I know that I am by no means what one would call a social butterfly. But before you get any ideas of me as someone who is at his computer in a basement, Doritos nearby and Star Wars figures on the shelf above, let me assure you that I am not that way. It's pretty close, but I'm not to that point...yet.
The best way to sum up my viewpoint on social interaction is the following quote by Linus Van Pelt: "I love mankind. It's people I can't stand." I love the idea of humanity. I marvel at our creations and the acts of compassion that individuals are capable of. More often than not, however, I am disgusted by our herd mentality, our greed, our short-sightedness, and in America especially, our nigh allergic reaction to all things and all people intellectual. Combine that with the cumbersome sensation I have during face-to-face conversations and I end up wanting to remain by myself most of the time.
Still, I've got nothing on these guys. That's right, the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement. Before you slap on your gas mask and secure plastic sheeting to your windows with duct tape, realize that they are not planning to drop ricin into the water supply or nerve gas into the subways. As stated on their site, the VHEMT seeks to end the human race by simply ceasing to breed. That's it.
Funny thing is, I can't say that I totally disagree with them. Our world is simply not built to sustain the nearly six billion souls that inhabit it. If the projected growth of the population is accurate, then things are only going to get worse. Resources will evaporate. Wildlife will be decimated as humanity continues to expand and kill everything else so that we might survive. Babies will starve as more and more children are born into a world that cannot feed them. Think that's just my own doom and gloom? Think again. A study by the World Wildlife Fund has found that by the year 2050, our planet will have simply run out of the resources, the room, and the wherewithal to sustain an ever increasing population.
Why is the population booming? There are a couple of reasons. One is the developing world, where there are neither the resources nor the educational systems to employ birth control. The other is Western, especially American, couples who see babies as cute little things that the simply must have, oblivious to the drain on resources that just one new child causes on the world. So what? they say. It's my right to have a kid and my life is just a dead, hollow shell if I don't sprout out a piece of crotchfruit.
I see what's coming and it might just happen before I shrug off this mortal coil (my making it to the year 2050 is about a year or so beyond the average life expectancy for a man in this nation.) There will be a worldwide ecological disaster at one point or another, brought on in whole or in part by overpopulation.
But I'm not ready to reach for the razor blades just yet. I'm appalled at what we've done to the intricate routines and subroutines that are the Earth's ecosystem, but I believe that there must be more viable and workable alternatives than what the VHEMT are proposing. One means to the end would be population control through both awareness and "family planning." Another is the colonization of other planets. Whatever the method, VHEMT is right about at least one thing: we need to do something. And do something fast.
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"My life is a dead hollow shell if I don't sprout a piece of crotchfruit."
ReplyDeleteI just loved that one. I must assume you have many adorable children scampering around your feet.
Just kidding by the way. But I agree that something has to be done. We're already almost at seven billion, and I know we hit six billion around the year two thousand.
One billion people. In ten years. I think a century ago, we had half the current world population (can't think of the exact number off hand). I'm not planning on having any children because I cannot bear to see them grow up in a world that has a damn good chance of crapping out on them.
Honestly, I don't think people realize (or believe) the seriousness of the situation. And that is damned frightening.
"but I believe that there must be more viable and workable alternatives than what the VHEMT are proposing."
ReplyDeleteWhat 'propoasl' are you referring to in this sentence exactly?
@JEFritz No kids. Two dogs...and they keep me busy enough. Just to be clear on the point, I don't hate children. I teach 6th and 7th grades as part of my day job.
ReplyDelete@Jennifer Well, according to the VHEMT web site, I'd say offhand that the "propoasl" is to cease reproduction and allow the race to go extinct.