Sustaining Humanity

                Maintaining life on the planet is not as easy as it used to be.  Humans have been around for approximately five million years.  For about ninety-seven percent of those five million years, humans were hunters and gathers, living off what Mother Nature provided for them.   Our ancestors were able to keep humanity sustainable for five million years, without a McDonalds’ Big Mac or an Iced Chai Latte with Soy from Starbucks. About 10,000 years ago came the domestication of food, but that didn’t last long because now we are just over 100 years into being industrial agriculturalists.  Meaning that we now have McDonalds and Star bucks readily available at all times.  Unfortunately, because our population is increasing at an exponential rate, even with our advanced technology, it’s proving to be impossible to provide food for all of humanity. 

                In “The Sustainable Humanities” the term sustainable humanity has been coined to suggest that sustainability and humanity have "always been compatible projects." In order to keep humanity alive, we must look back at our past.  Looking back to times before keeping records of the weather was the norm, there are only the authors who recorded their environment for us to analyze.  Henry David Thoreau's seasonal notebooks are currently being scrutinized for any evidence of a climate change during his era.  It is of great importance that we do not overlook any evidence as to how our planet ended up in such an awful situation.  Possibly even more important is that we do our best to reverse the damage humanity has created.  This is crucial for our survival as humans.  Going back to the ways of our ancestors as hunters and gatherers is not necessarily what is being suggested here; there are 7 billion people on this planet, it's about time we put our heads together and got creative about how to solve this dilemma.

 LeMenager, Stephanie, and Stephanie Foote. "The Sustainable Humanities." 127.3 (2012): 572-578. Web.