How about fewer people?
Virtually the whole planet is concerned ? one way or another ? with the warming trend. We may know that it is happening, but the specifics of why are much fuzzier. Obviously natural causes are a big part; so are greenhouse gases and other human effects. Or, could it just be that, eventually, the planet might just be better off if it warmed up. The perspective of a million years may just vary from that of man”s 100 or so years. In every case, however, judgment seems to be based, not on the greatest good for the planet, but changes from the good old days. Maybe it is time for polar bears and Bangladesh to disappear.
Environmentalists tend to worry about the warming and health of the planet, perhaps at the expense of the living standard of the people living on it. Others, as developing nations, see it as a pain in the butt in the way of development. Too often we want to think of warming as either aesthetics or economics. But you know what? Almost no one ever addresses what is the major source of the warming ? too many people! A recent letter to the Record-Bee noted that at the beginning of the 20th century there was a total of one billion human beings on the planet Earth. The same letter noted that there are now ? 100-plus years later ? some seven billion!
Give a thought to what the warming problem might be if the human race had not been nearly as fertile! Just suppose that every pair of parents had produced just two offspring since 1600! I suspect that science and technology would be pretty much the same, so that the current living standard would be pretty much the same! But the effect of that living standard probably would not be warming the planet any more than is natural!
Like all good mammals, we have let procreation be sacred. We have made having children ? far beyond what is required to maintain our families ? a goal of sorts! How wrong can a philosophy be? OK, there were times when religious groups (understandingly) urged breeding to enlarge their flock, and if you were a slave owner you saw it as a way to increase your assets, but I submit we are well beyond that. It”s time to stop all the nonsense that leads to increased population. To me, the lady who recently had eight babies (not naturally) is pretty typical of our problem. And yet, we not only pay the bills, we give her positive publicity! But, hey, we also let people who ought to know better get Viagra on Medicare! Is it just a coincidence that humans, rats and mice are the only non-domesticated animals thriving?
And yet, controlling the human population is one of the few things about reducing warming that we have the technology to accomplish ? if we had the courage to do it. It probably would help the health care and Social Security problems as well. Certainly suicides and euthanasia should be condoned if not fostered. Perhaps we should consider cost-benefit analysis when dealing with terminal cases or people who are simply too old to justify massive medical procedures. Abortions help, but much more emphasis on birth control would control both births and abortions. How about some “tying” procedures for parents right after their second child? Another thought ? dousing all food, sent to places that apparently have far more trouble making food than they do babies, with large doses of infertility medications … and lots, lots more!
We the people really have no choice other than to make some very nasty decisions. One is our attitude toward life and the value of a human life. Just how valuable is a human life? And do all humans have the same value to society? Certainly I, a gimpy 81-year-old, am not nearly as valuable to the planet as I was at 40! Another possible example is the homeless problem. We tend to accept the fact that they exist, if however nastily, but no one wants to admit that the real choice is to either take care of them or simply to not be concerned when they start to die off. The death penalty is still another. A society that pays $70,000 per year for 12 years before Richard Davis can get his mandatory appeal is absurd. How do you define “cruel and inhuman punishment” when dealing with a criminal who abducted, tortured, sexually abused, and then killed a young child?
Frankly, I think we can do better as human beings to make this a better planet! It will take time and a lot of (perhaps undesirable to many) changes to improve the health of the whole planet!
Guthrie “Guff” Worth is a former industrial engineer/management consultant and is retired from the CSU system. These days he is a self-appointed elitist and curmudgeon.
