I’m not generally a fan of all the [ fill in the blank ] days, weeks, and months our society has created to commemorate everyone and everything, from our mothers to our secretaries, from jazz music to women in history.

It seems no group of people can be self-respecting without having a certain period of the calendar marked off to draw attention to their cause. Either that or the idea is that everyone and everything other than white, Anglo-Saxon males is forgotten unless specific dates of remembrance are inculcated into our collective consciousness.

Personally, I like to celebrate life and everyone who contributes to making it wonderful each and every day of the year. I may not be thankful for everyone and everything every day, but I can tell you that when I do take the time to appreciate jazz music, my secretary, or my mother it is because I truly appreciate them and not because my Outlook calendar has reminded me that today’s “their day.”

All that having been said, I’m in no way opposed to the idea of Earth Day. It seems too many people take this little blue world for granted and marking off a date to celebrate the existence of our home world – without which we’d have little to complain about or celebrate – is a beautiful concept.

Unfortunately, Earth Day isn’t about just appreciating our world and celebrating all it’s allowed us to achieve, individually and as a species… No, Earth Day is a special interest too! Earth Day was created to further the cause of the environmentalist movement, which, at its most fundamental level, is an anti-human ideology.

Leaving aside the fact that Earth Day being a special interest reminder is an indication of just how ridiculous this whole concept of special interest holidays has become, there’s something deeply troubling about celebrating the Earth while simultaneously bemoaning our existence on it.

There is little question that humans have altered the plant since our arrival. So have volcanoes, bison, rivers, beavers, termites, the wind, ants, glaciers, the sun, and almost every other conceivable living being and natural process that calls this world home.

The real question shouldn’t be whether or not humans use the Earth and its natural resources, for not doing so means the end of our species. Using the raw materials of nature for one’s life-serving purposes is a basic requirement of human life. The question should be how we use the Earth and all its bounty as effectively as possible. And this is a question we answer individually every day by exercising our freedom to choose, our freedom to buy the products and services that make the most sense to us. Not because some bureaucrat, who has little more connection to the planet than you or I, has dictated to us what they believe is in the Earth’s best interest. Talk about hubris!

So, today, celebrate the Earth. But also celebrate humanity and all we’ve accomplished and achieved on this little blue world. Just as there would be no Mother’s Day without children, there would be no Earth Day without us.