The Fall of Man
Mankind’s tenure on the earth was only ever temporary. Any species which exists will either go extinct by and by, or in smaller numbers develop into a new species. And so it was for man. After 1.5 million years on earth, Homo sapiens became extinct.
Why? The combination of consumption of the earth’s resources, pollution, manmade climate change, and over-population which is so apparent in the 21st century only got worse as the centuries wore on. Habitats degraded beyond recognition, resources dwindled, climates became more extreme, and land for farming became increasingly smaller from the encroachment of cities and towns. Pressure on other species from humanity resulted in the loss of many familiar, charismatic animal groups. Rhinos, elephants, apes, large cetaceans, wild bovids, big cats, raptorial birds of prey, penguins, all among the fallen in the final blow of this sixth mass extinction. Mankind was still pulling along, but steadily the global biosphere was collapsing.
At this stage, poverty, overpopulation, terrorism, epidemics and war became even more prevalent as resources became more and more scarce, and living standards went down. Mankind saw a new dark age, where only governments and a select wealthy few had access to any useful technology, and most people lived in shanty towns or the repurposed husks of large buildings once used for industry or business. From its unprecedented highs, mankind’s population started to dwindle, whittled down among the masses falling to untreated diseases in slums, or the civil wars fought over the remaining resources. Mankind was like a nest of rats in a sinking ship.
In this unstable time, society had broken down, a lawless populace lacking cohesion led to a free-for-all. People would kill each-other over access to food or water, or drugs, or technological luxuries such as radios. The governments of this time resembled the governments of any unstable or theocratic country of today, civil war was common, and amongst this the common man and the world outside of power struggles took a backseat. In this political climate, a sudden spate of large-scale bomb attacks pitted the East and West against one another, many able-bodied men and women were consigned in this last great world war.
Of course, in a war among desperate men over meagre resources, there was no winner. The bomb attacks and ground-conflict took the lives of millions of people who would otherwise have been reproducing, this coupled to the poor living conditions of the remaining humans, began to tip mankind over the edge. In the aftermath government, however useless, was abandoned altogether. The remaining people lived out their lives in the lawless crumbling shells of cities and towns, before finally; a particularly bad epidemic dealt the final blow.
As the last pockets of humanity succumbed to disease and poverty, it could be seen that the husks of buildings and infrastructure were crumbling from decades of disuse, weeds and vermin were everywhere. Rats, opossums, stray cats, pigeons, gulls, all scavenging off the corpses and refuse of a dead society.
From this tragic low, there came peace, and the potential for prosperity, but not for man.
Why? The combination of consumption of the earth’s resources, pollution, manmade climate change, and over-population which is so apparent in the 21st century only got worse as the centuries wore on. Habitats degraded beyond recognition, resources dwindled, climates became more extreme, and land for farming became increasingly smaller from the encroachment of cities and towns. Pressure on other species from humanity resulted in the loss of many familiar, charismatic animal groups. Rhinos, elephants, apes, large cetaceans, wild bovids, big cats, raptorial birds of prey, penguins, all among the fallen in the final blow of this sixth mass extinction. Mankind was still pulling along, but steadily the global biosphere was collapsing.
At this stage, poverty, overpopulation, terrorism, epidemics and war became even more prevalent as resources became more and more scarce, and living standards went down. Mankind saw a new dark age, where only governments and a select wealthy few had access to any useful technology, and most people lived in shanty towns or the repurposed husks of large buildings once used for industry or business. From its unprecedented highs, mankind’s population started to dwindle, whittled down among the masses falling to untreated diseases in slums, or the civil wars fought over the remaining resources. Mankind was like a nest of rats in a sinking ship.
In this unstable time, society had broken down, a lawless populace lacking cohesion led to a free-for-all. People would kill each-other over access to food or water, or drugs, or technological luxuries such as radios. The governments of this time resembled the governments of any unstable or theocratic country of today, civil war was common, and amongst this the common man and the world outside of power struggles took a backseat. In this political climate, a sudden spate of large-scale bomb attacks pitted the East and West against one another, many able-bodied men and women were consigned in this last great world war.
Of course, in a war among desperate men over meagre resources, there was no winner. The bomb attacks and ground-conflict took the lives of millions of people who would otherwise have been reproducing, this coupled to the poor living conditions of the remaining humans, began to tip mankind over the edge. In the aftermath government, however useless, was abandoned altogether. The remaining people lived out their lives in the lawless crumbling shells of cities and towns, before finally; a particularly bad epidemic dealt the final blow.
As the last pockets of humanity succumbed to disease and poverty, it could be seen that the husks of buildings and infrastructure were crumbling from decades of disuse, weeds and vermin were everywhere. Rats, opossums, stray cats, pigeons, gulls, all scavenging off the corpses and refuse of a dead society.
From this tragic low, there came peace, and the potential for prosperity, but not for man.