This situation is more complicated than just the sheer numbers of humans, since about 20% of all people use roughly 80% of its resources. So what we have is a massive imbalance of impacts on the planet, with the rich really taking far more than share. And actually birth (and death) rates have dropped dramatically in the more developed co…
This situation is more complicated than just the sheer numbers of humans, since about 20% of all people use roughly 80% of its resources. So what we have is a massive imbalance of impacts on the planet, with the rich really taking far more than share. And actually birth (and death) rates have dropped dramatically in the more developed countries, a process continuing as countries everywhere urbanize (and right now 56% of the world lives in cities). Even India has dropped below replacement rate, though given its sheer size and large agricultural population it will continue to grow in numbers for a couple of generations.
But none of this bodes well for the future of the planet. As people become richer they naturally want to live better, so the long term effect is that less folks are going to take more. I cannot imagine any politician pushing against this, and so any changes will have to be cultural ones from the bottom up. We are nowhere near that, and certainly the countries that are just improving their standards of living will refuse to be left holding the bag for the excesses of those that have already reach higher standards. It will probably take a century or so to reach some sort of balance here, assuming the Earth can last that long, and at that point the total population of the world, while declining, would have reached close to 10 billion people. Maybe some massive disaster that finally gets it through peoples’ heads that was is happening will require some real changes, but it won't be easy. Watch the mainstream evening news about "unusual weather" and listen for the words "climate change." You won't hear them.
If you want to do a disturbing experiment go to one of several sites that let you calculate your "ecological footprint." These are only rough approximations of what people take from the Earth, but the typical American uses about 4 "planets" worth of resources a year. Trying to get that value under one requires living almost in the 18th century. That's not going to happen either.
Dr. Weil I love reading your smart, well written comments. I just want to tell you that I watch ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS nightly news shows as well as local weather. EVERYONE talks about the effects of climate change. Acknowledgement is perhaps the one battle we have won so far.
Yep, that's a dirty little secret that people are just are too afraid to tell. We have overpopulated planet therefore we are overusing toxic chemicals to try and feed the people we have on the planet and it's a disaster. What we need to start doing instead of anti women's rights and amti-abortion measures we need to turn our heads towards overpopulation. We need to start pushing a one child policy worldwide. When China did it we're told it was a real bad thing. But, if the world population isn't cut down to at least half, well that there goes our planet and there goes our life support and there goes humanity. Bye-bye.
Men just have to have sex, and will take it by force and fraud.
It is a biological imperative, and propelled by a reward called orgasm.
The sex drive manifests in competition, you can see that in fishes, birds, mammals.
It manifests in humans by acquisition and power To attain power one needs wealth, and one needs wealth to keep the power.
Zuckerberg, Gates, Bezos would be incels were it not for their wealth and power.
In days of yore one obtained wealth and power by brute force, like Charlemagne or William the Conqueror. Another route to power for an Incel is via demagoguery and manipulation like Hitler, Mussolini, Lenin, Stalin and Putin, but that requires a heavy helping of sociopathy and psychopathy.
Today"s route to power is nerdy, taking advantage of technological advances, Thus the meek do inherit the Earth.
Pounding stones into rocks, rocks into sand, sand into dust it comes down to the sex drive.
I like the concept and the thought behind it however, the issue is overpopulation and what it is doing to our home planet and our survival as a species on this planet. The REASON overpopulation is happening makes little difference and the reason will not change our present trajectory towards extinction unless we change.
Men do have a large sex drive built in through testosterone and especially through religion. The Hebrew bible does tell us that God says go forth and multiply. So of the religious creatures think that what man said god said 5000 5o five million years ago when supposedly 2 people were alive on the planet still applies today as a universal truth or law. The whole thing is illogical and idiotic. Had Ford been a religious leader and said that god said only drive 1916 fords these religious nuts without borders would be killing people with newer more fuel efficient cars or electric powered cars as satanists and killing them in the name of their religious overload.
