LETTER

Is “overpopulation” politically incorrect? 

I always enjoy receiving my weekly Aylmer Bulletin and want to thank all the staff for the tremendous job they do each week, except for that one when you’re all on holidays! Darn, no Bulletin last week! I read all the English articles and then seem to form my own opinions on matters taking up some people’s thoughts.  So, here goes...  

What is the most significant event that has happened to humans in the past 1,000 years? (answer at the end)  Reading Fred’s editorial concerning Measles and T.B. and the Global Fund saving 27 million lives, and counting, you would think we are concentrating on the right measures to assist mankind.  We are not! 

Let’s pretend for one minute we have solved the climate problem. The planet isn’t going to cook itself. Now what?  More diseases are cured. We all live longer, healthier lives! The air and waters are cleaned thanks to brilliant young minds discovering miraculous ways to filter it all.  Thanks to advances in plant protein, meat consumption plummets and the world rejoices!  We are all going to celebrate ... but wait ... 

There are too many of us.  

Yes, overpopulation, a word seldom said anymore (politically incorrect?), is still going to be a huge problem. 

We already have too many people, and too many problems to solve. If the planet is a living entity, which it surely must be, then it and its hosts will play a part in reducing the population. I read years ago that sperm-counts in males was falling steadily. Perhaps sterility will play a part in our future.  The most significant event, of course, was the Bubonic Plague of 1347-1351 which wiped out between a third and half of the world’s population. Sorry to sound depressing, but that will likely  have to happen again. The population must decline. 

If Capitalism says differently, then Capitalism’s gotta go. Tough choices.  My wife and I are childless by choice, something in the coming years that couples should be proud to do and that government should encourage. A good friend stated she did not want her 2 kids having children, not because she did not want grandchildren. No, because she feels, among other things, resources are limited and the planet simply can’t afford more people at this time. Unfortunately, that’s the way we all need to start thinking, and fast.

Joseph Golding, 

Aylmer