We survived the awful fires, then a terrible global pandemic, then some dreadful floods.
We even survived the reign of God botherer idiot PM, Scott Morrison, who believes all those things were signs of the Second Coming.
And the planet has survived the 45th US president – so far.
But what’s next?
Our individual demise is sure enough at some point, even though we tend to ignore it.
Moreover, the planet will face another total extinction event, like it has many times before.
It’s just a question of whether the grubby, oily hands of humanity are involved.
If an asteroid were about to hit in our lifetime, it may well look like the movie Don’t Look Up, where self-obsessed, egoic, empty vessel, wealthy types deny it could happen to them.
Yet, if a deadly comet approached Earth in the time of the Stoics (from 301 BCE), who influenced Greek and Roman philosophy and life, then perhaps the contemplation of our ultimate demise would have involved more peace, thoughtfulness, and a better appreciation of what the value of life is.
It’s not such a popular topic these days, but at one point, not that long ago, ethics and logic underpinned Western civilisation.
The success of Western civilisation was based in part on rediscovering the philosophy and culture of the Greeks and Romans.
Despite all the slavery, murdering and destruction, they appeared to have a very clear philosophy on how to live a good life.
Some of what Western civilisation took and developed from the Greco-Roman epoch was a Liberal Arts education, which included the Trivium and Quadrivium.
Grammar, logic, and rhetoric was part of the Trivium, which was then followed by the Quadrivium – the study of arts, arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy.
Perhaps a lot of humanity’s woes around greed, inequality, selfishness, cruelty – all aspects of sociopathic behaviour – could be addressed by a resurgence in these disciplines?
The pursuit of ethics and living in accordance with nature seems like a logical way forward in these times.
And the Meditations by Roman emperor, Marcus Aurelius (121–180AD), are also a great place to start.
Hans Lovejoy, editor
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