Let's face facts here: Man created God in his own image and likeness to serve his purposes not anyone elses.
We could argue this till the day ends and the answer would still be the same. Either we change our present trajectory of we go away possibly never to be heard from again as a species. Wish there was a god to tell this religious zealots like the Christian Nationals and devotionists what is really happening. Alas that is not possible since they only read the ravings of religious lunatics who made up who god is and what god likes and dislikes.
WE NEED TO ONE CHILD PER COUPLE NOW OR WE WILL PERISH.
VOTE BLUE for everyone from dog catcher to president. Vote like your future and the future of your decedents depend on it because IT DOES.
I totally agree S Howard, but there is no solution to overpopulation, except maybe female education and female sovereignty, fat chance of that, for the reasons stated in my diatribe.
Any attempt to control human nature (the sex drive is thwarted, unless there is an authoritarian government like China, and we've seen the result of that a nation of sexually frustrated males. not good, that leads to pressure for war, as a way of culling the herd, that or pandemics maybe both.
Gaia has her way of dealing with the lice.
I am aghast at the mindless propensity of people living in squalor and over crowded conditions,like Gaza and India, out breeding the ability of the socio-eco system to sustain them.
Gaza for example. It is an international welfare case, before Oct 7th, it produce only tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelons, egg plants, peppers and olives, its protein came from about 20 fish farms, most of it exported, Most of its food came in from outside.
UN report: 80% of Gaza inhabitants relied on international aid before war
And the women, who can control their pregnancies, are under educated and totally dominated by the male.
Thom Hartmann has covered the subject,not of Gaza, but how as women are educated andliberated they have control over their breeding.
Bottom line is over population a problem?
Problems have solutions. Identify the problem, apply the solution. If overpopulation is a problem, then the solution is vasectomies. culling the population of males, as they do in my county when there is an overpopulation of deer.
In the pre industrial world, wars did a great job of culling the herd, because they were conflicts between males on a battlefield, leaving basically untouched, the women and children.
But not today,not with artillery, planes, missiles,rockets and bombs.
War does thin the herd, but now indiscriminately.
Problems have solutions. Overpopulation does not have a viable solution, because the solution is untenable. So it is a difficulty.
Difficulties have no solutions, they can only be mitigated. If you attempt to solve a difficulty (treat it like a problem) you only exacerbate the difficulty and make it worse.
It serves no-purpose kvetching about a problem or difficulty if there is no solution, or the solution is untenable (like genocide, nuclear war, culling the herd by government). and there is no chance to mitigate the problem. No purpose except the personal relief of venting one's spleen.
However, Gaia, in "her infinite wisdom" has a solution for pest removal, natural catastrophe's, pandemics, global warming. Man chips in his own two cents with violence, mass violence.
When there is no external threat, the violence turns inward, so nations leaders have a vested interest in keeping the external threat alive and active.
And external threats are real, there is always someone eyeing your nations resources and wealth with envy, and who perceives your nation as a threat.
In the same way we perceive billionaires, other populations perceive North America and Europe.,
It is the way of the world and there is no solution, thus not a problem, and only a difficulty which needs to be mitigated, and that takes wise minds, patience and critical disassociated thinking. Only people with no skin in the game.
Wow Willian I did not know you were a scholar. You really have this thinking thing down. I love talking to intelligent people.
I, even though I agree with you but have a large concern. Based on what you are saying 2024 will be a tRUMP victory even though he was just found GUILTY on 34 felony counts. Based on your view people are stupid (I'm putting words in your mouth here) and will not do that which is sane to do even if Not doing the the logical will kill them. Yes, some, if not most are that ignorant and so indoctrinated by religion. There is a minority of us who as young women and men would gladly do what is needed for the sake of the planet, civilization and ourselves or family units.
You say "Problems have solutions. Overpopulation does not have a viable solution, because the solution is untenable. So it is a difficulty."
