Letters to the Editor
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Is our end inevitable?
There is one undeniable fact here to consider in the human population growth 'debate': In any closed system, growth (of anything you want to name) will entually come to an end. Put agar into a petri dish and introduce a species of bacteria and provide light/warmth/etc. and the bacteria will grow until the food source is depleted and its own wastes build to a toxic level. The same thing will happen to a large cage of rats provided with an inital quantity of food and water. The Earth can be thought of as one enormous, complex petri dish. The Eart's physical processes recycle air and water, and even soil and minerals/metals over the extremely lonh term, but humanity is expanding, and expanding its use of arable land, fresh water, hydrocarbons, and metals, etc. far faster than the Earth can recycle/replenish them. If we only had the wisdom to discipline ourselves to procreate at the replacement rate (2.1 children per woman, on average), our population woul stabilize. Then if we could learn to be happy with using a sustainable amount of resources per person we (humanity) could have a shot to live on our planet for many millions of years.
But...we have infected ourselves with the 'more is better' mental illness...more consumer goods, more travel, more people...'be fruitful and multiply', beyond replacement rate, is a guaranteed worldwide human suicide pact. Most of us are too stupid, greedy, arrogant, and short-sighted to concern ourselves with living in harmony with the Earth's ecosystem...and many of us have drunk the brain-washing Kool-Aid and actually wish for our demise in some infantile hope for a deity-provided 'Heavan on Earth' paradise. That's it, sheep (or lemmings): Turn your intellect to dim and believe that someone or something else will take care of you.