Mankind has many enemies, not the least of which is
himself. What is remarkable is the list
of enemies crosses multiple scales of physical dimensions, psychological
dimensions, and biological dimensions.
When added up, the enemies list is long with dangers striking from
everywhere. The short list of sources includes himself, nature, species,
toxins, microorganisms, and more. Many are new, with the list of enemies growing
as do we. For example, a list only
thirty years ago would not include the prion (of mad cow disease fame).
In fact, the more you know about the agency
of humans the more enemies you can find, and they become ever more lethal. The
more you know about our world, the more threats you can perceive. Enemies for
the metallurgist, the biologist, the climatologist, the naturalist, and so on
are in abundance.
Reading this very general list, one may wonder how we make
it through life. Compound this with companion lists at the various life stages,
and your wonder expands. It's seems life is a mortal gauntlet we all traverse, sprinting at times, tip-toeing at others.
Enemies List
Enemies are everywhere, all around us, ever present in
whatever we do. We navigate our lives to avoid them, but all too many are
beyond personal control. Our governments
protect us from a few, but create others.
The living world, which gives us food, also gives us enemies seeking our
destruction. The living world as well
faces enemies, and these affect us indirectly.
From war to crop failure, from cancer to dementia, from
poverty to predators, we face these enemies every day of our lives. Modern technology has cured many but has
created many more. And yes, organized government
is a early form of social technology.
Medical science is newer and has helped living, but it has also created
consequences every bit as devastating as war. The sun creates but also
destroys, depending on dosage. Our oceans and waterways provide needed
nutrients but also kill with alternative offerings of disease and predation. Even
planet Earth, in its not understood machinations, works to our demise through weather,
volcanos, an assortment of blights, and cyclical menaderings on multiple
scales.
We consider the “enemies list” for us humans who live here.
Our most dangerous killer enemy is no less than ourselves. Nature kills us in numbers, though we kill ourselves
in even greater numbers. And we’ve not even come to plagues and pestilence.
This is not a story of an alien species writing a cookbook,
“To Serve Man,” as posited decades ago in a famous “The Twilight Zone” episode.
It is a story of how “We Kill Man” right here at home. Our enemies list is
simple: Himself, Nature, Species, Microorganisms, and Toxins.
1)
Himself
a)
War
b)
Violence, e.g. revolution, anarchy, murder, …
c)
Malaise, e.g. blame, depression
d)
Machinery
e)
Age
i)
Physical disintegration
ii)
Mental disintegration
f)
Disease
i)
Cancer, Hepatitis, etc
ii)
Dementia
iii)
Abnormal growths/deteriorations
iv)
Drugs, opioids, depressives, stimulants
g)
Government
i)
Poverty
ii)
High taxes
iii)
Corruption
iv)
Repressive policing, executions, prisons,
torture
v)
Confused, contradictory policies
vi)
Malaise, e.g. laziness, regulations
2)
Nature
a)
Hurricanes, typhoons, et al.
b)
Volcanic
c)
Climate
i)
Glaciation, cooling
ii)
Warming
iii)
Drought
iv)
Flood
d)
Pollution
e)
Crop failure
f)
Fire
g)
Radiation - ozone, sunspots, etc.
3)
Species
a)
Predators - large
i)
Physical
ii)
Venomous
iii)
Insects, e.g. ants, locusts, mosquito
b)
Predators - small
i)
Parasites
ii)
Saprophytes
iii)
Blights
iv)
Infections
4)
Microscopic organisms - epidemics, plagues, pandemics,
plus transmission and contagion
a)
Bacterial
b)
Fungal
c)
Viral
d)
Prion
5)
Toxins
a)
Metals
b)
Other materials/chemical
c)
Bacterial related
d)
Infections
6)
Etc.
a)
Self-inflicted
b)
Radiation – earth, plus solar and cosmic
c)
Meteors, asteroids
d)
Other extra-terrestrial
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