I have 2 daughters. Neither opted to have children - any children - to make up for those who are not bright enough to understand the Human predicament. I would love grandchildren but... I believe my daughters are making the right move for the sake of society. They are sane. So it is possible to get people to see the light and avoid the darkness through intelligence and education. By the way I raised both of them "without" a religious foundation although both had the opportunity to make their own choices.
You say : "It is the way of the world and there is no solution, thus not a problem, and only a difficulty which needs to be mitigated, and that takes wise minds, patience and critical disassociated thinking. Only people with no skin in the game."
There are two sides to this one. I would hate to think that there is no solution to this issue and I believe that at some point human will revert to fight or flight or will be relegated to death. Then things will change.
When Muslims pray they look to the right shoulder and the left, because they believe that there is demon on the RIGHT shoulder and an angel floats above the left. Now isn't that interesting in the political context.
From your comments, I gather that you are inclined to look towards the left and avert your eyes from the right as best you can,
Reality is there,and though we avert our gaze, it barrels towards us regardless. It doesn't mean that we don't strive for a better world, but mind you reality is like quicksand the more you struggle the faster you sink in.. The way to extricate yourself from quicksand is not to struggle but dig in and fall on your face and swim out.
My spouse and I were both married to others. I have three children, 11 grand chldren and 30 great grand children, and of them all only one granddaughter remembers me or cares.
My wife has none.
There was a time when families were extended, and took care of their own, they still do in many less wealthy countries, but not in America.
People from Central America and Mexico risk their lives to come here, earn some money and send it home to their families, Western Unions primary source of income these days is remittance.
Can you imagine North Americans doing something like that? I can't.
When I lived in Panama, there were no mental institutions,no old folk homes, families took care of their own, even if they didn't have a proverbial pot to piss in.
Are you planning for the good old days william? Those were the good old days. My parents who are living with me for almost 10 years passed away in the 1990s. I took care of them just like you said. My children on the other hand can't really take care of me because even though both families make absolutely great money they can't afford to buy a home so therefore they have to send me to a home. It would be more on the other way but I really don't mind.
The good ole days were not the good le days. My mom was divorced, raised three kids, worked for tips as a waitress, then got a job in a bank as an analyst, $1 an hour, she trained men, who would become her supervisor, the men got raises she got none. When she complained, she was told they had families to support, she sad so do I, three children, she was told to get married.
Society was segregated, blacks uneducated or barely, water was polluted,so was the air, little or no OSHA for workers, no retirement plans or programs other than Social Security, at least for the working man. The working woman was an anomaly, prostitute, telephone operator,clerk,girl friday, steward waitress, teacher or nurse.
LGBT was in the closet,if not then fair game. One kid I knew was gay, but he was also trained in Jiu Jitsu so no one bothered him.
Father did not best, for himself.
But one does not throw the baby out with the bathwater. I take the epochs, the ages, as a supermarket, choose one from this aisle, another from that. Just like religious believers take their sacred scripure.
Howard, in my humble opinion we have to raise the children right, If it's environmental it can be corrected, but if it's genetic, I guess God did not give man enough brains. If we are to survive, we need to raise all the babies from conception in agnostic kibutzes in order to end all child abuse and stress and drama and childhood poverty. No religion for them until they're about 27 years old, then they can decide for themselves. I really think we could raise virtuous, sane, conscientious, human beings that are not greedy, sadistic, racist, criminals. It is probably already too late. I'm not sure I would want to bring a baby on this planet and raise it to be a human. That is done in the first four years and 9 months. The family unit if there is one, young people are financially strapped and the children are neglected. The toddlers need to be played with and made to laugh and have fun to become human. Too much stress and anxiety will turn them into monsters. Play, learn and teach is the cycle of life. Thugs, male and female are easy to raise. Just mistreat and neglect them.
