The typical feminist diatribe runs a crude conspiracy theory that all the evil in the universe is due to males, primarily white males, and if by some black magic they all disappeared, apart from the survival of the human race, all would be peachy cream, with strawberries on top. But, Cambridge University feminist philosopher, Patricia MacCormack, in her book, The Ahuman Manifesto: Activism for the End of the Anthropocene, (2020), goes one step more, that all the problems on woke can be solved by the human race going extinct. It makes sense you know; if we are all dead, then our problems go too. Sheer logic. This is equivalent to solving a problem of a toothache, by putting one’s head on a railway track! And, her solution means that al the woke go too, so, well, I suppose she is happy with that too. I am not sure how her plan will be put into action.
“A Cambridge academic has proposed a radical new way to solve climate change – letting humanity become extinct.
Patricia MacCormack, a professor of continental philosophy at Anglia Ruskin University, has just released her new book The Ahuman Manifesto, which will officially be launched in Cambridge today (Wednesday, February 5).
The book argues that due to the damage done to other living creatures on Earth, we should start gradually phasing out reproduction. But rather than offering a bleak look at the future of humanity, it has generated discussion due to what Professor MacCormack describes as its joyful and optimistic tone, as it sets out a positive view for the future of Earth - without mankind.
It also touches on several hot-button topics, from religion and veganism to the concept of identity politics, tying these into how the creation of a hierarchal world among humans has left us blind to the destruction we are causing to our habitat and other forms of life.
Speaking to CambridgeshireLive, Professor MacCormack outlined how she came to this point of view, and how these ideas are not as provocative as they may initially sound.
She said: “I arrived at this idea from a couple of directions. I was introduced to philosophy due to my interest in feminism and queer theory, so reproductive rights have long been an interest to me – this led me to learn more about animal rights, which is when I became vegan.
“The basic premise of the book is that we’re in the age of the Anthropocene, humanity has caused mass problems and one of them is creating this hierarchal world where white, male, heterosexual and able-bodied people are succeeding, and people of different races, genders, sexualities and those with disabilities are struggling to get that.
“This is where the idea of dismantling identity politics comes in – they deserve rights not because of what they are, but because they are.
“The book also argues that we need to dismantle religion, and other overriding powers like the church of capitalism or the cult of self, as it makes people act upon enforced rules rather than respond thoughtfully to the situations in front of them.”
The central argument in The Ahuman Manifesto can be boiled down to this: mankind is already enslaved to the point of “zombiedom” by capitalism, and because of the damage this has caused, phasing out reproduction is the only way to repair the damage done to the world.
Additionally, humanity has to see it isn’t the single living dominant force - but first, it needs to dismantle an established hierarchy amongst itself. This argument has not received as much disagreement as you might expect.
Professor MacCormack continued: “Everyone’s okay with the ideas in the book until they’re told they’d have to act on it. There is a lot of agreement that these changes might work for the world, but when it imposes on people, it becomes proactive.”