News Hour had a program about what issues citizens think the
presidential candidates should discuss. I realize that the PBS audience
isn't representative of the general population, so this may not mean too
much to the pols.
Steve
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Many of the E-mails we received questioned what America
would look like in the 21st century -- and urged the candidates deal
directly with the issues of race, overpopulation, immigration, and the
environment."
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/election/july-dec99/email_7-9.html
(sample)
America in the 21st century.
TOM BEARDEN: Many of the E-mails we received questioned
what America would look like in the 21st century -- and
urged the
candidates deal directly with the issues of race,
overpopulation,
immigration, and the environment. We heard from Michael
Jennings
in Moscow, Idaho.
MICHAEL J. JENNINGS: I would like to see the candidates
debate long-term solutions for managing our biological
resources in
the face of urban, suburban and exurban growth, as well
as habitat
losses from forest, range and agricultural practices.
While they have
mostly been under the purview of states, the now
extensive
manifestation of human development is clearly a
multistate and
regional issue with a legitimate need for federal
involvement.
TOM BEARDEN: Steven Kolins of
Pittsboro, North Carolina suggested
-- "If we were to rid ourselves of
racism, the leap of civilization forward
would be as if we had cleared water
from the gas tank."
TOM BEARDEN: And Bernie Anderson of Middletown, Maryland
wrote -- "I believe this election should address the
deep tribalization
of our society. A sense of common goals and purpose
needs to be
established. There are too many people who don't believe
they are
part of the solution. This is the alienation that
isolates us from each
other."
TOM BEARDEN: And we asked Jack Foss from San Francisco
to
read the E-mail he sent.
JACK FOSS: The rapid demographic
changes in the population and
what
this means for the future is an
issue
that must be addressed by
visionary
political leadership. Can a
pluralistic
society in which former
majorities are
becoming minorities achieve a
sense
of unity and common purpose? Can
new citizens from societies in which there is no history
of democratic
freedom identify with and preserve the ideals on which
this nation
was founded?
TOM BEARDEN: Most of the E-mails dealing with
immigration
policy came from one of the states most affected. Ian
Roberts of San
Francisco wrote -- "I hope the candidates would discuss
immigration. It has become the issue that dare not speak
its name.
The present U.S. immigration policy is run for the
benefit of cheap
labor interests, who donate large amounts to buy both
sides." And
Girish Sajja of Concord, California wrote -- "I am not
sure how long
the population can go on swelling before the standard of
living is
going to drop-off or other problems begin to rise."
TOM BEARDEN: From Pompano
Beach, Florida, Joyce Tarnow
wrote
-- "I think the very most
important
issue for the 2000 election is
the
horrendous population growth in
the
United States. Problem after
problem
in the news has a connection to
too
many people here consuming way beyond our resources."
Here's
what Russ Agreen of Denton, Maryland added to the debate
--
RUSS AGREEN: Overpopulation. One of your sponsors,
Archer
Daniels Midland, casually advertises how they are going
to help feed
the 2 billion more people expected in the next 20 years.
All of the
problems you will talk about and many more are fueled by
overpopulation, which is not just a human phenomenon,
but rather is
as old as life itself. There is no other solution to
species
perseverance, and problems for individuals falls
directly out of it; not
just big ones, like warfare over territory, but little
ones, like
aggressive driving or some of the feelings behind youth
violence.
Look at the foundations of capitalism and free markets,
namely
growth and competition. Growth is overpopulation and
competition is
territory. Humans did not invent it. Until and unless we
drink from this
cup of humility, we are doomed to putting band aids on
problems
that have their roots deeply in the story of life on
Earth, that of
overpopulation.
