From 8000 BC to 1650 AD human population went from 10,000,000 to 500 million, then, in a 350 year heartbeat, to over SIX BILLION in the present, growing by over 100 million every year. The impact of a bio-mass of humanity this great is enormous. It changes weather patterns, pollutes oceans and rivers, destroys rainforests, and precipitated the greatest mass extinction of living things ince the age of dinosaurs.
Nevertheless, in relation to the total length of our stay on the planet, this devistation is taking place in the blink of an eye, and shows no real sign of slowing. What's going on? It may well be that UNLIMITED GROWTH & DESTRUCTIVE DOMINATION of the environment is INTRINSICALLY part of the novel way of life we have so recently adopted. Perhaps there is no possibility of halting this destructive growth within the dynamics of this Way.
Finding other Ways to follow that are more in harmony with the fragile realities of our home planet is certainly the most important challenge the human race has ever faced.
"Civilizations are not terminals but
wayside camps, pitched at sunset and broken at dawn so that they can
travel on again."
--Laurens van der Post
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE HUMAN SPECIES AS REVEALED BY POPULATION
GROWTH. (THE RED LINE AT THE BOTTOM OF GRAPH) BEAR IN
MIND THAT RECENT revisions by cultural anthropologists of the nature of
hunter-gatherer societies paint a very different picture than the image
in popular consciousness: They emerge "not as primitive brutes but as
typically well nourished, noticeably free of anxiety about their next
meal, and blessed with an abundance of free time. They possesed complex
mythologies, elegant arts and keen minds, and were the original affluent
society. "Long ago they evolved life-patterns that maintained a relatively
stable population and a balance with the rest of Gaia's inhabitants. A
few survivors of this original culture still exist, but global Monoculture
is dedicated to the complete assimilation and/or annihilation of all peoples
non-compliant to ITS world-outlook. SCROLL RIGHT to get the big picture.
TIME
810,000 BC
800,000 BC
790,000 BC
780,000 BC
770,000 BC
760,000 BC
750,000 BC
740,000 BC
730,000 BC
720,000 BC
710,000 BC
700,000 BC
690,000 BC
680,000 BC
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650,000 BC
640,000 BC
630,000 BC
620,000 BC
610,000 BC
600,000 BC
590,000 BC
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570,000 BC
560,000 BC
550,000 BC
540,000 BC
530,000 BC
520,000 BC
510,000 BC
500,000 BC
490,000 BC
480,000 BC
470,000 BC
460,000 BC
450,000 BC
440,000 BC
430,000 BC
420,000 BC
410,000 BC
400,000 BC
390,000 BC
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370,000 BC
360,000 BC
350,000 BC
340,000 BC
330,000 BC
320,000 BC
310,000 BC
300,000 BC
290,000 BC
280,000 BC
270,000 BC
250,000 BC
250,000 BC
240,000 BC
230,000 BC
220,000 BC
210,000 BC
200,000 BC
190,000 BC
180,000 BC
170,000 BC
160,000 BC
150,000 BC
140,000 BC
130,000 BC
120,000 BC
110,000 BC
100,000 BC
90,000 BC
80,000 BC
70,000 BC
60,000 BC
50,000 BC
40,000 BC
30,000 BC
20,000 BC
10,000 BC
0
10,000 AD
The famous "J-Curve"