Extremely well stated.......and frightening!
From: "Lori Michaelson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: "Lori Michaelson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Quad" <[email protected]> Subject: [QUAD-L] Population Date: Sun, 10 Apr 2005 15:25:53 -0700
I, Lori, don't FULLY agree we arrogant humans can 'save ourselves' in the long run. Tucson has become living like beehives recently. Packing subdivision upon subdivision w/ houses only 12-15 feet apart. Sandwiches and it's non-stop.
But some facts............
With the start of the agricultural revolution 10,000 years ago, the human population started to grow at an exponential rate. Here�s a table of our ascent into the modern population:
Time Period 10,000-5000 b.c. 5000-3000 b.c. 3000-1400 b.c --- No. of Humans 10million 50 million 100 million
Time Period 1400-0 b.c. 0-1200 1200-1700 --- No. of Humans 200 million 400 million 800 million
Time Period 1700-1900 1900-1960 1960-1996 --- No. of Humans 1.5 billion 3 billion 6 billion (The story of B. 261-274).
As you can see, our population�s doubling time is getting shorter and shorter. within the next forty years or so, there will be 12 billion people on this planet. At this rate of growth, we are in for a total cultural collapse due to OVERPOPULATION! (and we thought nuclear was going to kill us). Our planet will simply not hold that many people.
Our problem is this: there are people starving around the world as well as
at home in our country. The idea is to send them surplus food so they can
survive. In turn that makes us produce more and more food because god forbid
that we run out of surplus food. Well what happens when more food is
introduced into an already overpopulated area like several areas in Africa?
The population grows!
In �The Story of B,� Charles Atterly is asked a question at one of his lectures:
Q: Wasn�t agriculture developed as a response to famine? A: Agriculture is useless as a response to famine. You can no more respond to famine by planting a crop that you can respond to falling out of an airplane by knitting a parachute. But this really misses the point. To say that agriculture was developed as a response to famine is like saying that cigarette smoking was developed as a response to lung cancer.
Agriculture doesn�t cure famine, it promotes famine--it creates the conditions in which famines occur. Agriculture makes it possible for more people to live in an area than an area can support- -and that's exactly where famines occur.
For example, agriculture made it possible for many populations of Africa to
outstrip their homelands� resources--and that's why these population are now
starving (The Story of B 257). That's right, in an effort to help the
starving, we are in fact making the population grow even larger. Then there
s going to be more people to feed due to the recent population explosion,
what should we do now? Produce more food of course!
This is a cycle that will lead this culture over the edge. The idea of
totalitarian agriculture was something that is very new to me. Upon learning
what it was and the probable affects of it, I immediately wanted to learn
more about it. This is something that everyone on this earth should know
about because we are all a part of it. Our culture definitely has some
changing to do before we can save the world. We need to save ourselves.
-------Original Message-------
From: William Willis Date: 04/10/05 12:35:37 To: [email protected] Subject: [QUAD-L] birth control
The Pope's opposition to birth control is plain foolish. AIDS and other
std's are a plague on the modern world. Most importantly, though,
over-population is one of the most pressing issues of our time. Too many
people and not enough resources is already leading to untold misery in parts
of the world. What is scary is that there is no end in sight. Pick any US
city and look at the urban sprawl. Here in small-town Kentucky, every
family farm that is sold is immediately made into subdivisions. Where does
it end? The population of the US in 1950 was 110 million; today it hovers
around 300 million. Almost triple in a mere 50 years. What will it be in
another 100? I feel like a rat in a cage just thinking about it.
Call me pessimistic, but Thomas Malthus predicted it 200 years ago.
Population will inevitably exceed available resources. To encourage
unbridled baby making in an over-crowded and shrinking world is completely
irresponsible an unrealistic.
