The title and this statement imply to me that you miss the point of our existence: to contribute to our environment, as all living things do. This period of human existence and obtuse thinking amplified by religion (blind faith in aristocracy and propagation), does not reflect the circumstances that humans evolved under, nor what we can contribute to the planet’s systems. Sure, it’s bleak and discouraging to look at the here and now situation that global anthropocentrism (with a boost from divine grace) has developed, but crisis times are the chance to reevaluate what people can be good for.

The problem with “humanism” has always been its selfishness. The opposite of consumption is not frugality; it is generosity. Humans will lose if they don’t lose their hubris, and just because there’s so much of it doesn’t mean we can’t shed it and the fanatical competicism that our ‘leaders’ have fostered for profit.