Thanks for this.

That saying bugs me, too. It illustrates the missing fundamental question that our market-based obliviousness depends upon: "What are people for?" To say, "Earth will be fine without us" or some such, implies that there was no useful purpose to the existence of humans except blind consumptionism and exploitation of each other toward some imaginary being (God, money, The Invisible Hand Job, etc). I think the biggest reason we can't ask the question in polite company is because we then have to realize that every economic theory being shoved down our throats is exactly backward.

We aren't supposed to be ruled by money to do whatever our lizard brains find amusing ('pursuit of happiness'): we're supposed to add our collective usefulness to the universe (starting with our own places) so that we might have a future in it. Almost everything we are burning up to destroy the climate doesn't really need to be burned up. It's just busyness for the corrupt prophets.