This is my entry for the Wacom Good Vs Evil contest. Mother Nature and Necessity, the Mother of Invention, in an all out battle royale.

We're supposed to think about the struggle of good vs evil in the world, but I've always been of the mind that Good and Evil are subjective. Very rarely do villains laugh maniacally while twirling their handlebar mustaches. Evil, in my opinion, is less about consciously inflicting harm upon the world, and more about not being willing to improve the world around you. So instead of the cliche angels and demons approach, I decided to play Devil's Advocate.

Everywhere you go these days, we hear about being Green, saving the environment, reduce, reuse, recycle... Be one with Mother Nature. But, if you stop and think about it for just a moment, how much of that is in Mother Nature's playbook? Mother Nature's domain is just that - Nature. Anything and everything ever conceived by the mind of man is an affront to Her designs. Were Mother Nature in charge, the average life expectancy would still be around thirty-five. We'd be eating Raw meat with our bare hands and teeth. No clothing, no shelter beyond the odd cave, no Language, no morality. All these things are concepts; ideas that we as a people have developed because we recognize that simply existing is not enough.

Necessity allows us to expand upon Nature's original plan, "Earth plus Plastic" as George Carlin once put it. From The written word to Cellular Telephones. High-rise apartments to Farming. All these things are inventions. We weren't gifted with them. We MADE them. They are OURS. Thanks to Necessity, we've taken a world that shouldn't be able to support more than 1.5 Billion people and expanded that to 7 Billion. Medical Technology, The Rule of Law, the Concept of Money and Free Trade. Clothing, Cars, and the occasional Chain Gun.

Now Granted Necessity is Fickle. She has an Ends-Justify-the-Means attitude toward progress and will usually drop anything outdated or obsolete for a new model. And I know we still rely on Mother Nature for the basics of Life. but Consider this: Terraforming. The very idea that we as a people can go to a world which Mother Nature would leave us to die, and find ways to survive, even if it means chaining Mother Nature to our will. Cybernetics and Bio-engineering. Throwing out the old blueprints for people in favor of new ones.

In the End, it's all in how you view it. Mother Nature is Cold-hearted and Consistant. The Ultimate embodiment of the Status Quo. She'll throw you to the wolves because they have as much right to exist as you do. Wind and Rain will tear down your great works and eventually, all that remains of your existence will be the energy you pass through the food chain. Mother Nature doesn't love. She doesn't hate. And most importantly, she doesn't care. And that, to me, is Evil. I'll stick with Necessity. She may start a war or two, kill off a few species, and poison my water, but she's also a lot quicker with results than her competition.