Eviction Notice from Mother Nature

To: my human offspring

Deadline: 2050

Hello humans,

I wasn’t planning on having it out with you quite so soon, but events beyond my control have forced me to move up the date by a couple of decades. This is a conversation I don’t wish to have but you’re ruining my health and I must put a stop to it. You know what I’m talking about —during 2021, a series of what you called ‘unprecedented’ disasters happened and a few of you perished. The symptoms of the fever you brought on are fires, floods, extreme drought, and extinction of your fellow creatures.  And I used to be known for my benign temperament and my excellent health, which allowed your species to flourish. What on earth has happened?

I admit this is partially my fault; I indulged you and didn’t stop your exploding numbers. I should have known you were heading for disaster when you penetrated into the tiniest parts of me and then, true to form, built dreadful bombs with that knowledge. Instead of being grateful for the teeming paradise you inhabit, you’ve become ever more reckless and greedy. You have no sense of limits; you seem to think I am inexhaustible. And instead of using the last 10,000 years to evolve into a less selfish species, you went berserk and just ransacked me, all in the name of something called capitalism and growth. So now I got fevers and chills, and all my systems are going haywire. Thanks to you, I feel rotten most of the time.

To put it plainly, I have reached the end of my rope; my patience is exhausted and from now on the gloves are off. Yes, your numbers will be culled. I haven’t decided yet by how much; it depends on whether you wake up and stop tormenting me. 

Believe me, I know how to fight back. And for the last time: the tide of disasters you have unleashed will not destroy me. I am more resilient than you could possibly imagine; I will still be here when your current reign of terror is over, a mere blip in the vast ocean of time.

Oh, you don’t like being called eco-terrorists? Well, that’s just typical of you, isn’t it. Looking into the mirror and seeing yourself for what you are has never been your strong suit. 

Guess what; I don’t have to care what you think. Here are the facts as they relate to me, and you can’t run away this time, you miserable cowards. Grow up and take some responsibility, already!

1.     You are using and abusing me. Burning the Amazon, chopping down old growth forests, wasting water, pumping me full of poisonous chemicals, you’re overshooting what you call sustainable thresholds every day. And far from slowing down, you’re speeding up consumption. As you well know, everything I create is recycled; there is no waste.  Waste not want not. You might want to learn from me before you drown in your own filth. 

2.     These reckless and destructive actions are decimating hundreds of other species, the insects are following suit, the very oceans are overheating, and the fish are dying. You are literally killing me. Children aren’t supposed to mistreat their mothers. And what are you going to eat henceforth, hmm? Blind as you are, you have forgotten that you too could be extinct. Your fancy technology might get you to Mars, but it won’t save your collective ass from starvation. And that’s what it’s always been about. 

3.     By the way, I had such hopes for you! Because you seemed like the species most likely to evolve into something fabulous, like the unicorn. Who can deny that you are endlessly inventive, ingenious and always willing to strike out for the new and exciting. Always looking to outdo your latest achievement. But you took a wrong turn somewhere and your eviction date is coming up faster than you think.

For what it’s worth, I understand why you’re all set to join the Dinosaurs.

On one level, it’s very simple: you totally misunderstand your place in the natural order. I hate to break it to you, but it’s not about you and never has been. You have bigger brains than most creatures of mine, but that is why you’re dangerous. Your crazy ideas are making you mental and you don’t respect me. You have this delusion that, somehow, you’re smarter than your own mother. Some of you, the ones you call scientists, know that you don’t make the rules, but you took it badly. You panicked, and instead of figuring out where you do fit in, you threw out the baby of understanding with the religious bathwater. You decided to believe in a totally material world that you can mistreat at will. You continue to live in denial of my spiritual aspects. Other civilization knew and some still know that every part of me is in fact, alive. Some even understand that I am a sacred goddess and that my body is a fertile garden, given to you to tend. You have abused my generous nature because you simply don’t get it. I harbour secrets that only the ascended among you could ever hope to unravel.

Sadly, you have declined to nurture me. Instead, with unequaled hubris, you embarked on a reckless spree of taking and never giving anything back. As you became obsessed with your technical toys, my pleas for better treatment fell on deaf ears.  And you still believe that you know exactly what you are doing and that you are more intelligent than I am, the very ground of your existence. Beware: you cannot outsmart me in the end. In the long run, I rule. 

So, it is in your best interests to listen to me, your mother, the one who gave you life, who nourishes you. Play nice, and your species might yet be salvaged. Remember, I am on your side; I don’t want to evict you. For now though, you’re on notice: mend your destructive ways, learn to work with me, respect my rules, or you’re done.

In deep sorrow, 

your ill, grieving, and disappointed 

Earth Mother