The Crazy Apes: A Satire of Human Society

The More the Better

Humans have lived like our distant cousins, the chimps, for a few million years. Only a few thousand years ago did our paths diverge, when we came out of the forest and started building cities. That was the beginning of consumerism, and we haven't looked back since. The amount that we consume has been rising exponentially, on the premise that if a little is good more is better. If we consider modern life as the last few thousand years, than less than one tenth of one percent of human existence has been spent in modernity. On the other hand, if we define modern life as being ushered in by the industrial revolution, then that fraction becomes one in ten thousand. Modern living, as we know it today, is but a drop in the bucket of human existence!

Some may argue that we consume too much and others that we don't consume enough. To some extent, it depends on which end of the economic spectrum one is in. However, there can be no denying that, in most countries, consumerism is government policy. It's based on the faulty premise that a rising tide raises all boats: big and small. Therefore, governments pump up the economy to prop up consumer spending because they want us to believe that it benefits everyone equally. It's a myth!

The following dialogue is between two chimpanzees named Abu and Mabu: I use A and M to distinguish the speaker.

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A: Why do humans have so many gadgets? No other animal has any, including us, their distant cousins!

M: Abu, you always ask interesting questions. As you know, eons ago humans lived just like the rest of us, enjoying the freedom of the wilderness and rummaging the forests for food. Of course, we would never give up this lifestyle, but they did. Alas, they abandoned it for artificial habitats and their lives changed irrevocably.

A: How did it happen? Why did they change so much? Is it their superior intellect?

M: You sure have a lot of questions, but I don't know the answers. All I can say is that they're risk takers and they love to innovate: they always search for ways of making a better mousetrap.

A: I think that explains it. Their penchant for making things better always causes them to come up with different gadgets, and that's why they have so many, and when newer ones supersede what they have, they throw them out and buy the latest. Don't they know that their practice is wasteful?

M: They're living in a different world now. In their world, more is better: more consumption, more waste, more of everything. It's a world of more, more, more. Of course, we know that it can't go on like this, but they don't. They're so obsessed with producing more mousetraps, they can't see beyond their noses.

A: Clearly, moving from the forest was a watershed event, but they abandoned self-independence for interdependence. They all depend on each other for life's essentials.

M: When humans left the forests, they got together and agreed that, rather than each growing and catching their own food and building their shelters, they would specialize. Some would hunt wild animals, some would fish, some would grow wheat, some would build shelters, some would make clothes, and etcetera. Specialization had one really good advantage. The person doing the same task day in and day out would allow him, or her, to be more efficient, and thus more productive.

A: I can see it now. Because they were more productive they manufactured and consumed in excess. With each increase in productivity aided by technological developments, they made more and consumed more: a vicious cycle that continuous to this day.

M: We see it as a vicious cycle leading to ultimate destruction of forests, our habitat and that of other animals. They see it as essential to maintain their new lifestyle. It's become a real rat race for them.

A: It's idiotic! Why can't they see it?

M: It's partly their fault as consumers and partly their fault as producers. Consumers are happy when they buy new gadgets; and producers are happy when they sell them: and, of course, the more the better for each side.

A: I see. Their focus is too narrow to see the entire picture. Each side looks at what makes them happy, and nobody looks at what they're doing to Mother Earth. That's really crazy!

M: I agree. It's crazy, but it's also ironic. Their techology had given them the opportunity to work less, enjoy life more, and live in harmony with nature; and they fell for the mindless consumption trap.

A: The bigger irony is that we all suffer from their greed. Destruction of forests and endless waste and pollution is not affecting just them!

M: You're absolutely right Abu, the losers are all of us, but the biggest losers are Mother Earth and future generations. They will be stuck with all the disadvantages, such as a severely contaminated environment, and none of the presumed advantages of consumption because by then, there may be nothing left to consume!

A: That's an important observation, Mabu. Ironically, for all their superior intellect, humans are amazingly shortsighted. They don't live up to the name they gave themselves. Homo sapiens my foot! Homo stultus would have been far more appropriate!

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We've come a long, long way from our days in the forest and we've come a long, long way to the edge of the precipice. The only question now is, do we follow the herd mentality and go over the precipice as lemmings do? Or do we uses our superior intellect and simply say, "It's time to back off and change course!"