There are so many conundrums to sort out before we reach Nirvana. First, the human population is vastly beyond sustainable planetary capacity. Second, resource depletion is increasing and food resources are decreasing. Third, humans are quick to seek conflict, war, and exploitation. Fourth, the planet is already in an accelerating process of resetting its global climate. We will will pass through chaos for maybe a hundred or more years before a new equilibrium is found. We are already beyond the precipice and over the cliff. We are falling (even as we are in denial) into a darkening future. My optimism is left to a tiny hope that maybe a wiser version of the human species will survive at the end of a thousand years from now to live in harmony with a planet and it’s nature that cannot be trifled with.