Hi Bob I'm in total agreement with you. No religion until 27. However the problem is climate change and overpopulation I don't think we have the time to raise an educated children properly right at this point if we're to avoid the calamity of global destruction. I only answer is the cut it down to one child per family worldwide that might help. It's never going to happen though but Catholic Church, the American unchristian nationalists, and Catholics are all pushing to trouble double triple and quadruple their populations that they can manipulate. How are we ever going to handle climate change with those attitudes existent on our planet through religion?
I agree 100%. I wish someone had tried pushing this idea about a thousand years ago, maybe they did and they ended up being tortured by the church? The unevolved right wing proclaimed conservatives have resisted change for thousands of years so they could bring on Armageddon. My idea for a t-shirt is, don't blame me, I voted for democracy!
When China did the one child only, it was only going to be a boy. That's why they ran into trouble. And it's another example of the devaluing of women.
You make a good point there. However, that is both important and besides the point. If don't somehow handle the population on this planet we're gone. THAT is the point.
Doc you are absolutely correct and the future is bleak. I've seen estimates of the extinction of the anthropocene as early as 2034 and as late as the 21st century.
Mankind not only likes his creature comforts (and that includes us self righteous whiners), but the moguls who drive the machine and profit from it, live for today and let the morrow take care of itself, they believe that their wealth and command of resources inures them to t he effects of their behavior.
The Lenin trope about ropes and capitalists actually applies to all, it is in our nature.
Voltaire had words for human nature, or character, man can't change it, any more than a leopard change its spots.
Thanks for the reply William but I wouldn't say with 100% certainty that we're doomed. People are surprising and can be quite resilient. When our backs are to the wall once in a while we do come through, and could even start to turn around the damage. (With grandchildren I can't afford to give up just yet.)
Because of my pessimism I never give up. I fight to to the end. An optimist when they finally see that there is no out, no reprieve, give up and surrender.
This situation is more complicated than just the sheer numbers of humans, since about 20% of all people use roughly 80% of its resources. So what we have is a massive imbalance of impacts on the planet, with the rich really taking far more than share. And actually birth (and death) rates have dropped dramatically in the more developed countries, a process continuing as countries everywhere urbanize (and right now 56% of the world lives in cities). Even India has dropped below replacement rate, though given its sheer size and large agricultural population it will continue to grow in numbers for a couple of generations.
But none of this bodes well for the future of the planet. As people become richer they naturally want to live better, so the long term effect is that less folks are going to take more. I cannot imagine any politician pushing against this, and so any changes will have to be cultural ones from the bottom up. We are nowhere near that, and certainly the countries that are just improving their standards of living will refuse to be left holding the bag for the excesses of those that have already reach higher standards. It will probably take a century or so to reach some sort of balance here, assuming the Earth can last that long, and at that point the total population of the world, while declining, would have reached close to 10 billion people. Maybe some massive disaster that finally gets it through peoples’ heads that was is happening will require some real changes, but it won't be easy. Watch the mainstream evening news about "unusual weather" and listen for the words "climate change." You won't hear them.
If you want to do a disturbing experiment go to one of several sites that let you calculate your "ecological footprint." These are only rough approximations of what people take from the Earth, but the typical American uses about 4 "planets" worth of resources a year. Trying to get that value under one requires living almost in the 18th century. That's not going to happen either.
.
Dr. Weil I love reading your smart, well written comments. I just want to tell you that I watch ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS nightly news shows as well as local weather. EVERYONE talks about the effects of climate change. Acknowledgement is perhaps the one battle we have won so far.
Onward and upward, friends!
Thanks Alis, I really appreciate your note. And I'm very glad to be wrong about this too!
Yep, that's a dirty little secret that people are just are too afraid to tell. We have overpopulated planet therefore we are overusing toxic chemicals to try and feed the people we have on the planet and it's a disaster. What we need to start doing instead of anti women's rights and amti-abortion measures we need to turn our heads towards overpopulation. We need to start pushing a one child policy worldwide. When China did it we're told it was a real bad thing. But, if the world population isn't cut down to at least half, well that there goes our planet and there goes our life support and there goes humanity. Bye-bye.
