The Speaker looked out uneasily at the assembly.  He wasn't sure this meeting was a good idea.  It's the environmentalists' fault, he thought.  Not that they didn't have some good points, mind you.  But some of them were just too extreme.  The Speaker stole a glance at the Leader.  His reaction would be critical.  The Leader's face was impassive.  The Speaker began.
    "We are gathered here today to consider the challenges and opportunities facing our society ..."
    "Challenges?  Opportunities?  The environment is in a state of collapse!  It is no longer possible to ignore the signs.  Severe food shortages.  Climatic change.  The causes are overpopulation and abuse of resources.  If we don't act now, our world will die!"
    It was one of the radicals.  Too shrill.
    "What are you talking about?  Haven't you read the Received Wisdom?  God gave us this bounty to use as we see fit.  'Go forth and multiply!' He said.  Nowhere do I see anything about it running out."
    "The Received Wisdom does say that," said the Speaker helpfully.
   "I have no desire to contradict the Received Wisdom, but it doesn't spell everything out.  Some things are left to our intelligence.  Don't you think God would like us to be good stewards of His bounty?  If we just control the population and use our resources wisely, ..."
    Ah.  One of the moderate environmentalists.  "There's some reason in what he says," suggested the Speaker.
    "You don't have to believe that Received Wisdom stuff to know that nothing's wrong," retorted another voice.  "We've been living this way for generations.  What was good for our forebears is good for us.  I don't see any difference.  There have been shortages before.  It'll pass."
    "That's true," said the Speaker.  "We've had ups and downs before."
    "I'm afraid it won't pass," said the moderate.  "This great organic environment that has nurtured our kind for generations is dying.  Look at the statistics for the last several reporting periods.  We are on a definite downward spiral."
    The Speaker fidgeted and looked at the Leader.  Still silent and inscrutable.
    "Well, I like things just fine the way they are!" Another quarter heard from.  "I'm doing just fine, and I'm not giving up any of what I have.  If you want to make sacrifices, be my guest.  Just don't look at me!"
    "You would say that," snapped the radical.  "Always gobbling up more than your share.  If it weren't for your kind, we wouldn't be in this mess!  What about our children and our children's children?  Don't you care what becomes of them?"
    "Sure, I do.  My kids'll be rich, like me.  And everyone else can take care of themselves.  I'm not responsible for everyone else's brats."
    "You don't appreciate the magnitude of the crisis.  The future of the world is at stake," ranted the radical.
    The Speaker looked again at the Leader.  Still nothing.
    "Most of us are too busy just making a living to worry about this stuff.  Why can't all the experts agree on something and just tell us?"  The plaintive voice from the back was greeted by affirmative nods throughout the crowd.
    Then another voice piped in from somewhere in the middle of the assemblage.  "Even if what you say, about there being a crisis and all, is true, we can always move on to another world when this one is used up."
    The Speaker sighed.  "Well, we don't know that for sure," he said.
    "Even if that's possible," said the moderate, "only a small percentage of us will be able to make the voyage.  The rest will perish."
    "Har, har, har!"  At last, the Leader had spoken.  "Listen to all of you!  Of course we'll perish!  But our kind will live on!  Reproduce, consume, destroy, and die.  But some move on.  That's what we do.   Remember the Viral Creed:  'Plenty more where we came from.'"  Everyone bowed, as much as their minuscule, nondescript bodies allowed, in reverence.  The Leader continued.
    "And remember this:  We are HIV, the smartest virus that ever lived!  Yes, this fool will die in a little while, but the world is full of fools."
    "Um, excuse me," ventured the Speaker.  "What happens when we reach the final fool?"
    The Leader eyed him oddly.  "It doesn't matter," he said.  "We can't help it.  It's who we are!"
 

                                                       Is it who we are?