"I used to think the truth would set us free. Like many who care about the environment, I spent years thinking that information would lead to change. If only people realize the mess our planet is in, I thought, things will change."
So I thought when I heard about overpopulation when I was a kid in 1970. The earth's population was 3.6 billion then. I thought, "All we have to do is limit population. People don't have to die off en masse. There don't have to be shortages and droughts, destruction of habitat, pollution, low water quality, starvation, urban sprawl, city "growth", congestion, housing crises, loss of farmland, traffic, housing costs, hunger, loss of farmland, destruction of rainforest, species going extinct, sewage overload, landfill, water quality problems (pollution), air pollution, traffic, high housing costs, high medical costs, carbon dioxide, smog, polluted runoff, hostility in crowds and traffic, shortage of resources, high prices, pavement, loss of green lands, dams, overcrowded abusive factory farming with animals living in poor conditions, muddied streams that used to be clear, heavy fishing regulations, fewer fish, endangered wildlife, rapid spread of swine flu and other viruses. We can prevent much of it with population control and reduction."
"And the good news is that most people care. "
B***S***! Apparently we (well, not I and a few others) have bred ourselves into a nation (or world) of idiots with reduced mental capacity, because some people seemingly "care" about these issues but lack the mental capacity to associate them with the causative factor o overpopulation.
So we see environmentalists with their little carbon footprints to feed, and "mothers of two" complaining about their city's congestion, after they have already added to it. (Seattle Times report on congestion 1998)
Apparently some think it is racist. No way: I hold white suburban mommies running with their strollers as accountable as anyone else. More so. Their little carbon footprints to feed are larger than those in other cultures. No use cutting your carbon footprint in half when you've added several more carbon footprints to feed.
1 REPLY
gretchenJul 18, 2012
While acknowledging Barb, I would also like to honor the memory of my brother Kurt and of my dad - who also bravely accepted experimental treatments for cancer. Because they were willing to try things that others had not - many people are living today. I remember sneaking a peek at my dad's medical chart at UW-Madison. I read a form he'd signed: "This treatment has never been administered to a human being. I recognize that the side effects of this treatment will be severe and could be fatal."
He told me "I'm a 60-year old man. If a 27-year old with a young family can live because I did this, then it's worth it. I'm gonna die anyway."
And my brother Kurt lived for 15 years due to experiment after experiment after his initial diagnosis. Eventually he died after a second open heart surgery, (complications from so many treatments) - his body just too worn to make it through yet another procedure.
When I hear now of cancer patients who are beating the odds, living comfortably while going through chemo, etc, I think of my dad, my brother, my sister, and other brave souls (and their hard-working, innovative doctors!) who paved the way for the eventual CURE for cancer.
ORIGINAL COMMENT
"I
used to think the truth would set us free. Like many who care about the
environment, I spent years thinking that information would lead to
change. If only people realize the mess our planet is in, I thought,
things will change."
So I thought when I heard about overpopulation when I was a kid in 1970. The earth's population was 3.6 billion then. I thought, "All we have to do is limit population. People don't have to die off en masse. There don't have to be shortages and droughts, destruction of habitat, pollution, low water quality, starvation, urban sprawl, city "growth", congestion, housing crises, loss of farmland, traffic, housing costs, hunger, loss of farmland, destruction of rainforest, species going extinct, sewage overload, landfill, water quality problems (pollution), air pollution, traffic, high housing costs, high medical costs, carbon dioxide, smog, polluted runoff, hostility in crowds and traffic, shortage of resources, high prices, pavement, loss of green lands, dams, overcrowded abusive factory farming with animals living in poor conditions, muddied streams that used to be clear, heavy fishing regulations, fewer fish, endangered wildlife, rapid spread of swine flu and other viruses. We can prevent much of it with population control and reduction."
"And the good news is that most people care. "
B***S***! Apparently we (well, not I and a few others) have bred ourselves into a nation (or world) of idiots with reduced mental capacity, because some people seemingly "care" about these issues but lack the mental capacity to associate them with the causative factor o overpopulation.
So we see environmentalists with their little carbon footprints to feed, and "mothers of two" complaining about their city's congestion, after they have already added to it. (Seattle Times report on congestion 1998)
Apparently some think it is racist. No way: I hold white suburban mommies running with their strollers as accountable as anyone else. More so. Their little carbon footprints to feed are larger than those in other cultures. No use cutting your carbon footprint in half when you've added several more carbon footprints to feed.
1 REPLY
While acknowledging Barb, I would also like to honor the memory of my brother Kurt and of my dad - who also bravely accepted experimental treatments for cancer. Because they were willing to try things that others had not - many people are living today. I remember sneaking a peek at my dad's medical chart at UW-Madison. I read a form he'd signed: "This treatment has never been administered to a human being. I recognize that the side effects of this treatment will be severe and could be fatal."
He told me "I'm a 60-year old man. If a 27-year old with a young family can live because I did this, then it's worth it. I'm gonna die anyway."
And my brother Kurt lived for 15 years due to experiment after experiment after his initial diagnosis. Eventually he died after a second open heart surgery, (complications from so many treatments) - his body just too worn to make it through yet another procedure.
When I hear now of cancer patients who are beating the odds, living comfortably while going through chemo, etc, I think of my dad, my brother, my sister, and other brave souls (and their hard-working, innovative doctors!) who paved the way for the eventual CURE for cancer.