which tracks the source and impact of what we use/purchase. The author travels to the depths of a gold mine in Africa to see the process of extracting tons of ore to refine the few ounces of gold used in his wedding ring, explores the deep sea where many fish are being hunted to extinction, visits a green bean farm in Kenya and prawn hatchery in Bangladesh that both fly food thousands of miles to Britain, and witnesses the vast desertification of Uzbekistan in order to grow cotton for our clothes. It was amazing to catch a glimpse of how many ordinary items are produced and shipped all over the world so we can pick them up and purchase them at the local Walmart. It is only at the end of the book that the author goes completely eco-crazy and gives us his solutions for the global crisis: grow more food in cities to reduce shipping, get rid of cars, stop burning fossil fuels for energy (he against nuclear for purely emotional reasons, so where does that leave us?), and stop having babies. This last "suggestion" has been debated many times over the past 20-40 years with the greenies saying there are too many people in the world and the Catholics saying that civilization and humanity will self-destruct if we contracept and murder our way to a smaller global footprint. Then this morning I read a blurb from LifeSiteNews which reported that several of the world's rich and powerful have met secretly to discuss reducing the population to "save the world."
Even though recent demographic study has revealed a great looming threat of demographic winter, the richest of the rich seem to believe that overpopulation is the top priority for their philanthropic endeavors. John Harlow writes today in The Times about a secret meeting of the global financial elite, convened by Microsoft mogul Bill Gates, at which attendees agreed that curbing the world's population should be their top priority.
In "Billionaire club in bid to curb overpopulation," Harlow recounts that a May 5 meeting took place in Manhattan that included "David Rockefeller Jr, the patriarch of America's wealthiest dynasty, Warren Buffett and George Soros, the financiers, Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York, and the media moguls Ted Turner and Oprah Winfrey." Harlow notes that the general agreement that population control was a major priority came at Gates' instigation.
Gates' enthusiasm for population control comes as no surprise since he has himself admitted to being strongly influenced by the views of Thomas Malthus, the fear-mongering overpopulation guru of the late 18th century.
Yes, we need to live more simply and be more mindful of where our clothes, food, and energy comes from, but killing our fellow human beings is not the solution. Are these folks suggesting that Hitler, Pol Pot, Stalin, and Lenin were the best of men? After all, they reduced our carbon footprint. We would be wise to remember that each person has a unique soul created by God and we have a responsibility to defend the weakest among us.
2 comments:
Well, I know I'd rather be around the kids who were raised with a couple of siblings* than with only children.
After a good bit of arguing, my husband and I agreed to try for three kids.
Why can't these rich folks work to hook up folks who want kids with kids who don't want their kids?
*(by blood or not, I don't care--shoot, get families to manage to live together and raise the cousins as siblings for all I care)
I would love to know how all these very important people got to the meeting. Private jets perhaps? Multiple cars for their entourage, maybe. Oh let me guess, they took public transportation from all over the country to get there. Yes that must be it. Reducing our footprint should include their traveling too.
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