- "Which is the greater danger - nuclear warfare or
the population explosion? The latter absolutely!" said famed writer
Isaac Asimov. "To bring about nuclear war, someone has to DO something;
someone has to press a button. To bring about destruction by overcrowding,
mass starvation, anarchy, the destruction of our most cherished values-there
is no need to do anything. We need only do nothing except what comes naturally-and
breed. And how easy it is to do nothing."
-
- Asimov followed up with a penetrating reality check brought
about by overpopulation: "...democracy cannot survive overpopulation.
Human dignity cannot survive it. Convenience and decency cannot survive
it. As you put more and more people into the world, the value of life not
only declines, it disappears. It doesn't matter if someone dies. The more
people there are, the less one individual matters," said Asimov.
-
- At America's current rate of population growth, it will
double from 310 million to 600 million within the lifetime of a child born
today. While Americans remain smug about their 'tiny' population of 310
million in 2010, they live daily without any comprehension of calamities
of growth as experienced in much of the world. Few Americans would opt
to move to China, India or Bangladesh to live in such diminished quality
of life conditions, but the majority contends that 'growth' can go on forever.
Americans cannot grasp that China hit 300 million in the last century,
but today, they suffer what they did to themselves at 1.3 billion. Yet,
Americans follow the same slippery slope-even as they read about the consequences
in other overloaded countries.
-
- As this series advances with exacting scientific foundational
research, you may hear cries from 17th century-thinking "the
Earth is flat" American stalwarts that contend the United States does
not suffer any overpopulation problems. They cry out, "We've got
endless space, unlimited water, enough gasoline for another 200 years and
plenty of resources." Thus, they refuse, like a stubborn 6th grader,
to incorporate "carrying capacity", Peak Oil, Peak Water and
the "Exponential Equation." Instead, they rely on emotions and
scenarios from the past.
-
- Their inability to understand and assimilate the harsher
realities facing this civilization, unfortunately, find sympathizing citizens
in the same boat of denial. Therefore, let's focus on two major identifiers
facing America in the coming decade as we add another 35 million people
by 2020. And the decade after that, another 35 million people, and so
on to reach 100 million by 2035-and on toward 600 million.
-
- WATER LIMITS IN THE USA
-
- "Crisis feared as U.S. water supplies dry up: Government
projects at least 36 states will face shortages within five years."
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21494919/
-
- A recent report by the world Economic Forum warns that
half the world's population will be affected by water shortages within
20 years. Why? The human race adds 1.0 billion every 13 years. Researchers
say those unsustainable conditions equal "water bankruptcy"
that could cause crop failures, which in turn, cause millions to face starvation.
Today in 2010, 18 million humans starve to death annually worldwide.
-
- But, as 20th century-thinking troglodytes contend,
the U.S. enjoys an endless supply of water. Except, today, in California,
they already process toilet water to tap water. Farmers cannot continue
irrigation of crops because of exhausted aquifers. The Ogallala aquifer,
that irrigates the mid-section of America, suffers enormous depletion with
very little recharging to replenish itself. It will run out at some point.
Arizona, Georgia and Florida suffer water shortages. No amount of conservation
can save Florida as it races from 18 million to 36 million additional people,
or Georgia at 8.2 million headed toward 16.4 million in four decades.
-
- Obviously, those that claim America does not suffer a
water shortage predicament either think like the 17thcentury Pope who banished
Galileo for having the audacity to assert, "My research shows unequivocally
that the Earth revolves around the sun."
- "That just can't be," cried the Pope. "I'm
the Pope and I decree the Earth is the center of the universe!"
-
- In the 20th century, human population increased
fourfold, while our use of freshwater increased nine times. Already, California
finds itself included in the UN Water Development Report as a "high
water stress" area in 2010. Can you imagine when California reaches
its predicted additional 20 million people within 30 years?
-
- PEAK OIL BEARING DOWN ON ADVANCED AND OVERPOPULATED CIVILIZATIONS
-
- "As we go from this happy hydrocarbon bubble we
have reached now to a renewable energy resource economy, which we do this
century, will the "civil" part of civilization survive? As we
both know there is no way that alternative energy sources can supply the
amount of per capita energy we enjoy now, much less for the 9 billion expected
by 2050. And energy is what keeps this game going. We are involved in a
Faustian bargain-selling our economic souls for the luxurious life of the
moment, but sooner or later the price has to be paid." --Walter
Youngquist
-
- A farmer with two horses and a single furrow plow can
feed 12 people. A farmer with a John Deere tractor can feed 1,200 and
more. But if that tractor cannot be filled with gasoline, it won't pull
a 10 furrow plow. Today, nothing on the horizon can duplicate the 'energy
density' of oil.
-
- According to the Hubbert Curve, we will see the end of
all extractable oil reserves within 30 years. Additionally, as we continue
burning 84 million barrels daily, we will see gasoline hit $10, $15 and
ultimately $20 per gallon. (Source: Chris Steiner, $20 Per Gallon, Forbes)
-
- How will we feed our overblown 310 million population
without oil? How will we feed it without water for irrigation?
-
- "Surveying the available alternative energy sources
for criteria such as energy density, environmental impacts, reliance on
depleting raw materials, intermittency versus constancy of supply, and
the percentage of energy returned on the energy invested in energy production,
none currently appears capable of perpetuating this kind of society." Richard
Heinberg, "Temporary Recession or the End of Growth?"
-
- Finally, this president sums it up:
- "...More important than the deficit, more important
than healthcare-more important than anything-we have got to do something
about our energy strategy. Because if we permit the climate to continue
to warm at an unsustainable rate, and if we keep on doing what we're doing
until we're out of oil and we haven't made the transition, then it's inconceivable
to me that our children and grandchildren will be able to maintain the
American way of life and that the world won't be much fuller of resource-based
wars of all kinds." President Bill Clinton
- Therefore, the question: can we add another 100 million
within 25 years and expect a positive outcome for our children?
-
- Today, we evade, avoid and suppress any talk about energy
conservation and overpopulation in America. As Paul Ehrlich said, "All
causes are lost causes without limiting human population."
-
- Take action! www.numbersusa.com ; www.worldpopulationbalance.org ;
- www.populationmedia.org ;www.thesocialcontract.com ; www.albartlett.org
-
- "Imagine a country which employs the principles
of personal responsibility, freedom and accountability for future generations.
Everything you do-counts! If you do nothing, that counts otherwise. When
you read sobering information, do you want to give up or fall apart? Or,
do you want to engage like Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, George and Martha
Washington, John and Abigail Adams, Lincoln, Susan B. Anthony, Dr. Martin
Luther King, Oprah, Barbara Jordan, John Muir and other Americans. You
represent the Jefferson's, Oprah's and Dr. King's of the 21stcentury.
Consider it your honor and privilege to become a part of the solutions.
Engage the present to change the future! Become an agent of the change
you wish to see."
-
- Frosty Wooldridge has bicycled across six continents
- from the Arctic to the South Pole - as well as six times across the USA,
coast to coast and border to border. In 2005, he bicycled from the Arctic
Circle, Norway to Athens, Greece. He presents "The Coming Population
Crisis in America: and what you can do about it" to civic clubs, church
groups, high schools and colleges. He works to bring about sensible world
population balance at www.frostywooldridge.com He is the author
of: America on the Brink: The Next Added 100 Million Americans. Copies
available: 1 888 280 7715
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