Chris Jepson: Laughing our way to extinction

Oftentimes in life the question is not whether it is going to hurt, but rather how much.

The vague sense of unease I’ve experienced the past 45 years over the decline of Earth’s ecology has finally, thanks to the “Happy Days” idiom, “jumped the shark.” I have used the idea that having first-class deck chairs on the Titanic was of small consolation as the ship sank. How provincial. That is so yesterday. What we’re seeing today is Baccarat champagne flutes, Krug 1988, a little orchestral background music and laughter. And, why not? The party ain’t nearly over.

How does one balance what one understands about Earth’s ecology, that there are too many humans at the trough and that what we call progress for “our” species has been unequivocally devastating to the planet?

On one hand, the Industrial Revolution has made toaster-ovens and SUVs oh-so essential, but at great expense to our air, land and water. Whether or not you believe in climate change is incidental to me – denial is indeed an option – no one, however, can legitimately argue that human activity is not eliminating entire species of flora and fauna at ever-accelerating rates.

I was watching “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” last week as he interviewed Elizabeth Kolbert, author of “The Sixth Extinction.” Granted, “The Daily Show” is comedy, yet Stewart’s topics are seldom funny. Stewart uses humor, sarcasm and derision to comment on today’s political, social and economic realities. I recommend his show.

Elizabeth Kolbert was making the point that human activity is leading to a sixth extinction. It is a sobering account of what we humans have wrought for the planet and that we continue do so at our peril. Environmentalist Paul Ehrlich described human activity thusly: "In pushing other species to extinction, humanity is busy sawing off the limb on which it perches."

Hahaha! Too funny, the human condition. Stewart made an observation about Kolbert’s premise (human activity/specie loss) and then, sarcastically under his breath, said something to the effect that we might as well, “Laugh our way to extinction.” And, I thought, “Hey, uncork the champagne!”

This was a TV first for me. That a public conversation suggested that 1) A mass extinction caused by human activity is underway; 2) It’s inexorable, we really can’t stop it even if we try; and 3) What the hell, we might as well laugh about it. No one up to this point in any conversation I’ve ever listened to suggested chuckling might be an appropriate response to our killing the planet.

I suppose it is gallows humor. We’re all gonna swing, might as well hope it doesn’t rain, huh?

Part of me greatly admires that most human of qualities, the ability to laugh at the tragic. I do. We humans are a resilient lot.

I could list what we’ve lost, what we’re losing and some will say, “Ho-hum, I was never going to make it to the Great Barrier Reef, anyway,” or, “Hey, I’m recycling, what more can I do?” And that is the cruel rub, even if we scrubbed clean the environment of our Industrial Revolution(s), 2 billion more human beings are coming on line (this century) wanting their toaster ovens, SUVs, air-conditioning and lipstick.

No amount of laughter will make the world more palatable when the monarch butterfly is no more. The question is not whether, but rather.