The Master Race?

Sometimes I wonder how homo sapiens ever made it to the top of the food chain. In fact, if anyone but ourselves had been in charge of assigning Latin names to the species, would anyone else have called us “wise man”?

Given that we are something less than a minute away from Armageddon Midnight on the Nuclear Clock, given that nobody is at the wheel of the Climate Change bus, and given that one dollar in forty of annual global GDP goes to purchase new war machinery, it’s just a marvel that we’ve made it this far.

Our American neighbours, God bless ‘em, can’t even seem to agree that civilized societies don’t put military grade weapons into the hands of troubled children. As for me, I bring enough plastic packaging into my house in a week to strangle half a dozen sea creatures.

The truth is that we clawed our way to the top of the food chain by trampling everybody and everything below us. We didn’t get to be #1 by being considerate. And so far, at least for the species as a whole, it’s worked. But our luck may be running out.

As long as there weren’t too many of us and there were plenty of resources, we were in luck. We could be as rapacious as we wanted, because there was plenty of margin. Even when we wiped out entire civilizations, that just meant there were more goodies left for the rest of us. But now there are eight billion of us with big machines, and our resources are neither of the quality nor quantity they used to be. Our perch at the top of the food chain is getting a little shaky.

Now, if we had adults in charge, it might not be so scary. But we don’t. Far too many world leaders (and their followers) purport to take their cues from cryptic ancient writings allegedly given them by their version of an Invisible Being who once upon a time provided all the answers we’ll ever need. That would be sketchy enough as it is. But add to that the fact that each such dogma claims to be the Only True and Holy Way and the best you can hope for is gridlock. The worst is a final Holy Armageddon.

But there’s more to humanity than that. Every day we see individual acts of kindness, we experience generosity, we feel mercy, we are lifted by music, by laughter, and by our children. For one instant, all of human destiny is in the hands of a seven year old making cookies with her Mom. We create, we invent, we dream, we sacrifice, and we care. It’s also in our nature to do good things, actually, great things. If there’s any reason we deserve to be in charge of the planet, it’s this.

Whether we are part of the problem, or part of the solution, is our individual choice, moment by moment. Our collective future is in your hands, and mine. Moment by moment.

(Yeah, I know that “Master Race” has certain connotations. But I think the arrogance runs deeper and wider than just the Third Reich.)