Population Growth "Alarmism" as a Deep Political Control Device

[Greg Burnham]

I'm not even interested in whether Malthus was right or wrong.

Ok. Fair enough. I now better understand why there's been a disconnect. In my view, we are subject to the parameters set by the paradigms that we hold as true. Whether or not we are aware of or acknowledge the existence of those paradigms makes no difference: we are still ruled by them.

I'm simply making the observation that human population is expanding at an unsustainable rate.

I think that statement demonstrates that you do, in fact, believe Malthus was correct, just as most everyone in the west so believes, thus your choice of the word "unsustainable" --

It has more than doubled just in my lifetime. Some view a continuously expanding human population--matched by ingenious technological advances in medicine and food production--as some kind of dreamy utopian ideal. Advocates of this position seem to think we are the only life form on this planet. I see it as a disaster for life on the planet because it necessitates the destruction of habitat for other species.

I think that there are numerous reasons that the PLANET causes certain species to become extinct and that HUMANS are only one of many contributing factors to that extinction, with few exceptions.

One only has to look at the current extinction rates for other species, coupled with environmental degradation caused by overpopulation to realise that something is seriously wrong here.

I don't advocate any form of human population control, eugenics, soylent green or any other contrived restraints on population growth.

Yet, if we don't have a plan to control population VOLUNTARILY by the individual, will we just accept this Malthusian determinism and give up? To me that's where information sharing (which I was calling education) is absolutely essential.

I just make the observation that, although humans are part of the carbon cycle of life that exists on this planet, we are still not really natural. We don't exist in harmony with nature, we destroy nature.

I couldn't disagree with you more. We are of this planet. We are therefore NATURAL to it and everything we do is natural. However, not everything we do is to our own benefit nor is it always to the benefit of other species. But, we cannot destroy nature--that is absurd. We are subservient to nature and to the planet, not the other way around.

Unlike other species, we don't appear to serve a useful role.

George Carlin once said [paraphrased]:

"For all we know planet Earth needed plastic! Don't ask me why, but maybe this planet just needed plastic for reasons beyond our comprehension and THAT'S why we're here!"