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Playinghardball

(11,665 posts)
Wed Jun 18, 2014, 04:12 PM Jun 2014

Noam Chomsky on human extinction: The corporate elite are actively courting disaster

Climate change poses an imminent threat to human life, said political philosopher Noam Chomsky – and humans are drawing their own doom ever closer.

“This is the first time in human history that we have the capacity to destroy the conditions for decent survival, (and) it is already happening,” Chomsky told journalist Chris Hedges, writing for Truthdig.

Hedges was accused last week by the New Republic of plagiarizing some of his work in Harper’s Magazine and other publications.

Chomsky said species destruction had reached the same level as 65 million years ago – when an asteroid hit the earth, ending the period of dinosaurs and wiping up many other species.

“It is the same level today, and we are the asteroid,” he said. “If anyone could see us from outer space they would be astonished.”

The noted linguist said some sectors of the global population – such as the First Nations in Canada, aboriginals in Australia, and tribal people in India – had tried to slow the march to catastrophe, while others were actively courting disaster.

“Who is accelerating it?” Chomsky said. “The most privileged, so-called advanced, educated populations of the world.”

He compared this phenomenon to a theory by Ernst Mayr, a 20th-century evolutionary biologist who speculated humans would never encounter intelligent extraterrestrials because higher life forms quickly force themselves into extinction.

“Mayr argued that the adaptive value of what is called ‘higher intelligence’ is very low,” Chomsky said. “Beetles and bacteria are much more adaptive than humans. We will find out if it is better to be smart than stupid. We may be a biological error, using the 100,000 years which Mayr gives [as] the life expectancy of a species to destroy ourselves and many other life forms on the planet.”

More here: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/06/18/noam-chomsky-on-human-extinction-the-corporate-elite-are-actively-courting-disaster/

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Noam Chomsky on human extinction: The corporate elite are actively courting disaster (Original Post) Playinghardball Jun 2014 OP
kick, kick, kick..... daleanime Jun 2014 #1
K&R G_j Jun 2014 #2
K & R for the unvarnished truthy Vincardog Jun 2014 #3
K & R for the unvarnished truthy Vincardog Jun 2014 #4
A Planet Full of Hitlers Octafish Jun 2014 #5
We know it's happening. Yet we choose not to do anything about it. tclambert Jun 2014 #6
A species smallcat88 Jun 2014 #7
VIDEO explaining the exact same thing: freshwest Jun 2014 #8
He is way too intelligent for his time. I believe he was thrown under the fleet of buses sabrina 1 Jun 2014 #9
Mindless materialism. moondust Jun 2014 #10

Octafish

(55,745 posts)
5. A Planet Full of Hitlers
Wed Jun 18, 2014, 05:12 PM
Jun 2014

The world's billionaires, led by the Bush "madministration," are acting like a planet of full of Hitlers. They are willing to invade whatever region in the world has what the world needs most -- oil.

Black gold. Texas tea. Petrodollars.

They figure they have all the money. And basically, apart from a Soros here and a Gates there, they do.

And thus, the world’s billionaires and their hounds of the BFEE want to spend it all before they die. And they have the plan and cash on hand to do so.

Consider the Bush agenda: All War. All the Time. Government spending for the MI-Complex, transferring trillions to the wealthy corporate owners, war and all.

These are the likes of the “industrialists” Mussolini, Franco and Hitler so loved.

And like the fascist trifecta, the American fascists of the BFEE have bought all the political power. Don't just think Tom Roach Motel DeLay and Mr. Friskie Frist. Remember Prescott Bush and Averell Harriman and Allen Dulles and Rheinhard Gehlen and Igor Orlov.

What can we do about it? They’ve bought all the legal power, built law schools for Federalist Society AND Opus Dei judges. Think Bill Eagle Eye Rehnquist and Antonin Fat Tony Scalia.

These turds of the BFEE have worked all the tax breaks and bankrupty laws for the rich. Uncle Sam reverse-Robin Hoods wealth to the top 1-percent of country.

And what do these rich turds who prop up Bush use their tax savings on? They certainly haven't invested it in making America a better place to work or live; they've invested in "off-shoring."

Lots of the tax money goes to buy more vacation homes, yachts and jet planes. Most goes offshore to the Caymans and Switzerland.

And of course they want more without having to pay for the damage to the environment. Farmland depletion in the USA. Rain forest depletion around the globe. Oceans getting acidic. Fish stock depletion. Global air pollution and water shortages.

Well. OK. Maybe a case can be made it’s the rich folk’s money. They can do what they want. But they should pay their fair share of taxes! After all, the rest of society helps keep them in their position. And its our brothers and sisters in the armed forces who are giving their lives to keep their oil and power and privilege.

Budget red ink means no money for middle class. No money for schools. No money for cities and suburbs and farms. No money for roads. No money for science and R and D. No money for the future.

And the media? What media? What Fairness Doctrine?

They cover up their materialism and venality with all the talk about Faith-based this and Conservative-values that. But the reality is these are sinister wolves and satanic bed-wetting bastards in sheep's clothing we are dealing with.



Wasn’t that what Bush really meant when he told Bob Woodward “History? Who cares about history? In a hundred years we’ll all be dead.”

Just like Hitler. And just like Hitler, Bush wants to take us all with him.

-- Octafish, May 12, 2005

tclambert

(11,085 posts)
6. We know it's happening. Yet we choose not to do anything about it.
Wed Jun 18, 2014, 07:07 PM
Jun 2014

Future generations will remember us as the Worst Generation.

smallcat88

(426 posts)
7. A species
Wed Jun 18, 2014, 07:27 PM
Jun 2014

stupid enough to cause it's own extinction doesn't deserve to live. Forget natural selection; our own 'artificial selections' are dooming us. In that respect, most animal species remain smarter than humans. Those few human societies that value living in harmony with nature and Mother Earth, like many native American tribes, have been systematically eliminated, squashed and undermined. Usually justified by calling them 'savages'. History shows that the real savages are all too often the victors. Maybe this is the universe's way of evening the score.

freshwest

(53,661 posts)
8. VIDEO explaining the exact same thing:
Wed Jun 18, 2014, 11:45 PM
Jun 2014


From this thread:

President Obama Issues Executive Order On Climate




Enigma - Gravity of Love With Stunning Earth Footage

Transcribed fom the video:

Irreversibly more than one in ten of all plants and animals today will become extinct because of global warming gases already released into the atmosphere.

Scientists estimate that if mankind continues to burn oil, coal and gas at the current rate, one in every three animals will be doomed by the 2050.

Scientists estimate that if current deforestation rates continue that all the rainforests will be destroyed by the year 2060.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/110219113

sabrina 1

(62,325 posts)
9. He is way too intelligent for his time. I believe he was thrown under the fleet of buses
Wed Jun 18, 2014, 11:54 PM
Jun 2014

recently, under which most intelligent Liberals have been tossed lately.

But he is right, as always. Which makes him too, a threat to the current rulers.

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