There are too many people on this planet
Many years ago I fell in love with economics, since it made plain root principles from which everything else would spring. In short, if you would understand the trees (and branches and leaves), you had better understand a forest.
That analogy comes to mind as I marvel at the disparate groups on the contemporary left, the leaves and twigs as it were, to find the underlying unifying principle. What is it, precisely, which unites green environmentalists, LGBTQ+, pro-abortion activists, critical race theorists, “progressive” criminal reformers and much of the rest? I think it is simply this: There are far too many people on the planet, and the majority of those people are the wrong kind of people. Think Hillary’s “basket of deplorables.”
The roots of this belief go back to Thomas Malthus, if not before, who in 1798 published a hugely influential book on population postulating that human reproduction would outstrip the food supply, with the result of mass starvation. Absent self-restraint, only wars, disease, crime and other causes of death could stop this process. Darwin looked at his theory, saw overpopulation led to a struggle for survival, and thus the connection to survival of the fittest. Social Darwinists then applied the principle to survival of the fittest races, with the horrific consequences seen in the 20th century.
Malthusianism is alive and well today. In addition to mass starvation ("The Population Bomb" by Paul Ehrlich), humans are destroying the planet by “paving paradise to put up a parking lot.” Our “carbon footprints” are trampling the future. Woe is us unless population is not only stopped from growing, but sharply reduced. Therein lies the unifying principle of the left.
Malthus suggested war, disease and related disasters were the only “hope” to stave off mass starvation. This was a pretty grim prognosis. You can die now, or die later. Twentieth century fascists and communists tried a direct approach, and slaughtered perhaps a hundred million. Wars killed tens of millions more. Despite this unprecedented death toll, population still grew. Natural restraint didn’t happen. Far too many people obeyed God’s first command to be fruitful and multiply.
So what to do? Well, if outright mass killing in gulags and concentration camps doesn’t do the job, then the only other alternative is to see that children aren’t born in the first place. Supporting abortion is a no-brainer. The Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion group, estimates that around 73 million abortions take place each year around the world. Unfortunately, 140 million are born. Worse, only 60 million die, so net-net population continues to increase.
Clearly something needs to be done about all those births. Potential parents must be guilt-tripped about bringing children into the world. Also, potential parents must be encouraged to see how much better their lives will be without children around to cost money and spoil the fun. Double income with no kids is the way to go. Progressive child rearing and (lack of) discipline see to it that spoiled brats discourage others.
Even better is to eliminate potential parenting in the first place. Every permutation on LGBTQA+ all share one characteristic: infertility. Transgenderism among the young is aggressively espoused, and children being as vulnerable as they are, it is working phenomenally well. Once a child is castrated, and surgically altered, there is no going back, and no danger of children being born later.
The elitists who control the left can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Birth rates are falling of their own accord — increasing wealth, women’s education, urbanization, cheap and effective birth control, and related factors — death rates are rising, and shortly the two should cross. A world with a population reduced to a billion or so, run by the elites for the benefit of the elites, enjoying a massive environmental park, accessible only to the elites, is the end point.
To see how this works, try to put your boat in for a cruise down the Grand Canyon. Only those with the time and money and patience need apply.
Charles Milliken is a professor emeritus after 22 years of teaching economics and related subjects at Siena Heights University. He can be reached at milliken.charles@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Charles Milliken: There are too many people on this planet
