Talk 16: Stealing natural capital

(Image caption: Every imaginable means – rail, track, road, tunnels, and helicopters – pierce Jungfrau to satisfy human eye)

Earth’s impending demise

The annual jamboree of World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, has just ended. Participants proposed many haughty ways to treat and save the sick Earth. Now they are standing around sick Earth’s bed. Grete recognized among them presidents, prime ministers, kings, queens, dictators, tribal chiefs, and also formidable CEOs of research institutions, industrial and commercial enterprises, financial institutions, banks, and GAFA, the super-rich big tech giants. Grete listens to their talk but hears not a word about Earth. It is all about commercial and military deals. Earth and Grete wondered why they are hugging each other and bowing to kings and queens. They look very satisfied. The military men are superbly happy.  Surely, they are expressing their joy for Earth’s impending demise.

Grete absolutely confused asked Earth, “Are they happy because they have saved you or expressing their joy for your impending demise?”

No more wars

Feeling hopeless, Earth does not reply. Grete asked her, “How did they become kings and queens, and so rich?”

“By fighting and winning wars or elections, or both,” Earth replies.

“That costs a lot of money, material and lives. From where they got all that?”

“Rulers got money from financial institutions, traders and manufacturing enterprises. Earlier they got it from Hanseatic League, British East India Company, and Santa Hermandad and such others. Now they get it from General Electric, Boeing, Morgan, Bloomberg, Microsoft, Tata, and Amazon to name a few. Don’t laugh when I tell you that they consider the White House a branch of Goldman Sachs.”

“Did the rulers ever return the money?”

“Yes. Some. From taxes they levied on people.”

“After that there were no more wars,” concluded Grete.

“The wars left people poorer. The tax money was not enough. So, the rulers fought more wars financed by the same and other institutions.”

Grete deduced, “So the wars became bigger and bigger, costing astronomical amounts of resources, money and human and animal lives.”

“You have guessed correctly.”

Source of money

“Don’t tell me that they are not meeting here to look after you, but to raising more funds for financing human activities and wars? They look so gentle, not at all war-like. All this money, where does it come from?”

“They take it from me.” Earth replied.

“I’m amazed. They steal it from your nature-capital. You have been so generous and loving. Have you ever checked what is left in your stock of provisions?”

“Yes, but only recently. For a long period, I was happy and unconcerned. All living beings obeyed the laws of nature. In return, my bounteous nature opened its treasures to them. Then appeared the two-legged big-headed Homo sapiens.  Grete, note it. This name is a misnomer. Overall, homo sapiens  are not at all wise. In no time they mutated into nasty BHG. That changed everything. Now they convert nature-capital into money capital faster and faster. This “wise man” filled with I-ness has become awfully anthropocentric. Not only have they drained nearly all my energy and sucked my blood they have infected me as well. Only a few like you see how seriously sick I am.”

Grete wiped her tears and said, “I’ll give my life to make you well again. Please teach me more. I will come early tomorrow. I will be thinking of you. Rest well.”