It used to be that when you gazed up at the starry night sky you could see a piece of real estate man had not yet laid his fingers on. The sky and its stars and moons and the threads of clouds that wove it all together were pristine and so beautiful. This was the last reserve of nature left on Earth – its sky, its clouds and the vast light years of space it swam through. Man had taken everything else on Earth and converted it. Instead of rocks, there were monstrous steel skyscrapers. Instead of lakes, there were dams. Instead of grassy plains, there were fields and stadiums.

But man colonized the moon, and in 25 years the deal was closed. A city propped up on the moon like a “Sold” sign on a lawn. From this outpost, man moved west. This time west wasn’t the shores of the Pacific Ocean, but the fringes of the Milky Way.

As if spoiling earth wasn’t bad enough, they’ve spoiled space too. The expression “The sky’s the limit” is archaic; now people say, “The edge of the galaxy is the limit.” In a hundred years, that expression will probably be outdated. Floating cities on the backs of space stations dot the sky. They glow like stars at night–little pinpricks of light– but they’ll never shine like true stars because they are manmade. Their image in the night sky is as revolting as the taste of artificial sugar is nauseating.

Last I heard, man had penetrated a few hundred light years beyond the Solar System and established a city called The Final Destination. I shudder when I think of how many generations must have had to procreate for the journey to last.

When will this stop? Man has an ego problem. People have always wanted bigger and more: bigger cars, bigger houses, bigger spaceships and more material possessions, more territory for themselves… Everything has to be bigger and more.

Dolphins have never had a problem with territory. But of course, that’s just because dolphins have never had any problem with ego.

Dolphins are awarded the distinction of being the smartest animals on Earth. (It depends on whom you ask actually.) That’s a pretty condescending title: last I checked, homo sapiens were animals too; they shouldn’t be in a league of their own. Man thinks he owns everything, but it’s about time for us to show humans that isn’t the case. Off with the masks. No more fooling around in glass aquariums. All animals have a stake in the earth, and we need to act quickly to save it and the rest of the galaxy from distasteful tampering. Humans are going to be so surprised when they get upstaged by animals without arms and legs.


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Mike Zhuang Chen