Why do so many members of the human species act as if we were some alien entity that just plopped on "pristine" Earth and are some kind of invading virus out to destroy the living "body" of the planet?

Certain environmentalists (I am speaking generally here) need to get past this hatred of humanity as some evil force against Earth, otherwise they are essentially terrorists in my book. We are not evil or good, just imperfect beings trying to grow up.

You think other creatures on this world are gentle and kind and "one with nature"? Study the behavior of a troop of chimpanzees sometime. or read about how dolphins really behave - neither species is all that benevolent to their own kind. Murder, rape and even warfare is common. Just imagine if they had access to our tools and weapons.

We evolved on this world and are just as much a natural part of its biological development as any other creature. I am not ignoring the damage we have caused so far and I certainly hope we will clean up our act in a literal sense, but we are not a foreign invader. And don't tell me Earth is the only planet in the Universe that has had one of its life forms become intelligent and technological. Nor do I doubt they all just collapsed and died from the experience, either. The odds are that some if not many have survived the "experience".

I do agree with you that it is the time for us to expand beyond this world for our survival and development, which is what life does when it outgrows an area. And we have the brains and technology to do this, given to us by nature and evolution.

This was discussed on this forum a long while ago, but it was theorized that humans developed to protect life on Earth from the next space rock impact. Whether literal or not, that idea has merit.