Replacement not Coexistence. RIP Charlie Kirk.

Something very important about the way we double and redouble our consumption is that we are replacing everything around us, not coexisting with it. Everything we consume turns to waste. We have now almost completely replaced all land animals other than the worms and arthropods (insects and the like); we and our livestock now outnumber them 18 to 1. If we include worms and arthropods, then the body weight of us and our livestock is more than a quarter of the weight of all land animals except for single celled organisms. We are also in the business of replacing species whenever we arrive at a new territory, starting 50,000 years ago. I discuss briefly several other stories of replacement in human history. If we continue our present pattern of growth and replacement to its conclusion, continuing in the current style of replacement rather coexistence, of turning all to waste, then we will arrive at collective suicide. To be clear, I am very pro human; I love people; I am just noting that something about the way that we have been doubling our consumption involves destroying everything we touch. I am not saying that it has to be this way; in fact I think it doesn't.

Recorded September 13, 2025.

At one point I got a little confused about the amounts of different land animals, leaving out the bacteria. Here are the numbers: 200 million tons of carbon in arthropods, 200 million in worms, 6 million in nematodes, 100 million in our livestock, 60 million in our own bodies, 9 million in wild animals and birds, for a total of around 580 million tons of carbon.

Recorded September 13, 2025. Episode 6.