Every day you read the news, or watch the news they are full of stories of humans, and the chaos they are causing throughout the world, the wars, the greed, the murders, the pollution, the poverty, the abuse, the cruelty, the health of the people, the corrupt, the politicians and generals and filled with stories of woe and people complaining about their lot.
It is nearly the end of 2024 and the headlines around the world are the same as they were last year, as they were the decade before that, and the century before that, and the millennium before that, and every year individuals, government, NGO’s, charities, try to improve the lot of humans…
Better education, better medical treatment, better homes, more support for the poor, better roads, better air quality, better water, better care for the elderly, and even “environmental’ projects where people try and clean up the mess that humans have made, are making and will continue to make.
We are known as the most intelligent species on earth, but you only have to read the news (in other countries, not just your own, and you will see that my labrador Hari is indeed much more intelligent than 99 percent of you.
Sure, he can’t split the atom, can’t build bridges, knows nothing about hypersonic weapons, politics, philosophy, and doesn’t need to choose a religion.
He’s not interested in fashion, factories, social housing, profits, the welfare state, communism or capitalism.
He doesn’t worry about climate change, human rights, law and order, doesn’t drink alcohol or take drugs…
Sure he has benefited from our medical advances in vetinerary science, to keep him alive and well, but he would agree that he didn’t ask for that, we intervened on his behalf, as we are ‘compassionate’, in the same way we keep hundreds of millions of people alive through advanced medicine, despite human over population being one of the greatest threats to the planet.
He isn’t angry, jealous, (maybe a little greedy) and doesn’t hate other labradors just because they are black or red and he is golden.
He doesn’t need to drink bottled water or fanta or coke, and is happy with the same meal every day, and the only reason he uses packaging is because it is the way some of his manufactured food is distributed, but that’s on me, not him.
He wouldn’t care if he’s homeless, he would and does sleep anywhere, whether outside, in a tent, on a boat, or even in the street.
His hobbies include walking, swimming, running and playing.
He doesn’t need to compete, he doesn’t need to choose sides in a sports team, and certainly wouldn’t dream of fighting with other dogs because their owners (bad word, should be friend) support other teams.
He doesn’t hate the police, or the government, nor does he have revolutionary tendencies, or exert his right to bear arms, or kill other dogs because he’s having a bad day, and the other dogs weren’t very nice to him.
He doesn’t need education about history, wars, geography, science, maths, languages, it wouldn’t improve his life.
Humans on the other hand keep needing to improve their life, to have more, to know more, to control more, to earn more.
And if you compare the lives of people thousands of years ago, you would say that people today have better lives, and a better standard of living, and maybe that’s true and maybe it isn’t, but looking at the level of human violence towards other humans, land animals, ocean and river dwellers, and the planet itself, i’d have to say that life on earth would have been better for all, thousands of years ago.
The problem with humans is that they always look at the world from their own perspective, their lives, their money, their education, their children, their education, their jobs, their retirement, their death.
Let’s face it, humans are obsessed, with themselves!
They’re obsessed with how they look, and how they are perceived to look.
They’re obsessed with how they smell, whether it’s the bath products, or the perfume / aftershave…
“Oh, you smell nice…”
They’re obsessed with having a nice house, a nice car, then when they have children are obsessed with how they look, and how they are educated “oh yes, charlie goes to one of the best schools in the country, the prince soandso went there…
We just want to impress everyone else.
You may think I have it in for humans, and you’d be right, but I recognise that I am a part of the problem thanks to my parents, my teachers, my peers, my human brain, the wider society, a complete lack of awareness, and empathy, and wanting to impress women most of all!
But to go back to my labrador Hari for a moment…
He doesn’t know about Jihadis, terrorists, dictators, or western empires and slavery, and doesn’t care.
He would find it strange if he was asked to pay tax as he doesn’t have any money and wouldn’t know what to spend it on if he did (maybe biscuits).
And we haven’t started on the other species yet! Those who have no direct connection with humans, but are impacted every day, from the cattle who are fed and watered and cared for daily, only to be murdered by the same people who looked after them – to the fish in the sea swimming about causing no one any harm only to be scooped up in a huge net only to suffocate to death, and the other species displaced by human development, or blown into a million pieces by human bombs where one group doesn’t like another or wants their land – go figure!
What about all the species buried under millions of tons in concrete as we build and expand our cities… oh I forgot, make a zoo or two, or a national park and ship them off, where they can’t cause trouble…
Mind you it’s not the lions and tigers or the foxes fighting outside the city pub every friday night, or gambling in the casino, or falling over drunk in the street, or cheating on their partner in a seedy hotel somewhere, that’s only for humans i’m afraid! Sorry Lion!
Although you could argue that the death of an antelope or a zebra in the jaws of a lion is violence, at least there’s no malice aforethought, and no plastic packaging left over to bury/burn/recycle, and no energy was needed to cook the antelope, nor factories needed to produce pans, cooking utensils, cutlery, or plates, nor sinks connected to waste pipes, nor sponges and washing up liquid to clean up after, nor waste companies to collect the bones in plastic bags.
