Earth's use of resources appalling, would disappoint aliens

I've always wondered what would happen if aliens visited Earth. As much as many of us would like to think they would be impressed, I don't think so. Between our usage of the internet, our day-to-day activities and our treatment of others, I think they would choose to come back in another light-year or so.

According to the Internet World Stats website, 34.3 percent of the world's population has access to the internet. Of those with internet access, 11.4 percent live in North America. Having internet access can be a wonderful thing.

We have an incredible database full of knowledge at our fingertips. With all of the information available to us, it's possible we could determine ways to fix many of today's issues. But instead, what do we do? We look at pictures of cats. We update people with information about the weather (for those without windows) and our lunches. We watch Youtube videos of things like the “Harlem Shake” and other pointless fads.

I'm not saying I'm not guilty of it. Of course I am. All I'm saying is if aliens were looking down at us as we spend three hours looking at pictures of grumpy cat, they're probably not going to hail us as useful of our resources.

At the same time, we are one lazy society. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, people ages 15 years or older spend an average of 2.8 hours a day watching TV. According to the Super Size Me website, one in four Americans visits a fast food restaurant a day. We spend a lot of time doing unproductive activities. We know most fast food is bad for our bodies, but we eat it anyway. We know most TV is just a waste of time, time we could spend exercising or reading a book, but we do it anyway.

Of course there are exceptions to these things. There is educational television, and there are salads at fast food restaurants. But let's be honest – most of us are eating our chicken nuggets and watching Family Guy. I do it, too. But it's a sad truth that we waste our time with such meaningless activities. I think the aliens would agree.

Finally, the way we treat each other can be appalling. We see it all the time. The people on Facebook bully each other, people commit crimes against each other, and hate those who are different. We are all so similar, yet we find so many ways to hate.

With so much hate, it's hard to get anything done. We see it in Congress all the time. The political groups can't agree. It's incessant with religion. Religious groups are always persecuting each other. How can we accomplish anything when we're always arguing? We spend a ridiculous amount of time arguing and not enough time trying to fix things.

Helping the poor, the sick, the mentally ill and the starving: these are serious issues we should all work together to try to fix in a way that benefits everyone. But we don't. It's appalling that we can't get along to fix these issues. I know if aliens were to come to Earth and see how we treat each other, they would turn their space ship right around and head back to where they came from.

If aliens came to Earth, we would not impress them at all. Yes, we have advancements in technology, health and science, but after looking at how we use the internet, our time-wasting activities and our treatment of each other, that wouldn't even matter. They would spend a day here and head on back to where they came from. They would say “maybe some other time.”