THE URGE TO LIVE

Our bodies notify us when we are uncomfortable, and we naturally attempt to fulfill such needs as food, liquids, and shelter from the vagaries of the weather. From experience we gain a sense of danger from the teeth of the tiger, and from injuries from a fall from heights, or the burns from fire. Avoiding such perils, as a fly does in dodging the swatter, or a rabbit from a predator. As well as such learned and instinctive activities most species attempt to defend the territory that supplies their nutritional needs. Humans also have the same desire to claim the territory that provides for their kith and kin. The urge to live and reproduce is universal, and death is avoided at all costs. The human species being more mentally advanced than the apes foresee their death, and in wishing to avoid its finality have come to accept the tales of reincarnation, or of an afterlife in the sky where heat, light, and sweet music are not required.

Such longings to achieve eternal life are popular, and our many spiritual accounts associate their tales of the creation of the universe to the powers of heavenly overlords that supposedly are able to provide mankind with the eternal life that they pray for. The ancients didn't know much about astronomy and biology in their day, and their spiritual scribes were either grossly mistaken or bullshitting those they tried to influence. People are inclined to follow those that impress them, and our spiritual and political leaders have both been reading out of the same book, and are leading their charges toward the bright future in the sky that many wish to attain. I have always been taught that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, so I am only concerned with our future on earth, and not any of those they claim are in dreamland.

During the last few centuries we have discovered that the earth is billions of years old, and that all life upon it has evolved from microscopic beginnings. These findings cause us to look for other explanations, but the findings of our modern sciences are not promoted at public expense to the extent that spiritualism is, so our spiritual tomes have not been updated or abandoned, and humanity continues to compete on all fronts as nature encourages them to do. Our modern investigations have found no powers other than that of nature, or of our own inventions and technologies, and no intelligences greater than our own. Causing me to declare that we have inherited the competitive environment that nature supplies, and the idyllic philosophy of the past.

We are not more sinful or evil than other species, but are more competitive, for we have the intelligence to foresee the results and benefits of our actions. We oppose each other, but that is as nature encourages us to do. The ancients in promoting our survival values encouraged their spiritual followers to outnumber their adversaries and populate the earth. These populations have doubled and redoubled many times, and their industrious activities appear to be changing the planet's temperature ranges and weather patterns. We now find that we can overcome many of our competitions by limiting our numbers, and hopefully minimize our impact upon the environment by a much smaller population that is not driven by necessity to exploit and commercialize the abundant resources that endanger our tomorrows. We know that volcanic eruptions and comets have blackened our skies and extinguished species in the past, and that in millions of years the sun will also change the temperatures that support life on earth. Humanity has an urge to continue their struggles to better themselves, and will take the necessary action to prevent their avoidable and premature extinction.