BORED YET?
I’m sure you are, and anyway, no one will read this as it’s too long, and rambling, and isn’t instagram or tiktok, or facebook, and you can’t shop on this page, or watch porn here (sorry!)
There are no beauty tips, videos of funny cats, political monologues, gurus telling you how to be a better you and attain spiritual englightenment.
There are no voucher codes for online discounts…etc. etc.
And to be honest with you I’m bored with myself too. I have been writing the same thing over and over for 20 years and have tried to influence people to think differently but things just keep getting worse.
The rivers, oceans and land are polluted, we kill as many animals and fish as we can, to satisfy our insatiable greed for flesh, we build and build and build, we fight, and we drink or drug to escape the reality we have created for ourselves.
THE GOOD NEWS
Ermmmm… Hmmmmm..I’m thinking…
WILL THE WEAKEST SPECIES PLEASE STAND UP?
Just in case you think it’s the ants, or the micro organisms, bacteria, cockroaches, think again.
It’s us ladies and gentlemen, us who have to manufacture clothes as we can’t stay out in the cold, us who have to build houses, as we are afraid to sleep outside in the natural world, us who has created a board game just for humans, where every character has to get an education, has to have a house, get married, have children, and contribute to ‘society’.
Us who are so afraid of death that we believe in an entity called god, who may or may not be benevolent, depending on whether you believe in ‘HIM’ and will forgive you for your sins, if you believe in HIM, and will also offer you paradise once you stop breathing, and your bones are buried six foot under!
Us who are more afraid of each other than we are of a lion.
Us who have no idea what we are doing on this planet, don’t know how to hunt without weapons and technology, and don’t know what to eat if someone doesn’t tell us what’s safe and what’s not.
Us, Homo Sapiens, the most intelligent and weakest species on the planet.
Us who create walls and fences to protect what is ‘ours’, us who creates nationalities, and borders, to protect the citizens of the unnatural borders.
My labrador sees no such borders. He is happy to see people in mexico or america, the Uk or france, turkiye or syria, israel or lebanon, or gaza, and has no territorial claims on any land, he just wants to live a life of walking, friendship, and fun, something we should all be doing.
A life well lived, without nation, without greed, without violence, without possessions, without borders.
He could be the holiest of the holy! Maybe we should all worship Hari the Labrador as he could teach all eight billion of us a thing or two about being human, if only he could talk.
A HUMAN FUTURE? OR AN INEVITABLE EXTINCTION (WELL DESERVED IN MY OPINION)
The problem with us humans is that we think we are top dog, the most important, the strongest, the most intelligent, the kindest, the most thoughtful, the most inventive…
And whilst we may have that perception, we need to look at humans from the other species perspective. How do they view us?
If you were an animal or a fish, or an insect, or a bird, what would your view of humans be?
FISH: You know I was swimming around with my mates the other day, and then this big fking net came down out of nowhere and scooped up all my friends… I’m heartbroken.
COW: I was minding my own business, causing harm to no one, quietly eating grass, and the guy who was looking after us since we were babies, came and took my parents away and killed them, and I think he will kill me too if I can’t escape from here.
CHICKEN: I watched all my friends being executed – I know I’m next
WORM: I was busy in the soil when men came with a concrete mixer and filled in all the earth for what I believe is for affordable housing.
FOX, SHARK, OTTER, WHALE, ANT, SEAGULL (all together)
Fk humans! They are all killers. What did we do to deserve this? Nothing!
So there you have it ladies and gentlemen, the other species have spoken!
According to my labrador Hari, humans are a parasite on the earth, and have done nothing but enrich themselves, at the expense of everything else and are a poisonous influence on the planet, and indeed may be seriously mentally ill. In other words they’re all fucking mad!
Strong words!
So what is to be done with us Hari? You seem to have the answers!
HARI: Well, you could start by taking a leaf out of my book, by being friendly, consuming little, having fun..
ME: Yes, but you’re just a dog.
HARI: And I don’t cause any trouble, but you humans on the other hand..
ME: But what about all our great inventions? All the advances we have made?
HARI: Which benefit you alone.
ME: I agree that we’re not perfect, but dogs haven’t been to the moon, haven’t built cities, haven’t discovered medicines to save people, (and animals), haven’t created nuclear weapons,
HARI: I rest my case… (sighs)
Maybe the only way we can keep this species is to deconstruct everything we have built – to dismantle the cities, the bombs, the religion, the economy, the banks, the governments, the education, and for everyone to ask themselves the question – why do I think the way I do? How could thinking differently create a world where humans do not put themselves above everything else on the planet?
There is no point in humans trying to create a better world as the world was perfect before they arrived by the hand of god, on a spaceship, as I believe we have so little in common with this earth that we cannot possibly have evolved from the apes, who seem to be quite happy being apes!
But if we really want to stay here and not destroy everyone else’s home, maybe we need to show that we do belong here, by showing compassion to every living being, every animal, insect, fish, bird, river, ocean or tree… and if we really want to destroy everything and everyone, then maybe we should find a deserted planet where we can do just that.
This is the last post.
