The Sub Sinks and the Idiots Rejoice

One of the more disappointing things I’ve seen in the news recently has been the hatred towards the folks that perished in the Titanic exploration submersible. Five people died, and whether or not I agreed with them, the backlash has been ridiculous.

Most of the people who laugh at this fall into one of two camps: they hate the rich or they hate the risk takers.

The ones who hate the rich are scary. “The rich” is an undefined group, typically meaning someone who has more than them. That’s the only justification for hating them. There’s some that hate specific rich people (who they have likely never encountered, and have likely never been wronged by), but then there’s a special group of people who hate the rich just for being rich. They talk of guillotines, beating up landlords and the like. They are the seven year old bully that takes whatever they want. The only saving grace is that they are so concerned about what other people have in comparison to them that none of them will rise to power. At best, they will be an unruly mob.

The ones who hate the risk takers are also scary. In previous human history, they were the ones that shrieked away from the first person who discovered fire. They were the ones that ridiculed the Wright Brothers. They were the ones that joined the fight against the electric light bulb. Joined by their brethren who resist change (such as those who protested against the electric light bulb because it would put candle makers out of business), this second group does sometimes rise to power.

However, none of these people are actually important. They are nothing more than an undefined face in a faceless mob. History will not remember them as anything more than rabble-rousers. Can you name any rioters? Can you name any of the folks picketing in any union strike? They rely entirely on having larger numbers.

Furthermore, they only have any power as long as we give it to them. They are ready to storm the castle under the premise that “you can’t stop us all!” That might be true, but we can stop YOU. Just as the first cavemen wanted to kill the first person to control fire, all he had to do was wave the fire in their faces, and nobody was willing to step up to be burned.

Bottom-line: as you do things that are different, creative, new, risky, or whatever, don’t give into the temptation to tell the mobs that you are at their mercy. They are at yours.

Thank you for reading my post.

Environmentalism and the Origins of Man

I’ve run across an interesting dilemma that is not resolved in the modern environmentalism movement.  Well, there are lots of them, but stay with me.

What are we as humans?  Are we a created being, or are we an evolved being?  Let’s look at each of these, in terms of environmentalism.

If we are a created being, as outlined in the Bible, we have been given dominion over the animals and the Earth.  While wasting the gifts given to us by God would be terrible, we are free to use them for our comfort and enjoyment.  Genesis 3:21 even states, “The Lord God made garments of animal skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.”  It is done this way to state that the new (post-sin) nature of man is to use animals even to their death.  Man, by his nature, will have an impact on his environment, just by being alive.  Therefore, to deny man the use of nature, or to insist that he should have no impact on his environment is to sentence him to death.

If we are an evolved being, we are merely another animal.  Because we are just animals, our eight-lane superhighway is no less natural than a deer trail, and our subdivisions full of McMansions are no less natural than a large rabbit warren.  Humans make bigger homes and paths and are able to extract more resources?  Great, according to evolution.  We have increased our chances of survival and passing our genes on to the next generation.  We are better at it than all of the other species, who are routinely wiped out by natural disasters, droughts, bad weather and disease.  As the most adaptable species, we inhabit most parts of the globe and can survive most conditions.  To deny man the use of nature, or to insist that he should have no impact on his environment is to insist that he actively work against evolution, denying himself the means to his survival.  It is suicide, and as a species, it is extinction.

Regardless of your thoughts on evolution or creation, the environmentalists’ end goal is the same.  It is the extermination of man, if you follow their route to its logical conclusion.

Thank you for reading this post.