Chapter 8:

Rebuttal to a Bumpersticker

As I was driving home from work yesterday I noticed a bumpersticker on the car ahead of me. It read:

"I pledge allegiance to our Mother Earth... one world, indivisible."

And this sat wrong with me in so many ways.

Don't take me wrong, I believe it is our duty to conserve our environment and to protect the natural habitats of endangered animals, and not burning old tires (as celebrants did at the first "Earth Day" celebration) but what sat wrong with me was that word: indivisible.


The word indivisible beans it can not be divided, and that it is not now divided.

Saying the earth is indivisible is a false statement.

Even if we neglect the human element of how people are divided (politically, socio-economically, religiously), and merely look at Earth and her other trillions of creatures, we can still say this earth is divided.

• Geographically: Everyone knows the main contenants and islands are not connected -- America does not border Australia, Africa does not touch Japan -- but are seperated by water.
• Geologically: there are major dividing lines running throughout this world in the form of major cracks which spew forth lava, and give us earthquakes -- faults. These are natural boarders and seperations.
• Zoologically: The animals on this planet are seperated from other species, and many can only survive in their own climate, and can not move from that zone without serious reprucussions (i.e., a whale on land = death).
• Climatologically: There are zones of certain climates across this world which will not blend with others (i.e., an iceburg will never be found in the Sahara).
• Meteorologically: The weather patterns of this earth are case speciffic depending on climate, geography, etc. -- you will never see a tornado at the north pole.
• Botanically: The plant life of this great world is localized by type. Certain kinds of forests are only found in certain locations of this world (no rain-forests in northern Canada), and not in others... ever.

So by saying our planet is "indivisible," what the maker of those bumperstickers is really saying is:"I haven't studied my world very much."And, in so saying, proves that he/she is driven by blind ignorance in their determination to "save the world."
Listen people, if you are going to fight for a cause, get the facts. If you want to save the rainforests, don't telly me that 13 billion acres of land a day are being deforested, because, frankly, logistically, it is impossible. Don't tell me that the spotted owl can only live in hundred-or-so year-old trees, and don't tell me that they can not adapt to other types of forestry, because, if you hold to evolution (which most of the environmentalists I have seen do), you believe that aniumals adapt to their environment -- therefore, if you tus believe, you are hampering evolution of a species.

As for me, I will continue to stay away from hairspray, will continue to recycle, and to not print out pamphlets about how to save the world on non-recycled paper like so many "environmentalists."

I do my share, you do yours: research.