S Howard,
Why is the planet overpopulated?
Men just have to have sex, and will take it by force and fraud.
It is a biological imperative, and propelled by a reward called orgasm.
The sex drive manifests in competition, you can see that in fishes, birds, mammals.
It manifests in humans by acquisition and power To attain power one needs wealth, and one needs wealth to keep the power.
Zuckerberg, Gates, Bezos would be incels were it not for their wealth and power.
In days of yore one obtained wealth and power by brute force, like Charlemagne or William the Conqueror. Another route to power for an Incel is via demagoguery and manipulation like Hitler, Mussolini, Lenin, Stalin and Putin, but that requires a heavy helping of sociopathy and psychopathy.
Today"s route to power is nerdy, taking advantage of technological advances, Thus the meek do inherit the Earth.
Pounding stones into rocks, rocks into sand, sand into dust it comes down to the sex drive.
I like the concept and the thought behind it however, the issue is overpopulation and what it is doing to our home planet and our survival as a species on this planet. The REASON overpopulation is happening makes little difference and the reason will not change our present trajectory towards extinction unless we change.
Men do have a large sex drive built in through testosterone and especially through religion. The Hebrew bible does tell us that God says go forth and multiply. So of the religious creatures think that what man said god said 5000 5o five million years ago when supposedly 2 people were alive on the planet still applies today as a universal truth or law. The whole thing is illogical and idiotic. Had Ford been a religious leader and said that god said only drive 1916 fords these religious nuts without borders would be killing people with newer more fuel efficient cars or electric powered cars as satanists and killing them in the name of their religious overload.
Let's face facts here: Man created God in his own image and likeness to serve his purposes not anyone elses.
We could argue this till the day ends and the answer would still be the same. Either we change our present trajectory of we go away possibly never to be heard from again as a species. Wish there was a god to tell this religious zealots like the Christian Nationals and devotionists what is really happening. Alas that is not possible since they only read the ravings of religious lunatics who made up who god is and what god likes and dislikes.
WE NEED TO ONE CHILD PER COUPLE NOW OR WE WILL PERISH.
VOTE BLUE for everyone from dog catcher to president. Vote like your future and the future of your decedents depend on it because IT DOES.
I totally agree S Howard, but there is no solution to overpopulation, except maybe female education and female sovereignty, fat chance of that, for the reasons stated in my diatribe.
Any attempt to control human nature (the sex drive is thwarted, unless there is an authoritarian government like China, and we've seen the result of that a nation of sexually frustrated males. not good, that leads to pressure for war, as a way of culling the herd, that or pandemics maybe both.
Gaia has her way of dealing with the lice.
I am aghast at the mindless propensity of people living in squalor and over crowded conditions,like Gaza and India, out breeding the ability of the socio-eco system to sustain them.
Gaza for example. It is an international welfare case, before Oct 7th, it produce only tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelons, egg plants, peppers and olives, its protein came from about 20 fish farms, most of it exported, Most of its food came in from outside.
UN report: 80% of Gaza inhabitants relied on international aid before war
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/25/un-report-80-per-cent-of-gaza-inhabitants-relied-on-international-aid-before-war
We subsidized the breeding. Like feeding rabbits.
And the women, who can control their pregnancies, are under educated and totally dominated by the male.
Thom Hartmann has covered the subject,not of Gaza, but how as women are educated andliberated they have control over their breeding.
Bottom line is over population a problem?
Problems have solutions. Identify the problem, apply the solution. If overpopulation is a problem, then the solution is vasectomies. culling the population of males, as they do in my county when there is an overpopulation of deer.
In the pre industrial world, wars did a great job of culling the herd, because they were conflicts between males on a battlefield, leaving basically untouched, the women and children.
