A Home in Texas

The above very informative video, which I copied from Juan Cole's site, Informed Comment, tells us, among other things, that at the end of this new year, there will be 7 billion humans running around on this planet.

In 1930, a year before I was born, there were only 2,000.000.000 of us around, so that just in my time the world's population has not doubled, as it did from 1800 to 1930.   Instead it more than tripled, and in a much shorter length of time.

You would think that by now some seriousness would have set in about this situation, but it hasn't yet, as shown by the numerous opposing viewpoints that are always offered whenever overpopulation is mentioned.   One especially ludicrous one that I read a few years ago sticks in my mind, the notion that there is still so much unused room that, for instance, everyone in the U.S. could still live comfortably in Texas, in a home with a yard, a pecan tree, and all the other amenities.

I have the feeling that the critical number when some drastic action will finally have to be taken regardless is 9 billion, which is only a relatively few unused condoms from now.

I wish I could be around when what is sure to be the decisive prophylactic measure is put into force with a will, and that will be the necessity to get a license costing a hefty fee before one could have a child, and the anti-abortionists will be deserving of getting their mouths washed out with some of that oldtime, strong, brown laundry soap.   That would bend more than a few profligate heads badly out of shape, and it would be fun to watch.

As it is, the present generation, and some of those before us, have already set themselves up to be cursed by the generations to come because of their failure to emulate the Sioux, the Cherokees, and others by keeping their numbers severely in check, 

Meanwhile it's eye-opening to realize how many of the world's problems can be directly laid at the feet of overpopulation.   It's even worse than racism.   Racism does its dirty work mainly on a wide range of human relations and doesn't usually affect the Amur tigers, for instance.   But overpopulation ultimately crushes just about everything else.