Date: Sun, 7 Jun 1998 10:01:36 -0700 (PDT)
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To: PPN@csf.colorado.edu
From: Francis Bartlett <fgbart@nwrain.com>
Subject: Re:McKibben's article
Remarks on Population:

This is my first venture into the internet fray of Population. First I
believe that McKibben has laid out as clearly as  anyone some of the most
significant aspects of the problem and it should be read by all interested
in this huge problem.

I would like to go back to the beginnings of civilization 10,000 years ago
since most of the mayhem man has done to the world has occurred  since
then. That event separated man from his synergistic relation with the
natural world and placed him in one of man's own making, a process that has
grown ever since and mostly under severe conditions of ignorance about both
himself and the world he populated. In addition the ingredients of the
population problem began to have an effect then. Ever since then this
majestic life force, the basis of all life on earth. has come under man's
tinkering and those few who expressed concern about it got little attention
- Malthus et al. So it has taken 10,000 years to bring us to a population
approaching 6 billion people and in its grand world-wide sweep we feeble
humans nibble around the edges of it as it continues to jeopardize our own
future.

I cannot escape thinking that western culture (Christian) has the major
role in creating the population problem. Chistianity is practiced by more
people that Islam, number two, while the other religions have not been so
aggressive in "colonizing" (converting?) the world. These powerful forces
seldom seem to take a leading role in population control and as a matter of
fact I believe they have been major contributors to it. Until religions can
accept the ideas of ecology and evolution a major player in the game of
population control is on the sidelines.--- At this long last time, we
humans have learned much about ourselves and the natural world, enough to
realize that things have not improved much from a long range point of view
at least in the last half of this century.

Capitalist world economies have created the conditions that westerners
enjoy today, a small portion of the population supported at the expense of
the rest. Capitalism has proven more capable than communism but yet the
ones at the top of the pyramid dominate the rest of the world and always to
their advantage, for governments, set up by the high enders always favor
themselves. As yet humanity has been unable to develop a better way of
organizing itself to provide more equitable conditions for the whole world.
It is a daunting proposition to even envisage how that might evolve.

This line of argument brings me to the point of wondering what on earth we
smart homo Sapiens did for the 90,000 plus or minus thousand years we
existed before civilization. Recent climate research points out that the
climate during those millennia was very much different from that which
Civilzation has enjoyed. Could it be that to keep a lid on human genius
forces outside those of the immediate world were needed? With the severe
climate changes during that lengthy  period, providing food and shelter
under widely varying conditions would keep humans from getting too fussed
up about whether a leader was playing hokey pokey with an associate or not.

There is no question that I have touched on huge aspects of the population
problem that individuals may be unwilling to tackle. Yet the that
population problem is not one that lends itself to the thinking involved
with quarterly reports of enterprise. The pathetic concerns about
immigration by Americans and the results of Ted Turner's competition
indicate how ready in this "great"
nation, we are to seriously confront the population problem and all the
ancillary activities contributing to it. I believe that our educatioal
system is almost completely missing the boat when it comes to informing the
populace about what the population problem really amount to.

I'm afraid that all of us are so wrapped up in our cultures that to see a
path to change such deep seated conduct goes well beyond any culture's
ability to  affect how many children will be born tomorrow, next week, next
month, next year, next decade.

I hope you will read this letter and give your opinions about its content.

Francis G. Bartlett