“I think everybody would agree with you on reducing the prison populations. A few years ago I did a TV series on crime and prisons in different parts of the world. Some, like in Malawi are hideous. With 160 crowded into a single cell, one meal a day, polluted water, foul toilets and not knowing how many months or years before they would see a judge, it was dismal. On the other hand in Norway a prisoner might have his own TV and computer and three meals a day. They are even paid while imprisoned! I thought about doing jail time in Norway for a vacation. Of course in the States we have the highest number of inmates per capita.
“And look at the types of crimes committed. As bad as we may think America is for murders, it is way down the list when compared to Columbia and South Africa. Interpol told me that the per capita murder rate there is ten times more than in the States.”
“That’s my point Chet, I sure would like to find other ways than murder, war and genocide to keep the population controlled.”
“There’s certainly more to the crime problem than murder. You have heavily funded organized crime worldwide. South Africa has 700 well financed crime syndicates. Columbia is worse. Russia is infected. And we certainly know a bit about the Italian and Sicilian mafias from the movies. Even the welfare paradise Norway has its Yugoslav mafia. Hollywood has its Mexican mafia. Sometimes I think that the criminals run the world and if they don’t run it, they sure have a big piece of the pie!”
“It is also obvious that the world society has not been able to produce enough jobs for the world’s population. And it’s not just about jobs it’s about interesting and creative jobs. Every country has some level of unemployment, and the more populous regions seem to have even less ability to produce jobs than do the advanced countries. The search for jobs is a major reason for immigration, particularly illegal immigration. Look at the problems caused by the illegal immigration of Central Americans into the US and of Middle Easterners and Africans into Europe. When the society has too many children for the jobs it can produce it creates problems both for itself and for its neighbors.
"As long ago as September 2014 the OECD, the Organization for Cooperation for Economic Development of the developed Western countries issued a report saying that over 7% of workers would be unemployed the next year and that half of the developed world’s workers had experienced pay cuts. It went on to say:
"A key lesson that policymakers and governments must draw from the findings of the OECD Employment Outlook 2014 is that in a context of weak aggregate demand and disappointing job creation in most economies, austerity policies and supply-side interventions are failing to boost growth and employment. Governments should increase public investment in infrastructure to support aggregate demand, and boost employment in the short-term while mitigating the adverse consequences of long-term unemployment.(3a)
"Even before the turn-of-the-century there were overpopulation problems. However then many people could go to advanced countries and get jobs—as taxi drivers, shopkeepers, and laborers. But as the population explodes, particularly in the Muslim countries, Africa, South America and India we get revolutions to get more jobs. But computers and robotics are replacing the former jobs and doing them better and cheaper. Self driving cars, bar codes and machines replace millions of humans.
"When jobs are not available we get young men and women joining violent groups like: ISIL, Boko Haran, Al Qaeda, al Shebab, Taliban and hundreds of others. We get Muslims killing Muslims, Muslims kidnapping Muslims, Islamists doing their best to gain control of any territory. And it is going to get worse. We see the rioting of young blacks in the US and France. They look for a cause such as police brutality then their drive for power turns to rioting and looting. We see gang rapes in India and the murdering of their victims. We see gang warfare throughout central and South America. There are too many people and not enough situations where they can feel content – – where they have control of their lives.
"People tend to believe the rationalizations that are given— there is police brutality, Western education must be eliminated, women are to be the tools of men, the Sunnis do not have the true religion, the Shia do not have the true religion, the Christians do not have the true religion. The Jews don't have the true religion— and the rationalizations go on.
It is all about having too many people, too few jobs, inadequate education and the fact that too many people hold to their mythologies and are not willing or able to look at the realities. Reducing population, requiring better parenting and providing universal education to the highest levels are essential if we are to save our world—BUT IT MAY BE TOO LATE!
