Reason First: Earth Day is for the Selfish

To mark this 50th anniversary of the beginning of Earth Day, every self-interested, greedy individual ought to take the time to reflect on all the marvels that the human mind has produced. From the hut to mansions, mankind, for the most part, has been able to adapt itself not to nature but nature to mankind. The earth is a profound, glorious source of everything that humans hold dear.

While Earth Day is meant to denigrate, despise, and disavow the individuals like John D Rockefeller who actually saved the whales with his oil production, the day should be reserved for the people who exploit the earth. Other human beings should not be used as chattel but as vessels with whom to trade. In the midst of this COVID-19 crisis, it is important to remember that all the talk about ventilators, masks, scrubs, gowns, generators, refrigerated trucks and more, had to come from somewhere. The unknown and unknowable didn’t just spring these things into existence. So where did they originate? The human ego. The part in men and women that affords us all of the wealth and comforts that are possible on this planet. It is the ego that serves as the wellspring to happiness. And all of the aforementioned items have led to human flourishing and the satisfaction of a particular need.

Each instance of some “environmentalist” decrying the work of a fracking expert or the discovery of a new, revolutionary drug to help humans but is tested on animals should be admonished. The real environmentalists are the captains of industry. They work to create the best products to be made available on the market. Their greed propels the economy like the blades of an ocean liner’s propeller. Our seas, the air, and the forests are all the better because of these individuals and everyone within the supply chain.

Doctors, nurses, and first responders receive their gear from the work of CEOs on down the pyramid of ability. As a result of the immense ability to make money, these company leaders represent the faction of makers and doers, not takers and derelicts. Instead, they power homes, businesses, and other vessels through their will to make more.

Earth Day has a connotation of turning out lights, stopping water from running from faucets, and sacrificing time to chastise the people who ironically, make the microphones and megaphones and signs that these hooligans employ to spread their wicked ideas. Geniuses like Bill Gates, who has created more value than most of the individuals in human history, should be lauded and applauded for his immense contributions for himself and others. Primarily, with his creations in the field of software and computing, he has afforded dozens of his employees to enjoy substantial wealth. On days like this, he should be seen as a hero rather than a villain who gets trampled by the government and denounced by private citizens. Never mind his forays into altruism. His work to save the poor and indigent is to keep the federal agents off of his back.

Those that claim that the environment has “rights” know little to nothing about rights. Only human beings within or originating from a specific geographic area have liberty of action. A salamander does not have rights. Oak trees possess no rights. Human beings by way of birth acquire freedoms that other living organisms lack. Ayn Rand, in “The Anti-Industrialist Revolution” once said that without the products that benefit our everyday lives, it would be a life of drudgery. The so-called “environmentalists” seek to thrive on hatred for man and his capacity to reason and produce.

Imagine a world where WiFi is forbidden because smartphones no longer reside on store shelves and tables. Companies like Netflix, Zoom, and Amazon experience elimination due to a politician’s opinion. See how the televisions sets and other streaming services collapse under the weight of government regulations. Peer into a realm where you must employ the use of a bicycle rather than a gas-guzzling SUV which a government bureaucrat removed from the market. Unreliable electric cars and other vehicles would be reverted to horseback. All of the food offered through the grocery store supply chain has to be halted as the lights go out and there is no way for the products to reach homes. This is the dream of what Miss Rand phrased as “ecologists.” Their aim is to return to the dirt and soot of the cave and leave humans to forage for plants and to subsist on such scraps throughout their lives.

They would rather see a baby polar bear cared for while their own children fight against hunger pangs and malnutrition. The Earth Day recognition should include the extraordinary human environment. The truth that more women stay alive after giving birth, adolescence and adulthood usher in new notions of how to live life completely, and one can expect to live to be in the mid to late nineties and hundreds are signs of utilizing the earth for one’s own needs. If the ecologists wish to go off of the grid and live in squalor, filth, and disenchantment, they ought to buy land in the Midwest or up state in the Northeast and live out their miserable lives together. If they seek to tear down others who wish to only chop down trees only to replace them and shun recycling, they should go away.

The environment is for any individual who wants to improve his or her life. It is important to remember that the goal of someone who shrieks for the well-being of an elephant but mocks the businessman should be censured for their actions. All of the products, everything came from nature. We must remember that it is up to the stewards of the earth, humans, to reap the harvest of the earth and to use it to the hilt. By using oil, natural gas, nuclear and other modes of energy barring wind and solar, human beings have a chance at surviving on this planet. And if there is to be humanity, selfishness and greed must be at the forefront for flourishing.