My Dying Mother
(Earth)
Joe Moncarz September 2022
My mother is dying. Yours, too, actually. Life on the planet is disappearing. The diversity of life is being killed off by civilization, whittled down and simplified from the tens of millions of species to only rats, roaches, jellyfish, bacteria, and fungi – if we're lucky. But hey, I suppose that's better than nothing. (And rats and roaches are far more socially and ecologically healthy than civilized humans, so that's something, too.) But mass extinction is here, and it's spreading over the planet. Life is dying. It's sad and heart-wrenching.
Think of what you would do for your own mother. When our own human mother is dying, we do everything we can. First, we try to save them and help them get back to health. We talk to doctors, we do our own research, we make radical changes to their diet and lifestyle, and we take the steps necessary. We do whatever it takes. And second, we try to be there for them. We sit by their side, keep them company, talk to them, we listen to them, we hold their hand, bring them food, and so on.
It's clear that human efforts to save life on Earth and bring it back to health are failing miserably. All the solutions only make it worse. (Like solar panels, electric cars, voting, “green” jobs, and “green” capitalism.) We're definitely not taking the steps necessary to save life on the planet. We're not doing whatever it takes. We are making no radical changes of any positive kind. (But many negative radical changes.) Life is being killed off at an even faster rate.
And if that were not bad enough, we're not even present for our dying mother Earth. We're not there sitting by the Earth, we're not talking to the Earth, we're not listening to the Earth, nor are we feeding the Earth. We've got other priorities. We're staring at our phones. We're watching TV and movies. We're playing video games. We're climbing the corporate ladder. We're buying and selling properties. We're engaged in legal battles with our exes. We're gossiping. We're spreading lies. We're trying to destroy others. We're self-medicating with drugs and alcohol. We're gambling. We're watching sports. We're betting on sports. We're engaged in the idiotic arguments of which political party is better. (Answer: none of them.) We're trying to get famous. We're trying to get rich. We're absorbed in endless competition. We're chasing status.
Meanwhile, we're forgetting how to be there for anyone. We're forgetting how to listen to another person, how to talk to another person, how to empathize, how to self-reflect, and how to connect. We are increasingly alienated, driven by the mindset of civilization to impose on others, to bully, to fight, and to destroy.
To be fair, many of us are just busy trying to survive. We're trapped by circumstances imposed on us. We're struggling just to pay the ridiculous bills that civilization forces upon us. We're just trying to have enough food and shelter. We're being forced not to be there for our dying Mother Earth. We're purposely being kept away, being kept too busy, too stressed, too distracted, and too preoccupied to be there. But even impoverished, struggling people can usually find some time to spend with their dying human mother.
Not so with the dying Earth.
Few people are doing for their Earth Mother what they would do for their human mother.
And those that are doing “whatever it takes” are thrown in jail and called “eco-terrorists.” Imagine! Imagine trying to help your own mother and being actively prevented. And being thrown in jail.
But one day very soon, those in power will find themselves longing for the “good old days” when the so-called eco-terrorists limited themselves to non-violent actions such as tree-sits, blocking roads and property destruction – which hurt no one – instead of the much more extreme actions they are sure to face as caring people lose patience.
It would be very sad, and it would really be a shame not to be there for our own dying mother. But to not be there for our dying Mother Earth is the saddest thing of all.
Because then all mothers will go extinct. And then there will be no mothers ever again.
Think of what you would do for your own mother. When our own human mother is dying, we do everything we can. First, we try to save them and help them get back to health. We talk to doctors, we do our own research, we make radical changes to their diet and lifestyle, and we take the steps necessary. We do whatever it takes. And second, we try to be there for them. We sit by their side, keep them company, talk to them, we listen to them, we hold their hand, bring them food, and so on.
It's clear that human efforts to save life on Earth and bring it back to health are failing miserably. All the solutions only make it worse. (Like solar panels, electric cars, voting, “green” jobs, and “green” capitalism.) We're definitely not taking the steps necessary to save life on the planet. We're not doing whatever it takes. We are making no radical changes of any positive kind. (But many negative radical changes.) Life is being killed off at an even faster rate.
And if that were not bad enough, we're not even present for our dying mother Earth. We're not there sitting by the Earth, we're not talking to the Earth, we're not listening to the Earth, nor are we feeding the Earth. We've got other priorities. We're staring at our phones. We're watching TV and movies. We're playing video games. We're climbing the corporate ladder. We're buying and selling properties. We're engaged in legal battles with our exes. We're gossiping. We're spreading lies. We're trying to destroy others. We're self-medicating with drugs and alcohol. We're gambling. We're watching sports. We're betting on sports. We're engaged in the idiotic arguments of which political party is better. (Answer: none of them.) We're trying to get famous. We're trying to get rich. We're absorbed in endless competition. We're chasing status.
Meanwhile, we're forgetting how to be there for anyone. We're forgetting how to listen to another person, how to talk to another person, how to empathize, how to self-reflect, and how to connect. We are increasingly alienated, driven by the mindset of civilization to impose on others, to bully, to fight, and to destroy.
To be fair, many of us are just busy trying to survive. We're trapped by circumstances imposed on us. We're struggling just to pay the ridiculous bills that civilization forces upon us. We're just trying to have enough food and shelter. We're being forced not to be there for our dying Mother Earth. We're purposely being kept away, being kept too busy, too stressed, too distracted, and too preoccupied to be there. But even impoverished, struggling people can usually find some time to spend with their dying human mother.
Not so with the dying Earth.
Few people are doing for their Earth Mother what they would do for their human mother.
And those that are doing “whatever it takes” are thrown in jail and called “eco-terrorists.” Imagine! Imagine trying to help your own mother and being actively prevented. And being thrown in jail.
But one day very soon, those in power will find themselves longing for the “good old days” when the so-called eco-terrorists limited themselves to non-violent actions such as tree-sits, blocking roads and property destruction – which hurt no one – instead of the much more extreme actions they are sure to face as caring people lose patience.
It would be very sad, and it would really be a shame not to be there for our own dying mother. But to not be there for our dying Mother Earth is the saddest thing of all.
Because then all mothers will go extinct. And then there will be no mothers ever again.