Toastmasters Speech No. 5: " We Don't Need to Save the Earth"

By Christopher Siena, TM

It’s annoying. It’s annoying when people talk about “saving the Earth.” Those so called “environmentalists” really did it. They brain-washed the population into thinking that the earth needs to be saved. Stop for a moment and think. Do we really need to save the earth? I don’t so and here are my reasons:

1. We can’t. When we pollute the air around us with toxic gases or dump garbage in the rivers, will the earth die? No. But we will…

The earth will continue living with or without us. Simply said, the earth does not need us. Thinking of saving the earth is an arrogant attempt of man to “control” the environment. But the truth is we don’t control the environment. We simply can’t.

2. The thought of saving the earth is not just arrogant, it’s also insincere. Think about it. If an incineration plant (which pollutes the air) is constructed near our homes, we suddenly become vigilant environmentalist lobbying against incineration and its dangers to the earth’s atmosphere. But, if a golf course is constructed near our homes, we welcome it with open arms thinking that it will increase the land value of our properties. However, when you think about it, golf courses like incineration plants pollute our environment. The fertilizers used in making the grasses green are dumped in the sewage system causing abnormal growth of microorganisms that cause water pollution in rivers and seas.

Bottomline – if the pollutant decreases the land value of our properties, it’s bad but if the pollutant increases the land value, we welcome it with open arms. How insincere can we get?

3. It’s not about salvation. It’s about novelty. We don’t want to save the earth. We want the earth to be our personal theme park. We want to save endangered species because it’s the novel thing to do – it gives us bragging rights to say that “we have this species of bird and you don’t.” We brag about the majestic and endangered monkey-eating eagle but we don’t give a hoot about the lonely, fat pig. When, in fact, pigs are one of our staple foods.

When you think about it more than 90% of extinct species of animals in the world is not caused by humans. The dinosaurs became extinct. We didn’t kill them. It’s normal for animals to become extinct due to their inability to adapt to the changing environment. It’s just how things work. We want to preserve these animals not because we care about them but because these animals are collections that boost our ever-growing egos. Imagine yourself owning an endangered species of bird – you can brag about it, saying that your bird is big and majestic. Most importantly, it’s endangered. You can charge tourists to view your bird. If you think about it, it is just another arrogant and insincere attempt to think highly of ourselves. Plus, it a money maker.

I have a theory. If we kill 99.99% of the population of fat and lonely pigs in the planet, we will think differently of pigs. We will give more importance to pigs than we give to eagles. Think about it. If there’s such a thing as “animal racism” that’s one perfect example. It’s arrogant and insincere. It’s narrow and unenlightened self interest – nothing else.

Fellow toastmasters and guests, don’t get me wrong. I am not against environmentalism. I believe that we should stop pollution or at least minimize it because we want to survive. . Let’s do it for the right reasons. Let’s not save the environment. Instead, let’s save ourselves. Only when we acknowledge the fact that we are dependent on the environment instead of thinking that the environment is dependent on us, will we be able to truly understand – the earth does not need salvation but we do…