the extremists

Michael Gochfeld gochfeld at eohsi.rutgers.edu
Sun Jan 28 08:51:29 EST 2001


I'm not sure what your were mentioning. But Rwanda is a verdant country with
rich agricultural land, beautiful rain forest, and a breath-taking array of
butterflies.  Atlas-type moths were spectacular at our campsite.  Lot's to vote
for, if you don't have too many people.  MIKE GOCHFELD
 
"Guy Van de Poel & A. Kalus" wrote:
 
> Nothing to do with leps either, but decades ago there was nothing to vote
> for in those countries. And there still is not much. You can only appreciate
> the colour of the sky once you've _seen_ it.
>
> Guy.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Michael Gochfeld <gochfeld at EOHSI.RUTGERS.EDU>
> To: MWalker at gensym.com <MWalker at gensym.com>
> Cc: 'stanlep at extremezone.com' <stanlep at extremezone.com>;
> leps-l at lists.yale.edu <leps-l at lists.yale.edu>
> Date: zaterdag 27 januari 2001 15:25
> Subject: Re: the extremists
>
> >Mark's post was indeed thought provoking.
> >I think it is no coincidence that the devastating genocidal battles in
> Rwanda,
> >occurred in the most
> >heavily overpopulated country in Africa.
> >
> >If you believe that wars, either directly or indirectly, result from
> competition
> >for resources, then the limitations on procreation may be enforced, not by
> ones
> >own government, but by some other government.  My good friends in Rwanda
> who had
> >their procreation (and everything else) prematurely terminated by members
> of a
> >warring tribe, might have voted for stricter population controls a few
> decades
> >earlier, if they had had the opportunity and foresight.
> >
> >Mike Gochfeld
> >
> >Mark Walker wrote:
> >
> >> In times past, before there was a LEPS-L, I was known for getting on
> >> soapboxes to address the subject of overpopulation.  At the time (70's),
> it
> >> was popular to consider the fate of the planet as an ecosystem - and it
> was
> >> obvious to most the negative impact man had had over the preceding
> decades.
> >> All of us had seen the elimination of much habitat due to development.
> The
> >> increasing population growth rate was much discussed and feared.  We all
> >> awaited the horrific appearance of Soylent Green.
> >>
> >> In the 80's, this discussion subsided, at least publicly.  During this
> >> period, I pondered many of the other problems we were facing as a
> species.
> >> It began to become apparent that many of these problems were also related
> to
> >> the phenomenon of population growth.  In fact, I challenge all to find a
> >> social problem (other than man's inherent ability to hate his neighbor)
> that
> >> can't be tied back in some way to too many humans.  Interestingly, when I
> >> began to speak out on these correlations, folks mostly responded with
> >> puzzlement.  It seemed as if everyone had agreed that over-population was
> no
> >> longer a concern.
> >>
> >> Ironically, part of the problem was that we had successfully decreased
> the
> >> RATE of population growth, at least in the U.S., and that news confused
> many
> >> into thinking that the population was no longer growing.  Yikes.
> >>
> >> Now - ignoring the question of appropriateness - I feel compelled to
> mention
> >> that as much as I'm concerned
> >> about the growing population, I am also concerned about our options for
> >> dealing with it.  Like most of our social problems, population control is
> >> best left to the people - and should not be a responsibility of the
> state.
> >>
> >> As I've said before on this list, the best thing that could happen to our
> >> lepidopteron friends is for half of the humans to disappear (probably
> half
> >> is not enough).  But none of us are willing to be the first to drink the
> >> proverbial cup of tainted Kool-Aid.  We'd all prefer to be with the half
> >> that gets to stay.
> >>
> >> That being said - please shoot me the day that we empower our governments
> to
> >> be procreation police.  Then there will be more Soylent Green for all
> that
> >> remain.
> >>
> >> Mark Walker
> >> all wet in Oceanside
> >> >
> >>
> >>
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> >>
> >
> >
> >
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> >
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> >
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> >
> >
 
 
 
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