The world-renowned entomologist E. O. Wilson tells us that if extinction rates continue at their current pace, over 50% of currently existing species will be gone forever by the end of the 21st Century. Wilson believes that human activity is leading to the sixth mass extinction on our planet, and the next few years and decades are crucial for the future of current life on earth. Couple this forecast of a massive loss of biodiversity with an increase in human population to between 9 and 10 billion people by the end of this century, and the future of human civilization and the future of many other forms of life looks quite bleak. We find ourselves in the make or break part of the make or break century for a sustainable human civilization.

As I have thought about the realities facing our planet, it is easy to become overwhelmed by the magnitude of the challenges facing us. The track record of humans acting en masse to live more sustainably and take care of our planet does not lead one to have much hope that we will have the collective will to turn things around. It is easy to give up or simply to get in a mindset of doing that which will sustain myself, my family, or my country in the midst of the global crises that we will face in the years ahead. But if we all move to that mindset, the future ahead will be one of unspeakable suffering and death.