Earth Hour - Notification of non participation

This March 28th, there is a body of folk who will be switching off their electricity and sitting in the dark to 'celebrate' (Although if that's their idea of a party - I truly don't want an invitation) 'Earth Hour'. Mine's a Single Malt.

For my part, I shall be quietly enjoying the alternative event, strangely enough at exactly the same time, called 'Human acheivement hour'. In blessing counting mode I shall be mindful that humanity has overcome many things (Wars, plague etc) to survive and prosper over the past few millenia. Members of my species have stood on another world and explored others remotely. Our view of the Universe is immense, yet many of us still acknowledge that we have far to go.

There are those who would posit that humanity is bad and therefore doomed to extinction, and the sooner the better, dragging the rest of us down to the gutter in which they would have us live. I say humanity can do more, and we are on the edge of a new era of wonders. Not that we regognise all the benefits of recent advantages. Could you do without your mobile phone or Internet? Would life be more or less rich? Could we feed the planet properly without the advances in agriculture?

Not that the social studies student types who insist all those who want progress are 'bad' will listen; for no matter how many modern conveniences are created, no matter how much disease is consigned to the history books by advances in medicine, no matter how far we can see towards the edge of creation; they will always project their own personal guilt trip onto the rest of us. These are the creators of 'Earth Hour'. The anti-science faction. The self haters who have the bizarre psychic dichotomy of loathing their fellow humans, while publicly espousing 'love for all humanity'. The social flagellants whose only contribution to the betterment of humanity is a memory of their constant negative whining.

I say we should celebrate the technology that makes most of modern life practical. Salute the pioneers of medicine, agriculture, and other useful technologies. I shall be raising a glass to them all on the 28th of March with the lights on, and a full table, recognising that without these advances, we'd all be sitting in mud huts in the dark. Bugger 'Earth Hour'.