more opinions about children

I need to share with you all that I am terribly surprised about something.  Let me start by saying… admitting.. that I have a preconceived notion of all things religious.  

I think we are so bombarded by extremes about religion that my opinions are justified. You hear much more about the religious fanatics starting a cult in Montana, Texas, or San Diego. So much so, that I might guarantee that this image evokes an emotion in you that might be negative.  However, it must be argued that the news rarely mentions the good news or the reasonable opinions of different sects.  

So, my admission is this… the Christian Science Monitor is a great periodical and has become a constant source of information for me.  Go to the wikipedia reference information, here, and you will see it was formed specifically to not evangelize and is not a religious themed newspaper.

There is no point in sharing this except I felt it was an elephant in the room that I had to address before continuing to link you all to articles I find useful.

So, now that that is out of the way… let’s discuss an article I happened upon.  It’s about overpopulation.

The author discusses the current articles being published about over-population and criticizes what has been said.  For one, he didn’t like this article, citing for example, that:

And if we’re to blame for the emissions of all of our progeny forever and ever, doesn’t blame equally fall upon our progenitors, going all the way back to a clump of self-replicating molecules some four billion years ago?

He also briefly mentions this article where there is a simple conclusion to over population: educating women.  And, if any of you have ever seen Idiocracy, the following argument sure rings true:

 

And is it really a wise strategy to deploy environmental stewardship to urge people to voluntarily stop having kids? Even if such a strategy worked (a big if), the only people to heed this advice be those who care about the environment, while those who don’t care about the environment would continue breeding as usual. Given that children generally tend to share the social beliefs of their parents, this starts to looks like a recipe for eliminating environmentalism from the gene pool.

And, so, like many of us he concludes that it is not so much over-population but what kind of people we consist of:

 

But in the end, it’s not really population itself that is inherently the problem. While there are no doubt physical limits to how many people can occupy the planet at one time, the real issue here is waste. If we continue with our current methods of production and consumption – extracting finite resources, rearranging their chemistry, and then dumping them into the sky, the sea, and the soil – then its almost inevitable that we will make the weather go all weird, poison our oceans, and consign our descendants to picking through our landfills.

 

opinion: carbon calculator, week 10

 

Week 10, and the last, in the continuing series of what is missing from Carbon Calculators.  

There is a list of the things that those calculators don’t ask, thereby eliminating them from their algorithm. These are the things that are sometimes the meat of the matter, so to speak. By altering these things, you could affect your true footprint in ways unimaginable and truly make our planet sustainable.

 

STOP HAVING KIDS, or at least so many

The Vatican released a statement recently that the birth control pill does more harm to the environment because of all the hormones being secreted out of female urine.  This is laughable, especially when you consider all the damage done by the things listed above.

Interestingly, what can help the environment the most is being more responsible for the amount of children you are having.  You have a certain eco-footprint.  When you have a child, consider that your footprint just doubled.  You are using more water, more electricity, and buying more things.  You may use the television as a babysitter.  You are doing more laundry.  You may even be drinking more coffee.  Your home has gotten bigger.  Your car has gotten bigger.  And, your waist has gotten bigger.

I know this is something that many people do not want to hear.  I am not saying that your child isn’t fantastic and doesn’t deserve the best.  I have children in my life (not my own) that I love and think the world is better for them being here.  But that is not to say if you have four kids, I think you are irresponsible… because I do. 

Especially, if you consider yourself an environmentalist.  Because those two things do not go hand in hand. 

ok, women. here’s one for you

So, I started looking at this article from Australia because of the relationship of climate change and over-population; things that I think are inextricably linked. 

However, when I got to the end of the very brief article, I was surprised by what Roger Short, a professor at University of Melbourne, had to say:

 

“Global warming is a direct result of human activity,” Professor Short told The Weekend Australian.

“The more people there are, the worse the global warming threat gets.

“So we have got to do everything we can to control human population growth.

“We haven’t given the women of the world freedom from the tyranny — and I do mean tyranny — of unwanted fertility.

“If we could restore that freedom to women, the world could breathe a lot easier and we could look forward to the future because women would sort out the future for us.”

So… I ask for your feedback.  Do you feel women of the world are trapped in a “tyranny” of unwanted fertility?  What do you think women would come up with that could change how our planets future is looking right now?  And, do you think he gave women a compliment, or do you think he created even more tyrannical rule by putting us to work fixing the problems that men have created?

Thoughts…. would LOVE to hear them.

 

And, for those who need the clarification, tyranny is defined:

cruel and oppressive government or rule : refugees who managed to escape Nazi tyranny | the removal of the regime may be the end of a tyranny.• a nation under such cruel and oppressive government.• cruel, unreasonable, or arbitrary use of power or control : she resentedhis rages and his tyranny | figurative the tyranny of the nine-to-five day | hisfather‘s tyrannies.• (esp. in ancient Greece) rule by one who has absolute power without legal right.

blinders

I just found a great article that I want to share with you all. If you couldn’t already tell from my countdown clock, this is a must read. The over-population of this planet is a critical issue that will not be fixed simply by having people stop having children. It is true, with each person that is born, it takes a lot to sustain them… more than this planet may have to give. But what’s also critical is the choices we make on HOW we live.

Every time you do something, imagine another 7 billion people doing it. I ask that you just start questioning… is that okay with me? Or is it worth it to take a shorter shower, and turn off the A/C when you go on vacation or not buy that new clothing item and wear something that is already in your closet… Think about what it takes to make those things really happen.

I just ask that you not live blindly.

HERE is the article. I hope you all read it.

….and counting, 9/17/08

one hundred eighty seven days to go!

can we even really comprehend this…?

….and counting, 9/5/08

one hundred and ninety nine days to go…..

….and counting

two hundred and fifteen days to go!

close to 7 billion served

Good news! We hit 6.7 Billion people today and we are growing at a rate of 1.3 million people per day!

We will hit 7 Billion people in LESS THAN ONE YEAR!!!!…. 217 days in fact.

WOO!!