But not today,not with artillery, planes, missiles,rockets and bombs.
War does thin the herd, but now indiscriminately.
Problems have solutions. Overpopulation does not have a viable solution, because the solution is untenable. So it is a difficulty.
Difficulties have no solutions, they can only be mitigated. If you attempt to solve a difficulty (treat it like a problem) you only exacerbate the difficulty and make it worse.
It serves no-purpose kvetching about a problem or difficulty if there is no solution, or the solution is untenable (like genocide, nuclear war, culling the herd by government). and there is no chance to mitigate the problem. No purpose except the personal relief of venting one's spleen.
However, Gaia, in "her infinite wisdom" has a solution for pest removal, natural catastrophe's, pandemics, global warming. Man chips in his own two cents with violence, mass violence.
When there is no external threat, the violence turns inward, so nations leaders have a vested interest in keeping the external threat alive and active.
And external threats are real, there is always someone eyeing your nations resources and wealth with envy, and who perceives your nation as a threat.
In the same way we perceive billionaires, other populations perceive North America and Europe.,
It is the way of the world and there is no solution, thus not a problem, and only a difficulty which needs to be mitigated, and that takes wise minds, patience and critical disassociated thinking. Only people with no skin in the game.
Wow Willian I did not know you were a scholar. You really have this thinking thing down. I love talking to intelligent people.
I, even though I agree with you but have a large concern. Based on what you are saying 2024 will be a tRUMP victory even though he was just found GUILTY on 34 felony counts. Based on your view people are stupid (I'm putting words in your mouth here) and will not do that which is sane to do even if Not doing the the logical will kill them. Yes, some, if not most are that ignorant and so indoctrinated by religion. There is a minority of us who as young women and men would gladly do what is needed for the sake of the planet, civilization and ourselves or family units.
You say "Problems have solutions. Overpopulation does not have a viable solution, because the solution is untenable. So it is a difficulty."
I have 2 daughters. Neither opted to have children - any children - to make up for those who are not bright enough to understand the Human predicament. I would love grandchildren but... I believe my daughters are making the right move for the sake of society. They are sane. So it is possible to get people to see the light and avoid the darkness through intelligence and education. By the way I raised both of them "without" a religious foundation although both had the opportunity to make their own choices.
You say : "It is the way of the world and there is no solution, thus not a problem, and only a difficulty which needs to be mitigated, and that takes wise minds, patience and critical disassociated thinking. Only people with no skin in the game."
There are two sides to this one. I would hate to think that there is no solution to this issue and I believe that at some point human will revert to fight or flight or will be relegated to death. Then things will change.
When Muslims pray they look to the right shoulder and the left, because they believe that there is demon on the RIGHT shoulder and an angel floats above the left. Now isn't that interesting in the political context.
From your comments, I gather that you are inclined to look towards the left and avert your eyes from the right as best you can,
Reality is there,and though we avert our gaze, it barrels towards us regardless. It doesn't mean that we don't strive for a better world, but mind you reality is like quicksand the more you struggle the faster you sink in.. The way to extricate yourself from quicksand is not to struggle but dig in and fall on your face and swim out.
My spouse and I were both married to others. I have three children, 11 grand chldren and 30 great grand children, and of them all only one granddaughter remembers me or cares.
My wife has none.
There was a time when families were extended, and took care of their own, they still do in many less wealthy countries, but not in America.
People from Central America and Mexico risk their lives to come here, earn some money and send it home to their families, Western Unions primary source of income these days is remittance.
Can you imagine North Americans doing something like that? I can't.
When I lived in Panama, there were no mental institutions,no old folk homes, families took care of their own, even if they didn't have a proverbial pot to piss in.
Are you planning for the good old days william? Those were the good old days. My parents who are living with me for almost 10 years passed away in the 1990s. I took care of them just like you said. My children on the other hand can't really take care of me because even though both families make absolutely great money they can't afford to buy a home so therefore they have to send me to a home. It would be more on the other way but I really don't mind.