Studies of animals and people show that most of us need to feel god about ourselves and we need an identifiable place in our society. It may be being an elected official. It may be siring the most children. It may be being a mother. It may be owning the cheese shop. So very often it is about what we do. So many people today have no place—no job, no status. Groups like al Queda, ISIL or any of the hundreds of Muslim terrorist groups can give a man or woman on instant status. Then the status is raised if we can be more brutal that our comrades. As population increases and jobs decrease we can expect more anti-social groups to bloom.
And they're not all Muslim. We have neo-Nazi parties, like the Aryan Brotherhood, black gangs like the Crips and Bloods, favela gangs in Brazil, and many many more.
BUILDING A BETTER WORLD
“But back to our major problem. Martin Luther King said it best when he warned that ‘Unlike plagues of the dark ages or contemporary diseases we do not understand, the modern plague of overpopulation is soluble by means we have discovered and with resources we possess. What is lacking is not sufficient knowledge of the solution but universal consciousness of the gravity of the problem and education of the billions who are its victims.’ He was a practical dreamer—an idealist with his feet on the ground. Too bad he’s not still around, he could certainly do a better job of making people listen than I can. Because he was a man of color he could neutralize the cries of racial genocide that I will undoubtedly encounter. In fact I see it as ‘geno-genesis’ a rebirth of the human race, with people more likely to put the human values of love and compassion ahead of power and acquisition.”
“But commander, as a liberal Protestant Dr. King would still face the ire of the protestant evangelicals, the Catholics, the Mormons and the Muslims. No matter how important an idea, there will be people opposed to it.”
“But I believe that I must stand up for what is right, even if I stand alone. However I’m sure there will be lots of people who will join me. After all, what thinking person can be against saving the planet, making the future better for all, and working to give every child a loving start?”
“People opposed the ideas of Socrates, of Jesus, of Abraham, of Muhammad, of Buddha, of Jefferson, of Einstein.”
“Was anybody opposed to Thomas Edison’s inventions, Chet?”
“I don’t think so. People only resist when their minds are shaken up, not when somebody produces things that ease their lives or entertain them. They don’t want to hear about new gods, new types of government or about anything that relates to misery—their own or others.”
“Before my space odyssey I did a bit of traveling. I’ve seen the misery of old Calcutta when the trucks picked up the thousands of bodies from the streets every morning, bodies that had been alive the day before. I’ve walked through parts of Soweto in fear, knowing that if it were not for my friend Winston, who was known and respected, I might be the next victim of robbery or murder. I’ve seen the hopeless faces of those in the cities and farms of Bangladesh. I‘ve heard the gunfire in Beirut and the plastique bombs in Paris. I’ve lived in South Central LA amid the gang warfare.
“I long ago concluded that things can be better. Why the suffering of starvation deaths in Ethiopia? Why the beating of children in Beverly Hills? Why the white slave trade from Eastern Europe to the West? Why are so many thousands of Latin Americans risking death to cross the Rio Grande for a life in the U.S.
?
“Chet, can you fathom the depth and width of the problem? It’s beyond our comprehension.
--12 million children die before reaching their fifth birthday;
--100 million homeless children wander the streets and alleys of our world.
--250,000 children die every week from diseases and malnutrition. Millions of children are objects of sexual abuse, child pornography and the demand for child prostitutes is astronomical—and growing,
--20 million children are refugees of war and familial deaths,
--10 million children are child slaves—or work in slave-like work situations
--Millions of girls are ‘missing’ as a result of infanticide and neglect.
“In the USA a married couple was arrested for keeping 11 children in cages with very little food. Their adult daughter testified against them in court saying she had also been mistreated physically, emotionally and sexually.
“Doesn’t it just tear your heart out? What would you be willing to do if one of those children were yours, or your children’s children or a neighbor’s child?
“For so many people it is often ‘out of sight, out of mind.’ It’s a sad fact that for the great majority of us we are more concerned about a splinter in our finger than with the millions who are dying painful deaths in Africa. We are more concerned with pleasuring ourselves with what’s on TV or playing a video game or buying a new car than we are aware with the brutal suffering of so many in our human family. While it may be true that few of us will be remembered in the pages of human history, there is no need for the great suffering that abounds in this world among us common people.”
