Racism is Good for the Earth? A provocative question about human intelligence, tribalism, conflict, and the planet we call home. Before judging the title, let's ask a more uncomfortable question: What happens to Earth when human intelligence becomes powerful enough to transform the entire planet? Racism is a belief system that assigns value, status, or ability to people based on perceived racial or ethnic differences. The title of this article is intentionally uncomfortable. Racism is not good for the Earth. It is harmful to people, societies, and human potential. But provocative questions can sometimes help us examine problems we normally avoid thinking about. The deeper question here is not whether racism benefits the planet. It is whether some of the same forces that have repeatedly divided human beings—tribalism, competition, fear, and conflict—can also contribute to the larger environmental pressures created by our species. Human beings are unusual ...