The good ole days were not the good le days. My mom was divorced, raised three kids, worked for tips as a waitress, then got a job in a bank as an analyst, $1 an hour, she trained men, who would become her supervisor, the men got raises she got none. When she complained, she was told they had families to support, she sad so do I, three children, she was told to get married.
Society was segregated, blacks uneducated or barely, water was polluted,so was the air, little or no OSHA for workers, no retirement plans or programs other than Social Security, at least for the working man. The working woman was an anomaly, prostitute, telephone operator,clerk,girl friday, steward waitress, teacher or nurse.
LGBT was in the closet,if not then fair game. One kid I knew was gay, but he was also trained in Jiu Jitsu so no one bothered him.
Father did not best, for himself.
But one does not throw the baby out with the bathwater. I take the epochs, the ages, as a supermarket, choose one from this aisle, another from that. Just like religious believers take their sacred scripure.
PS: I'm off to celebrate with about 30 neighbors tRUMPS LOSS today. I will talk to you soon.
Howard, in my humble opinion we have to raise the children right, If it's environmental it can be corrected, but if it's genetic, I guess God did not give man enough brains. If we are to survive, we need to raise all the babies from conception in agnostic kibutzes in order to end all child abuse and stress and drama and childhood poverty. No religion for them until they're about 27 years old, then they can decide for themselves. I really think we could raise virtuous, sane, conscientious, human beings that are not greedy, sadistic, racist, criminals. It is probably already too late. I'm not sure I would want to bring a baby on this planet and raise it to be a human. That is done in the first four years and 9 months. The family unit if there is one, young people are financially strapped and the children are neglected. The toddlers need to be played with and made to laugh and have fun to become human. Too much stress and anxiety will turn them into monsters. Play, learn and teach is the cycle of life. Thugs, male and female are easy to raise. Just mistreat and neglect them.
Hi Bob I'm in total agreement with you. No religion until 27. However the problem is climate change and overpopulation I don't think we have the time to raise an educated children properly right at this point if we're to avoid the calamity of global destruction. I only answer is the cut it down to one child per family worldwide that might help. It's never going to happen though but Catholic Church, the American unchristian nationalists, and Catholics are all pushing to trouble double triple and quadruple their populations that they can manipulate. How are we ever going to handle climate change with those attitudes existent on our planet through religion?
I agree 100%. I wish someone had tried pushing this idea about a thousand years ago, maybe they did and they ended up being tortured by the church? The unevolved right wing proclaimed conservatives have resisted change for thousands of years so they could bring on Armageddon. My idea for a t-shirt is, don't blame me, I voted for democracy!
Hey Bob I agree. I like that t-shirt.
When China did the one child only, it was only going to be a boy. That's why they ran into trouble. And it's another example of the devaluing of women.
You make a good point there. However, that is both important and besides the point. If don't somehow handle the population on this planet we're gone. THAT is the point.
They wanted a boy to support them in their old age. Lucky boy!
Doc you are absolutely correct and the future is bleak. I've seen estimates of the extinction of the anthropocene as early as 2034 and as late as the 21st century.
Mankind not only likes his creature comforts (and that includes us self righteous whiners), but the moguls who drive the machine and profit from it, live for today and let the morrow take care of itself, they believe that their wealth and command of resources inures them to t he effects of their behavior.
The Lenin trope about ropes and capitalists actually applies to all, it is in our nature.
Voltaire had words for human nature, or character, man can't change it, any more than a leopard change its spots.
Thanks for the reply William but I wouldn't say with 100% certainty that we're doomed. People are surprising and can be quite resilient. When our backs are to the wall once in a while we do come through, and could even start to turn around the damage. (With grandchildren I can't afford to give up just yet.)
Because of my pessimism I never give up. I fight to to the end. An optimist when they finally see that there is no out, no reprieve, give up and surrender.