Are you trying to alleviate suffering?

[Wootah]

Do you think people that are trying to save the world (eg: fight climate change) are trying to alleviate suffering?

[Divine Insight]

I can't speak for other people. However, I totally support taking action to reverse the damage we have done to our planet's atmosphere. My reasons for supporting this stem from my love of our planet and nature, and concern for the long-term survival of humanity on planet earth.

I really don't think of this in terms of trying to alleviate suffering. I also have to confess that I'm sometimes not thoroughly convinced that humanity as a whole is worth saving. But when I think like that I need to keep reminding myself that we might eventually evolve to become more intelligent overall. Although it certainly doesn't currently appear that we are heading in that direction. To the contrary, sometimes it appears that we are actually devolving. And that may actually be true. Only time will tell.

Although, without an inhabitable planet time isn't going to do much good. So keeping spaceship Earth in good running condition is clearly a high priority if we're going to even think about the long-term survival of the human species. So paying attention to the quality of our thin atmosphere is paramount to the survival of our species.

[Bust Nak]

[Replying to post 1 by Wootah]
Of course.

[Wootah]

[Replying to Bust Nak]

Yes but what if in order to save the world we have to reduce the human population by half?

[Wootah]

[Replying to post 2 by Divine Insight]

If you have to pick between the planet or the people what do you pick?

[Bust Nak]

Yes but what if in order to save the world we have to reduce the human population by half?

Then we reduce it while alleviating as much suffering as possible.

[Wootah]

[Replying to Bust Nak]

What would you suggest we do?

[Bust Nak]

What would you suggest we do?

Start educating girls/women, empower them to be more than breeders in deprived areas; improve medical care to decrease infant mortality rate; easy access to birth control.

[JP Cusick]

Do you think people that are trying to save the world (eg: fight climate change) are trying to alleviate suffering?

I say no - that is not accurate.

In fact I do not see any one trying to save the world in any way - is thereby trying to alleviate suffering.

It is more like driving our car safely - because we want to preserve our car and our self - and the point is not to just to avoid having a painful crash.

If a person was really trying to avoid the suffering of a crash - then they would not drive, and would not fly, nor do any dangerous activity.

If the car crash does happen - then we try to salvage what we can.

We want to save the earth because we like the earth - and not because we are afraid or avoiding the destruction or the suffering which would come.

In fact if the world does get destroyed or just polluted beyond our health - then I figure most people would hope that there will be great suffering to humanity because we deserve the suffering.