News articles like
this one tend to engender strong, and polarized, emotions in people. A good portion (perhaps the majority) will react with "Awwwww" and a warm tingle at the heart-warming story that's destined for the Lifetime movie-of-the-week. Others, including me, blanch involuntarily (and not just because the mother claims it was a "miracle," despite voluntarily using science-based fertility treatments).
There are arguments that can be made against having excessively large families on the personal level (the distribution of resources, including attention, among more children, the greater risk to each child from gestating multiples, etc.), but these tend to be visceral and opinion-based. Moving on.
The concept of personal liberty and reproductive freedom is unquestionable on the personal level. The concept of responsibility on the global scale, on the other hand, is not. For 99% of its 200,000-year history, the human species experienced very slow population growth (we didn't crack 5 million people until the Bronze Age). A hunter-gatherer existence surrounded by predators and an inconsistent food supply meant that multiple offspring were offset by high mortality rates, and even into the modern historical periods population growth was still slow (800 million people worldwide in 1750, less than the population of India today). The evolutionary nudge toward large families was maintained as necessity in agrarian societies (where large numbers of children were, in addition to bundles of joy, free labor on farms using hand-powered technology), and extended into tradition today even when no longer necessary (my own family, descended from proud farming stock on both sides, spans four generations and more than 50 people, not counting spouses).
This is where harsh mathematics comes in. The
current population of the world is about
6.75 billion. This is a fourfold increase in a hundred years and nearly a doubling since I was born. Numbers are projected to level out around 9 billion once the majority of the third world "catches up" with the first world. In stark contrast, the scientific consensus on the maximum long-term sustainable population of the planet, based on its resources and "recharge rate," is a paltry
2 billion, a number we've long ago passed. That number is based on an assortment of limiting factors, such as the rate aquifers recharge, top soil regenerates and ocean fish levels replenish, plus the rate of depletion of non-renewable resources such as fossil fuels that are a one-shot supply the planet won't produce again. Our current population is sustaining itself only through depleting a stockpile of resources (much like spending the capital in your retirement fund instead of living off the interest). This is a bad plan (both in the world of finance and in population dynamics).
The human species, then, has three options:
1. Ignore the situation and allow the population to build to 10+ billion, at which point natural population control measures will kick in (in a decidedly non-pretty way, likely through escalating mass famines and regional/global wars over limited resources).
2. Institute
mandatory population control measures as China and India have done (with varying degrees of success). These are severe violations of personal liberty and lead to civil unrest.
3. Encourage global responsibility on a personal level. Which means not having 14 children. (It actually means not having more children than necessary to maintain the sustainable population, which in a balanced ecology would be enough to replace the previous generation.)
Unpleasant facts, I know. Our planet just isn't as forgiving as we tend to think it is.
Labels: annoyance, environment, politics, social commentary
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Thursday, January 29
Whoops
It has been brought to my attention that the fact that I properly flagged the most recent photo of my dining room according to Flickr's guidelines means that most people (not being members of Flickr or not having relaxed the default settings) cannot actually see the photo. Please accept my most humble apologies and see if this one works better.
Labels: house, photography
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Wednesday, January 28
Super Dating
Maybe I should
borrow $3 million from my friends and family, too.
Labels: amusement, internet
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iTunes Update
Just for Tim (and anyone else who wants my music recommendations).
Labels: iTunes, music
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Tuesday, January 27
Shot in the Arm
Just to freak out the squeamish. This is the third problem donation I've had with this arm (following the incident where the tech poked the needle clear through the vein and out the other side and the follow-up where the tech had to "wiggle" the needle in different directions for 30 seconds to get the flow started). I'm sure that just convinced half of my friends never to donate.
Labels: annoyance, ouch
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It's the End of the World as We Know It
Too little, too late. Go us.
Labels: environment
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Monday, January 26
Happy Birthday
To the newest grandfather in the family. :)
Labels: birthdays, dad, holiday
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Sunday, January 25
Redecoration
I've had the Lois Greenfield prints (the small prints in the left photo) on my dining room wall since I moved into my house, and I've had to politely decline credit for them when an assortment of visitors have asked if they were my work (I wish). Thus, I spent a few hours last weekend measuring and marking and hanging new prints of my own work (from my *other* portfolio, just to clarify that the full-size photo may not be entirely work safe).
Labels: house, photography
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Thursday, January 22
Smoke Signals
Well,
this is just sad. I have old, unused computers in my basement more advanced than what the White House is using. Sheesh.
Labels: computers, politics
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Wednesday, January 21
Fairytale
Wow,
our society is spoiled . . .
Labels: amusement
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Friday, January 16
Priorities
Just to clarify.
Sins that any priest can forgive: genocide and mass murder
Sins that only the Pope can forgive because they're so heinous local priests and bishops are unqualified:
spitting out Communion wafersGotcha.
Labels: religion and atheism
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Thursday, January 15
Bitter Pill
Two articles on Yahoo! News on the same day:
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Drinking coffee may decrease the risk of Alzheimer's
-
Coffee may cause hallucinationsBut at least you get to *choose* when you start hearing things . . .
Labels: amusement
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Monday, January 12
Happy Birthday. :)
To the newest father in my family. Hope it's a good one. :)
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Friday, January 9
Yay for Following Instructions
A weight-loss flyer in the break room shows the results of a survey of former participants who were asked to sum up the program "in one word." My favorite? "Life changing."
Second place goes to "Sweat."
Labels: amusement
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Thursday, January 8
The Extra Mile
I started going to the gym after work again this week, not only for the health benefits but as a way to boost my mood (I'm sure there are several people saying "Yay! Finally!" to the second part). A few key observations from the trial run:
- I don't understand why an empty gym still has five fans running on high, two televisions on different channels playing at full volume and remotes "hidden" on the machines instead of residing in the custom remote holders under the televisions. You're going to work out for an hour and then be too lazy to turn off the televisions when you leave? Does that seem like a paradox?
- The firm has purchased two new elliptical trainers and I still like the old one they've had since I started best.
- I'm not feeling muscle soreness, which is odd for someone abruptly starting a five-mile-per-night exercise routine after more than a year of being lazy.
- The products available in the men's locker room include "Cucumber Melon Splash" shampoo and "Mixed Berry Smoothie" conditioner. This means that not only do I leave the gym smelling like a fruit basket, but for about an hour afterward I keep looking around in a vain effort to find the woman wearing the strong perfume.
- Television schedules and commercials are annoying. "Oh, look, you missed the first 15 minutes of this show, and you'll only get to see the first 15 minutes of the *next* show before you're done." I miss streaming video.
Labels: work out
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Wednesday, January 7
Maybe Next They'll Sell Pure Tritium in Bulk
For the man who has almost everything,
nuclear-grade duct tape (perfect for patching up nuclear power plants . . .) at 97% off list price. I'm even more amused that the most closely related item in the "things people buy after viewing this product" section is a Rubik's Cube.
Nuclear material. Rubik's Cube. Hrm.
Labels: amusement, internet
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Tuesday, January 6
Truth in Words
I've discovered that the most poignant of human experiences can effectively be summed in
one sentence.
Labels: amusement
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Thursday, January 1
And a New Year's Baby, To Boot!
Congratulations to my brother and my sister-in-law on the birth of the first grandchild in my immediate family, Kelbi Marie (6 lbs. 12 oz., 19-3/4 inches). Mother and daughter are doing fine, and everyone is tired. My parents are very happily enjoying adding "grand" to their accustomed titles.
UPDATE:
UPDATE 2:
Labels: family, jeff, kelbi, shandra
