The only thing these thugs respect is power, & they concede nothing without force. I wish I had your faith, but I believe the Hindus and Mayans are right -- that we've been through this ascension to an apogee of "civilization" before, then collapsed. Collapse is inevitable, & necessary. Our species way of life is the way of death for the rest of animate creation. The only hope the others have is if we are drastically culled, either by our own hand or through some massive catastrophe, e.g. the Yellowstone caldera erupting. 

Then after earth has lain fallow for many generations and the smoke and dust has cleared and plants can again grow will the cycle begin again. Our own greed and violence as a species are perhaps ingrained controls on our hegemony on earth. This is not pessimism, but hope that we will not extinguish life on earth. Bacteria have been found growing in the radioactive cooling waters of nuclear power plants, so no, our passing doesn't mean the end. Life will go on.