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Is Human Extinction A Natural Event?

by Larry Ross, June 9, 2005

I agree with Dr Helen Caldicott's prediction that it is likely that there will be a nuclear war during the next 4 years of Bush's presidency. From the point of view of someone who is an intelligent rationalist/humanist; trained as an engineer to get and assess all the facts; spent the last 60 years in studying and acting against the nuclear arms race, and initiating a campaign to make New Zealand nuclear free, I believe it wont be long before Bush triggers a world nuclear conflagration. If not Bush, then his successor, carefully selected and groomed for the job, who will probably follow the same crazy policies that are now official US policy.

Although the USA military/industrial complex will be salivating at the thought of a holy war against Islam, and the expansion of the US empire is proceeding as planned in that direction, the momentum and rationale for empire will probably cause a nuclear clash involving some of the other 8 nuclear nations. Bush has named them in the Pentagon's Nuclear Posture Review as possible targets.

A probable rapid escalation of nuclear missile exchanges would follow. Anyone left alive would die a slow death due to nuclear winter, disease, radiation illness and a number of other causes.

The stage has been set, with 1,700 US bases and mobile launching platforms on and below land and seas around the world, and new nuclear doctrines formulated, the population indoctrinated, bought or frightened into silence.

From all indications, Bush is happy with his imagined role as God's chosen one, to usher in the fiery armageddon, as he believes God promised in the Bible. The millions of 'born again' Fundamentalist Christians have at last triumphed, and will be raptured directly to heaven. Or so they believe.

Few others seem to care or even want to know. Like contented cows or sheep waiting their turn to enter the abattoir they are chewing their cud with a vacant stare saying "she'll be right". When they finally realise what's happening, it will be too late. There is no second chances with a nuclear armageddon.

It is almost as if people have collectively embraced the death instinct - as if we are all on a train racing toward a fiery extinction but we are too busy with our life to know or care where it is carrying us. Thinking in retrospect, of the 50 years of nuclear arms racing with many near nuclear war misses, global warming in spite of warnings, pollution, deforestation, energy and other resource depletion and other factors which indicate where we are headed and what our priorities are. So for anyone who can observe and think a little, there should be no surprise when our train to extinction finally arrives.

From the perspective of the billions of stars and planets in our Universe, with probably an unknown number of other intelligent species, I guess it doesn't matter if a small planet's life forms become extinct. The Universe will not stop evolving and earth's demise will not affect it.

We are probably not the first planetary culture to choose a path toward self-extinction. Perhaps it is inherent in most living things.

Like the 99% of species of life on earth that have become extinct, and the many other species alive today that we are driving toward extinction, we are moving in the same direction.

I suppose it is a flaw in our nature, that causes humanity to engage in thousands of wars using every weapon available at the time. For a while it seemed that man had learned a lesson and knew the new nuclear technology could lead to world destruction. A few enlightened people worked hard for nuclear disarmament and did their best to warn others. They developed a number of limited arms control and disarmament treaties.

No longer. That's over now. The born again Bush Administration has either withdrawn from, trashed or ignored these treaties, and formulated new nuclear doctrines. They allow nuclear weapons to be used in conventional conflicts, against both nuclear and non-nuclear nations. Also, military field commanders can recommend introducing nuclear weapons into conflict, to avoid defeat and reduce US casualties.

New nuclear weapons are to be made and nuclear testing resumed.

Amazingly there is little or no protest and surprisingly little comment. The media has presented these doctrines as the most normal thing in the world - just what's needed in the great war against global terrorism. Who could object to that? God's anointed - our Emperor George Bush - can never be wrong.

Evil and madness are firmly ensconced in power and driving this train of never-ending war, toward a final war of nuclear extinction. Given the long history of human slaughter and genocide, perhaps extinction is a normal event and that's why so few people are worried, or concerned enough to try and prevent it.

For more details on nuclear and related issues: see other categories on http://www.nuclearfree.org.nz