A big debate was launched online after a tweet referred to humans as “the real virus,” in comparison to COVID19, and with respect to the ecological damage caused by us as a species.

There was a lot of backlash – some people agreed other vehemently defended us. What caught my attention were the counterarguments referring to this notion as eco-fascist, because humans aren’t the real virus, capitalism is …

People began shifting blame and claiming that capitalism and corporations are the true culprits, and humans are mere mortals after all,  victims to the vicious cycle of excess and consumption.

This is completely ridiculous.

It is true that corporations are environmental criminals. They have damaged our world in ways that we are probably yet to witness and fully grasp the impact of, however who is buying these mass-produced products? People.

This doesn’t mean people deserve to die, because the world isn’t black and white. It means that people mess up, systems mess up, and it is in our nature to get carried away.

We have been endlessly warned about our climate afflicting behavior and buying habits, but corporations are still producing because we still want more.

We became used to the state of being warned, and never imagined any reliable systems could collapse.

For decades we were desensitized, to both the ecological or societal damage caused by our practices. And now that shit’s hit the fan, we can’t just blame the system. We were all complicit.

Fascism is the forcible suppression of opposition. It is cruel and silencing.

There were many fascists in history, but calling humans a virus doesn’t alleviate the reality and gravity of our ability to f*ck up, and not fully take accountability for our actions.

There is no use in pointing fingers and calling names.

Throwing labels around is telling of our nature to over-use and exploit. Capitalism sucks but it’s the only system that realistically considers the exploitative nature of humans. Ultimately, humans lack self-control as a species, and maybe that’s why we’ve evolved so hard, why we’re always changing.

It might also be our demise – if we don’t learn something from this monumental lesson.

At the end of the day, we’re naturally curious, and when something’s good: we want more.