Dying is but one physical translation of the existential. It’s the extinction of an individual or a mass. Whether in body and or mind it retains a paradoxical quality beyond the status of those who make their living on the ill health of others, be they a lobbyist or a funeral home director. The latter looks in the eyes of sadness and grief on a regular basis, whereas the former looks at the bottom line of how much money she or he will make regardless of the grief of the dying.

Those who make such a living, altruistic or not, may also do so to satisfy a particular lifestyle in a culture of capitalism, that depends on a growing population as a feeder to stay in business, while serving in their perceived role as a caretaker of sorts.

The sciences of population and biological diversity have known for decades, that the human population is outgrowing resources, with insufficient nutritious food resulting in poor health if not starvation.  Earth is running out of fertile soil.

That which was habitable, but no longer, is being reimagined. And the planet needs less religion that fosters unwanted pregnancies that is in turn a paradox for the needed literacy of the believers.

Populism, nationalism, fascism, and oligarchy are dangerous to survival on a embattled planet where all is interrelated and where nuclear war is quite imaginable and where narcissistic behavior feeds into the insatiable appetite of greed and the savagery of political, social, and economic polarization.

Data from the Center for Biological Diversity shows aspects of the problem of survival for various species that inevitably will become extinct. Yet the false messiahs continue to work towards divide and conquer and competition for resources focuses on the accumulation of money by the few.

Is the question of extinction becoming obsolete…and is extinction for all species rather just a matter of time?