When will humans figure out what to do about humans?

Henry David Thoreau’s journal entry of March 22, 1861 states, “When we consider… how soon some species of trees would become full-grown trees, how soon fishes would fill the ocean if all their ova became full grown fishes, we are tempted to say that every organism, whether animal or vegetable, is contending for the possession of the planet.

“Nature opposes to this many obstacles, as climate, myriads of brute and also human foes, and of competitors…

“Each suggests an immense and wonderful greediness and tenacity of life…”

Well, humans have been too damn greedy and tenacious.

Many people, such as republicans and lumberjacks, are willing to wipe out species, such as the spotted owl, in the name of economies, such as that of small Wyoming towns.

There are many things on which I agree with Republicans on. One thing involves taxes. If I work hard for my paycheck, I don’t want most of it given away to some welfare mooch.

That is why I am in favor of the welfare bill the republican congress and Clinton passed. I want welfare money to go to those who need it.

I don’t mind paying my taxes as long as the government can spend it properly, alas it’s a pipe dream to think they can spend it that way.

But all of our economic greediness and bureaucratic tenacity pale in light of the environment issue. That, above all, is most important.

If I were a Christian coalition conservative extremist freakezoid, I’d still vote democrat because the republicans are willing to destroy the environment in the name of big oil, logging companies and the economies of little podunk towns.

Why can’t the lumberjacks get a different job? It’s not like they had to go to school for eight years to learn how to chop down trees. They can go work at McDonald’s.

I hear they are going to be hiring really soon in the Ames area.

I once watched “Politically Incorrect” when Bill Maher discussed the removal of our nation’s forests.

They had some big republican the size of a sequoia who said, “There are more trees in America now than when the Mayflower landed at Plymouth Rock.”

Then Ed Begley, Jr., of “St. Elsewhere” fame said, “Yeah, you’re probably right. Trees, but not forests.” This is because the many trees are all on tree farms.

The trees on these farms where there once were forests were probably bred by some Iowa State horticulturalists, who had the best intentions, to grow incredibly fast so there wouldn’t be enough time for a squirrel to hide its nuts in them before the loggers get out the chainsaws.

My parents moved from Iowa to Missouri four years ago so they could own a cheap but rather scenic piece of property on a man-made lake.

They have a lot of trees on their property, and — just to show you how basically dumb rednecks are — their neighbors, who are mostly southern republicans, continually offer to cut their trees down for them.

“You got some nice firewood there,” they say. My dad always says, “But I like those trees. That’s why I bought this place.”

Still, their chainsaws are always oiled, gassed and ready just in case Dad changes his mind.

I think we should worry more about trees dying than people dying. I say let the Bosnians, Croats and Serbs fight it out.

Instead, we should send our troops to Brazil, Indonesia and Zaire to stop the destruction of the rain forests.

Jack Handey of Deep Thoughts once said, “Would we be so cavalier about chopping down trees if they screamed? Maybe if they screamed all the time we would.”

The world’s human population is growing so fast that some day it will reach the earth’s carrying capacity — the point at which the environment can no longer support any more of a certain species.

Afterward there is always a huge dieback, often to near extinction (or extinction itself).

Go look it up in a biology textbook.

When this happens there will be lots of human suffering, and I don’t care. People don’t mean crap when there are lots of them, but when there’s only a few members of a species left, then the members of that species, such as spotted owls, become priceless.

Basically, if I died tomorrow: no big deal. If all the banks in America are someday owned by the four major banks: so what?

If humans continue to destroy Mother Earth: Yikes!!

Tim Frerking is a senior in journalism mass communication from Pomeroy.