes arid
wasteland every day, 10,000 hectares
of forests essential for absorbing CO2
pollution are cut down - every day.
In New Zealand, our green plants absorb 4 million tonnes
of CO2 each year, while our cars, trucks, machinery,
tourist flights and cattle emit 20 million tonnes of CO2e.
In the 2030s, it is too late to stop the
inevitable collapse of our man-friendly climate, the
collapse of our human population numbers, and the
collapse of our consuming civilization.
