Global warming has really shown it's teeth in the recent times. The media has really jumped on the band-wagon and it seems like a daily occurence to have some mention of global warming in the news. I have to admit that it's caused me quite a bit of concern.

When you look at the history of all other civilizations, they've all disappeared either because they've exhausted the natural resources or some catastrophic event has occured. All of them suffered extinction due to their own ignorance or inabilities. In our case, is it possible that we have advanced enough to cause a bigger problem - and that we might cause our own extinction?

I know that we tend to believe that isn't so - I mean, how could 8 billion people disappear. Well, it's hard to imagine, but we could be in for a very big environmental reset. Imagine if the existing ecosystems are damaged to their extinction - we may find ourselves readily eatting insects instead of fish!

Some have claimed that global warming is quite exagerated or that the government will handle it. But the government isn't doing anything that isn't based on growing the national economy. So, is global warming in the interest of the global economy? I drive to work today and think about the fosile fuels I burn and then a big Ford Expedition drives up on me and I think about his waste... and I can't imagine that global warming is economically viable.

So where does that leave us? Blindly hoping that someone will come along and save us? We are a very ignorant species - adjusting our views to fit our needs.

I think Abraham Maslow stated it best - he believed we have needs that cause us to want to gain and acquire. It's a socialistic need - we are in competition with others around us.

This thought caused me some self examination. I live in a modest house, but it is still much bigger than I need. In fact, even if I had a wife and kids it's probably still much bigger than I need. I too have fallen for the competitive need.

Imagine how much money, time, resources, effort, etc. could be saved if we dropped the need to be competitive!