This Doom of Men

By Neil Schloesser
Contributing Writer

Humanity will never leave the solar system and our civilization will die off one day. The beginning of the end can already be seen and if our Western values continue to progress in the direction they’ve been heading, then it’s only a matter of time before entropy asserts itself again and the cities we’ve built become monuments to the past and not the future.

Culture as embodied by the ideals of improved living conditions, universal suffrage, and education, is killing human civilization. The more educated people are the longer they put off having children. This coupled with the stresses of society has seen birth rates decline in some parts of the world. By the year 2050 Japan’s population is expected to decrease by 25%, Russia by 50%, and Europe will only account for 5% of the world population, down from 12% in 1960.

Replenishing the population is difficult as modern life is not conducive to child rearing. It’s expensive to live, jobs require a lot of commitment, and with natural support networks largely gone as workers move to find jobs, it’s no wonder having babies is proving to be unattractive. Human civilization as we know it may now be in the beginning of its end which isn’t a bad thing. All things have to end.

This is a perspective that needs to be known. Humanity, our culture, is not the zenith of existence. We have not created the greatest thing ever in the entire universe. We have created a civilization that has risen like others and will decline like others. Entropy will take over and one day humans will leave the cities and we will have been forgotten. This is okay.

The fact is that we live on a rock in the middle of space. Our resources are finite and with oil running out sooner than later and no credible alternative in the market place yet, our decline is seemingly inevitable and perhaps a lot closer than we’d like to admit.

We will never go to the stars. Unless we can travel faster than light, this solar system will be our birthplace and our grave. People need to stop believing in the infallibility of humankind. This perspective is needed so we can live grounded, both rationally and emotionally.

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