Compared to our distant cousins, the chimpanzees, we humans have made immeasurable progress. We truly have left them in the dust!
But more and more, our measure of progress is becoming outdated. Years ago, our standard of living, as a society, was closely correlated with its gross domestic product, or simply GDP. It was assumed that rising GDP ensured a rising standard of living, which we also equated to a rising quality of life. And during my youth that seemed to be the case. However, we have now reached the point where rising GDP no longer means a better quality of life. In fact, the opposite is true.
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 is it that humans are so focused on consumption?
M: It would appear that increased consumption is engraved in their DNA. It's what distinguishes them from us.
A: I suppose they believe that the more they consume the better off they are.
M: Of course, but not everyone is better off. Their quest for ever rising consumption is leaving behind casualties.
A: What do you mean?
M: Look at their polluted cities. Would you want to live in them, being exposed to sickening fumes day in and day out?
A: Certainly not.
M: Look at the number of homeless people left behind to freeze to death. How can they allow that to happen to their own brothers and sisters?
A: Yes. That's really inhumane. People shouldn't die from lack of food and shelter when others have so much. Why do those who have so much turn their backs on those who have so little? Aren't they all created equal?
M: It appears that they only have one goal in mind: they're own self-aggrandizement! Each one of them wants to be better than the others: that's what seems to drive them. They work so tirelessly to seek superiority that they can't even see the collective harm they're causing to everyone.
A: That's true. Everything they do to satisfy their consumption hunger destroys our habitat and contaminates our environment. So, we're also casualties.
M: We don't matter at all to them, but shouldn't they show concern for what they're doing to each other and the environment? Why would they harm themselves just to be better than others? It's really hard to understand that!
A: Well. I keep telling you: humans are simply crazy apes!
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Other than a rising standard of living, here's what rising GDP has done for us in the last five or six decades:
More inequality between rich and poor;
More air pollution;
More water pollution;
More contaminated food;
Increased use of antibiotics in meat;
Increased use of genetically-modified foods;
More people living in poverty;
More homeless people; and
Increased dependency ratio: those who don't work/those who work.
All of these have contributed to declining health.
How do we know that?
In the same period, there's been a corresponding increase in the use of prescription drugs for ailments such as: depression, high blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol, allergies, anxiety, and numerous others.
I call that regress, not progress. We can have fantastic technical progress, but when we pay for it with our health, it's worthless!
That notwithstanding, the governing elites have focused solely on rising GDP because it's strongly correlated to rising profits; and to them, nothing else matters!
Isn't it time for governments to focus on quality of life as a governing principle? What good is a higher GDP when it deteriorates our health? After all, isn't good health our number one priority?
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The Crazy Apes: A Satire of Human Society
RandomA baby gorilla asks his father, "What are humans?" The father replies, "They are monkeys without hair, who believe they are masters of everything around them. They build shelters that go up to the sky. Their ego and greed know no limits and take fro...
