Modern society is all about speed: fast cars, fast trains, fast planes, fast computers, fast Internet, fast everything. It seems that life itself is accelerating to move at the speed of the Internet. Speed has become the sine qua non of modern life. Why?
The following dialogue is between two chimpanzees named Abu and Mabu: I use A and M to distinguish the speaker.
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M: The image of that human on the walking machine, walking faster and faster and getting nowhere just won't go away.
A: We already had that discussion.
M: I know, but there's something about it that intrigues me.
A: It's a futile activity, what else is there to it?
M: It's beyond futility. It's like an image of human progress itself.
A: What do you mean?
M: Humans seem to always want to move faster. From walking in the forest like us, they went to riding horses, then trains, cars and planes: always trying to get to where they're going faster.
A: Ironically, they've now reached the point where their fast cars don't help much because their roads are clogged with them, even horses could move faster!
M: I don't understand why they need so many cars, but that's another issue.
A: Humans are contaminating the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat. Fortunately, we don't live in their cities, or we would be dead from all the pollution they create.
M: You're right about the health effects, but my question is, "Why does speed matter so much to them? What does it gain them?"
A: Walking and running works fine for us, it should suffice for them too, but I suppose speed is an important element of their race to destroy the world. It seems that for them the sooner they do the job the better!
M: When I was in captivity, they would say I'm going to the store to buy bread, or milk, or cigarettes, or whatever, and every time they went by car. And this happened several times a day. Each time, they could have easily walked the distance! What benefit does speed give them?
A: It helps them destroy Mother Earth faster. In fact, all their technological progress helps them achieve that objective. And talking of speed, humans have harvested more trees in the last one hundred years, than in the previous one thousand, and the same is true for fossil fuels and minerals!
M: If they don't scale back their activities soon, there won't be any forests left and all of us will disappear, including them.
A: Why aren't they concerned about the imminent demise of life on earth?
M: They're too busy with their daily lives to see beyond their noses. They've become totally disconnected from nature. The vast majority live in artificial habitats completely cut off from it and can't hear or see the painful convulsions they're causing it.
A: We can't be the only ones to feel Mother Earth's anguish. Some humans must hear and see it as well.
M: The few that still enjoy nature most likely do. They would hear the cries for help and must be as concerned as us. They can see that humanity's fast-paced lifestyle is not sustainable, but their voices must be barely audible above the cacophony of cars and trucks getting nowhere fast, and the hum of busy factories and screeching jets above them.
A: I guess the ruling classes either have hearing difficulties, or are too busy counting all their money!
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The ruling classes not only have no interest in listening, they actively support propaganda to the contrary, and deny the truth daily. Their objective is to mislead the masses into believing that everything is fine, and that scaling back industrial activity would hurt workers more than them.
Each of us has the power to change lifestyle, but the relentless, greed-based brainwashing we're subjected to daily clouds our thinking. Confusion reigns and we can't see the obvious: by slowing down our pace of life we could work less, be healthier and enjoy life more. Instead, we continue to move faster in order to have the latest gadgets that others want us to have, which profit them but chain us to our treadmills.
If that was all, it wouldn't be so bad, but our fast-paced modern life, with our foot solidly on the accelerator, is killing us and destroying the planet. Sadly, many animal species have already disappeared and many more are on the verge of extinction. We can't be too far behind!
BINABASA MO ANG
The Crazy Apes: A Satire of Human Society
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