In the classic video game Space Invaders, the player must defend the earth from aliens bent on taking over the planet. The aliens start in five rows of 11 and gradually move down the screen at ever-increasing speed. When they reach the bottom, you die and take the rest of the planet with you.
To save the world, you must shoot the most imminent, dire threat first – the aliens in the first row – then move on to the next, and the next, and so on. There's very little to gain from targeting the aliens at the farthest distance away while dismissing the real threat that's already upon the player. Here's how this might apply to saving the world today:
Take a look at the threats facing us below, shown in no particular order. Then rank them in your head in order of threat level – is it a problem already causing harm right now that demands our attention or is it a potential problem that may or may not cause harm down the road?
Nearly 1 million homeless in America suffering, freezing, starving to death in the street link
100,000 die every year in America while in a hospital under a doctor's care from ordinary, preventable mistakes - oops! link
Our own U.S. military is world's largest polluter – even worse than China - contaminating water, air, and soil all over the planet, causing massive disease and suffering for millions, plus the ocean pollution
Family farms continue to be targeted for destruction and takeover by big corporations with government support link
100,000+ die every year in America while in a hospital under a doctor's care from FDA-approved prescription drugs used as directed link
Police officers continue to shoot and kill upwards of 600 Americans every year, injure 250,000 more - often innocent bystanders link
Any of the people being harmed by these actual events and situations happening right now worthy of being taken more seriously than other events and situations that get bigger headlines? But wait! There's more:
$100 billion/year of our taxes are taken and funneled to big corporations as subsidies while the working poor are told pick themselves up by their bootstraps link
FDA-approved injections taken as directed under a doctor's care cause hundreds of thousands of deaths, injuries and diseases as documented in VAERS federal government database link
Thousands of people suffer in prison for years for marijuana possession – even after widespread legalization - why haven't they been released?
The climate might be warming
Surveillance cameras spy on ordinary Americans nearly everywhere at all times yet never seem to prevent or catch terrorists or mass shooters
Police officers steal more $$$ as civil asset forfeiture per year than all the other criminals steal combined link
I was told to save the earth from a young age - first by the theme song to Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster - called "Save the Earth" - then I had to look out for the new ice age due to global cooling. Later I had to do my part to stop the hole in the ozone layer. As I was conditioned to save the planet from a young age, it might be time to ask, "just what threat exactly are we saving the world from?"
Seems to make more sense to help real people who are suffering real harm right now as you read this – we could make a dramatic difference in their lives and see it happen in real-time - rather than pour our angst and effort into uphill battles against threats that may or may not threaten anyone for years or decades.
Several of the threats described above are already destroying the people of Earth. Targeting the less immediate threats first while watching, ignoring, or dismissing the actual threats now doing harm is no way to win at Space Invaders - it's game over.
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