Population & Compassion

At a conference today I was talking to a speaker. He said the economy is slowly going to get better simply because the population is continuing to grow. He said the foreclosed property is beginning to get sucked up and new construction is emerging again. According to the speaker, we'll see a long span of growth followed by another sharp recession. My only response was, "I hope I retire before that happens."

Really, right now I am just hoping to stay employed until I can grab on the government safety net. At least I'll be able to buy food, and I'll have Medicare! I know the Big Hand that's providing these things is slowly going bankrupt, but maybe I can eat from Uncle Sam's trough just long enough to meet the Grim Reaper.

I do know the current world economic system is totally unsustainable, and sooner or later the entire thing will come crashing down. My hope is that humanity will enjoy a soft landing, but more likely we'll see a lot of starvation and extreme violence. All the while, we'll still get to switch on our TVs and see pastors with bad haircuts, who will be waving Bibles and muttering something about Armageddon.

Population

Back in 1997 I had this crazy idea that I would try to save the world. I did some research and felt that slowing the human population explosion was the best way to help the Earth. So, for years I became a tireless population activist. Last year, for instance, I tabled at a population event and gave three slide shows. On average, I do one population event per quarter.

But you know what? I don't worry about it any more. I know that humans are a fragile species and it won't take much to hinder our reproduction. Fresh water and oil are already a scarcity, and we need both to support the 7 billion of us. Plus, more people means more demand for essential items, which creates higher prices and scarcity. As prices go up, the general cost of living goes up, and kids must stay at home longer. Plus, in a super-expensive world, young couples wait longer to have children, or they don't reproduce at all.

Add to this the past-due acceptance of women as equals. As women are treated with more respect and given more equality around the world, they have more options than motherhood. Many will choose careers, while others will still prefer to be stay-at-home moms, but ultimately, there are less babies.

Compassion

Population sustainability is an emotional and controversial issue. I've come to think of it as a beautiful humanitarian effort. As an activist, all I advocate for is universal access to contraception. This simply means that poor women who WANT to have no children, have FEWER children, or who want to SPACE their children farther apart, can have the power to do so. Contraception gives a woman freedom and the ability to choose her destiny. But this freedom threatens the old world order. Many men prefer that women stay subservient, and they use religion or tradition to keep women "barefoot and pregnant," as they say. Religious groups scream that contraception kills babies, but remain silent on all the trillions of potential babies killed every day by, yep, the masturbators. What the religionists are really doing is practicing "womb control" on women.

For years, I've fought the religionist in the United States and their elected officials in Washington. I've gone to our nation's capital several times to lobby. Republication politicians seem to feel that their constituents are so dumb that they'll confuse "contraception" with "abortion," and, thus, they fight against domestic and international family planning. After years of banging my head against the right wing wall, I got tired and gave up. YOU WIN, GUYS!

Cynicism

So, by around 2003, after 6 years of activism work, I was slowly getting jaded and sinking into cynicism. I wanted to say, "Okay, I told you so, see for yourself what happens." However, in my heart I know that cynicism is just an excuse to give up. It's easy to be a jaded cynic, but what I really need to do is keep ramming my head into the conservative wall until little cracks develop. If anything, I owe it to the millions of women in the world who cannot afford or cannot easily access contraception. I also owe it to the world, which is rapidly being polluted and stripped of resources and tree cover.

One of the biggest myths, hell, I mean LIES, is that contraception is bad. To the contrary, it saves the lives of women who are at near exhaustion from having children in rapid succession. The pills or shots are simply giving the woman a rest and a break. Despite the misinformation coming from Rome or Redstate.com, contraception is not "population control" and it is not "abortion." Rather, it is an act of humanity. It is using technology to give women freedom, power, and more control over their destiny. I think this is only fair, moral, and just.

Photo credit: NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center / Foter.com / CC BY-NC

Pondering Humanity

As I grow older, human society seems crazier and crazier to me. I'm wondering if I'm changing, or becoming more aware, or if people are just becoming more dysfunctional.

The biggest and saddest comedy act is the U.S. Congress. I like the idea of democracy, but our elected officials have shown us that it's all a facade, a big joke, and an idealist's pipe dream. Has our government always been so broken and corrupt? I know that in the old days people like Teddy Roosevelt actually fought the greedy political bosses, but now everyone's in the same bed.

Then there is the total brain-screwing on climate change. The Big Oil-funded think tanks have done a splendid job of confusing the public and throwing doubt in people's minds. In reality (whatever THAT is these days) the evidence that humans are warming the Planet is overwhelming. But every time there is a cold snap people start screaming, "Global warming is a hoax."

Food Supply

I have this theory that our weakening food supply is what is melting down the brains of our elected leaders and the general public. Instead of eating nuts, veggies, fruits, and wild meat like our ancestors, people today are stuffing Little Debbie's in their mouths. We are becoming a nation of giant people who spend countless hours watching reality TV and reading gossip tabloids. Our brains are weakening, and our test scores are falling. At least the Romans could blame it on incest and lead in their pipes, but for Americans we have nothing to blame except for our laziness and lack of discipline. As the nutritional quality of our food weakens, so do we. And so does our will.

Gay Marriage

The Christian fundamentalist surge seems to be weakening, foaming, and receding back into the sea. Gay marriage laws are being passed around the country. I am delighted. It shows that all the pew hoppers aren't jumping much any more. I thank Westboro Baptist Church, the Rev. Harold Camp, the Rev. Terry Jones, and all the other nuts for showing us what religion really is — just absolutely nuts. Of course, if you're nuts and rich, you can be a Scientologist, which will increase your "cool factor" in Hollywood.

Trash

The other thing that's nuts is our throwaway society. We absolutely can't be throwing all the trash and plastic in the landfills indefinitely. It's a simply unsustainable practice. If all that plastic you throw away takes 500 years to deteriorate, people 500 years from now are going to hate you. There is going to be plastic buried everywhere by then. And as that stuff does slowly rot away, do you think it just disappears? Nope. It turns into methane gas and rises into the atmosphere, which contributes to global warming. Every plastic cup you toss makes the Planet a little warmer, and a little nastier. At least recycle the damn thing.

I'm totally tired. I've been blogging now for nine years, almost to the day. I've written about 380 some entries. Think of them as my gift to future generations and my contribution to society. One day people will read my posts and say, "Wow, the Green Goose really had his head screwed on nicely." But, then again, maybe not. I'm convinced that no one really cares about anything, except maybe their little pet causes. Where's the love, baby?

Photo credit: seanmcgrath / Foter.com / CC BY