Plausible Deniability
The believability of ones excuse for committing an act that is illegal, reprehensible, or bogus is proportional to the degree to which one can reasonably abrogate responsibility, through either feigned naivety or abject ignorance, for the circumstances or actions that follow directly from said act.
Responsibility can be concealed through the clever use of corporatized capitalist contingencies, those in which 'passing the buck' has become the science of business transactions.
For example, the complete rapine of the natural ecosystem is a direct result of the manufacture of goods and services to satiate the modern savvy consumer.
As long as the immediacy of gratitude shimmers in our eyes just long enough to distract from the inevitable decline of the environment that results from such self-ingratiating behavior we will be content to simply express our distaste at the combined results of decades of environmental degradation but hold none of the guilt for having caused such an effect.
We will console ourselves in our feeble attempts to lessen our impact on the environment through ineffective initiatives and ostentatious sacrifice.
Ignorance may used as the premise for an argument which supports the plausible deniability of a defendant in the eyes of a mortal judge.
It will not, however, suffice for an ontological defense in the eyes of the One / God / Tao.
To be ignorant of the fact that through ones actions was caused irreparable damage to another may protect one from the wrath of the rule of law, but it will not shelter one from the physical reality resulting from such damage.
If I destroy an entire ecosystem due to my lack of prudence, it does not change the fact that it is destroyed simply because I was not aware of the potential or actual consequences of my actions.
Similarly, if I can reasonably argue that a situation that profits me was not directly caused by me, I may escape culpability or responsibility for the genesis of the situation in the first place.
I will not escape the direct consequences (and / or profit) that follows.
As such, we are now clearly able to discern the direct result of decades of environmental disregard and disrespect, but take no ownership or responsibility for this folly.
We cannot argue our way out of a poisoned atmosphere, an apocalyptic decline in biodiversity, an acceleration toward the next mass extinction event.
No lawyer could defend us in the eyes of the creator.
Nor would they want to.
For fact is more important than truth.
Objectivity will always triumph over subjectivity in matters of fact.
Truth is a subjective matter which is prone to bias and political motive.
Facts are nothing but objective consensual validation.
They exist independent of the observer.
Whereas the truth is entirely dependent upon the observer.
As such, the fact of the matter is that homo sapiens is hell-bent upon destruction.
Whether that ontological retaliation is warranted or not is a moot point.
The facts are clear, we shouldn't be here.
Like barbarians in the garden of Eden, the human race is unworthy of the miracle.
We lunge into our surroundings with a reckless abandon that prevents harmony.
We destroy that which is not immediately useful in order to refine that which is.
And indiscriminately dispose of industrial waste wherever it may be convenient.
Or easily concealed, through geography or political deceit
To behave as such is to belie ones own immaturity.
To act as if individuality was a right and not a privileged illusion.
Shame on baby human, in all its endearing petulance.
Still facts are not dependent upon the truths discussed here.
Facts are: global temperatures are rising in a statistically significant manner, multiple species are becoming extinct at an alarming rate, sea levels are rising, air pollution is exponentially worsening.
And yet, in the back of our collective unconsciousness there is a little trap door,
Fashioned in our imaginations to resemble some sort of escape.
From the facts.
It is our last card to play, the plausible deniability card.
The feigned ignorance propagated by decades of enculturated bias.
Toward the effect of our cause (to better manage our creature comforts).
This card will have little effect once affected.
And will serve no purpose in the end.
Other than to comfort ourselves in thinking that we had only done the best we could under the circumstances inherited to us from our forefathers lack of prudence and utter disdain for the natural realm.
Nothing other than poorly concealed conceit.
It's hard to expect anything less from the barbarians of Eden.
And all their talk of plausible deniability.