“I have to confess, commander, that I fall into that category. I’m thinking about seeing my grandson’s soccer game, painting the kitchen, taking my wife out to dinner and a show. I just sort of assume that that’s the way it is. You’re making me ashamed of myself.”
“Maybe with your writing and reporting you can help to bring some understanding, but if you are not really convinced it’ll just be empty prose. There has to be a burning commitment.”
“Well Lemuel, can I call you Lemuel?”
“Well we’re getting along pretty well, guess we are on a first name basis. But I’ve never gone by my first name. Actually when I was about twelve my buddies started calling me Wreck, for shipwreck. It wasn’t a bad name when I played football. I was a linebacker and part time fullback so the name fit. But a lot of girls didn’t want to go out with a ‘wreck.’ But don’t use ‘Wreck’ in your story, OK?”
“Fine. I was just thinking about how much money would be needed to reduce the Third World suffering and where we Americans spend our money. Americans spend more on their pets than on toys for their kids. The pet industry is said to be a 38 billion dollar industry in the
U.S. Japan is almost as bad. What could that 38 billion do for our impoverished human brothers. Is it moral to spend serious money on massages, acupuncture or clothes for your dog? I know people who spend a lot of money burying or cremating their dogs and cats. Some even have them frozen. It’s not enough to have yourself sealed in a cryonic crypt, hoping that someone in the future will find a cure for your fatal problem. But to take your poodle with you seems to be the height of neurotic insecurity. They argue that it’s their money and they can spend it any way they see fit. And I would agree with that, but what kind of morality are we talking about when we can freeze Tabby or feed an African village for ten years with the same amount of money. Are all species equal? Is one individual of a lower species, like a cat, more important than a group in the higher human species? It reminds me of when a neighbor kid would feed mice to his snake. Why feed a higher level mammal to a lower level reptile?”
“These are some of the same incongruencies I keep seeing. Are some people more important than others? I certainly put my family first. And if I put them first I have to be concerned with how the problems of overpopulation are going to affect my children and theirs. And it’s not like these problems are down the road, they are right here affecting us today.
“I had a couple of friends die of skin cancer. One was the legendary surfer Tommy Zahn, who my father used to lifeguard with. Too much sun and not enough protection from the ozone layer. Had they taken precautions early in their lives they would still be around today. We talk about an ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure, but to reverse our excessive population while making parents more effective will take megatons of education and work. And it has to be done while dragging those megatons of solutions up the steep mountain of tradition and selfishness. The odds are certainly against my crusade for human survival!”
“I agree. But here’s another thought. Just look at real estate prices. Do you think you’d have to pay 10 million for a house on Malibu Beach if there were only a thousand people in the world? We keep making more people but we’re not making more land.”
“Right Chet. My dad bought the land here for ten thousand dollars, it’s now worth millions. But let’s get back to the supposed topic of this interview. It’s about the children of the world. There are too many people for the planet to support, too many people for their nation to support and too few parents with the ability and desire to raise physically and mentally healthy, happy, and educated children. We have to give all the children a chance at a real life. We must develop children with a purpose and children with a loving drive to make the world a better place.
“I’m driven by that ancient Native American reminder that ‘We have not inherited this world from our forefathers, we have borrowed it from our children.’ It’s about the future children of the world. Are the politicians concerned? No! For most of them their concern is the immediate interests of their constituencies. Are business leaders concerned? No! More people in the short term is better for business. Are religious leaders concerned? No! The world needs more souls to be saved now. Only a few scientists and other academics seem to realize the catastrophe that is already here.”
“Wow commander, you sound like Plato, Santa Claus and Mother Theresa rolled into one. But I doubt that you are alone in your hopes. I would certainly agree with you. But the questions are: how to do it, and can it be done? I think that the selfish nature of the great majority of people wouldn’t be willing to make it happen.”
“Well I’ll be that small pebble that when tossed in the pond makes small ripples that reach every inch of the shore. Hopefully my ripple will join with others and we can make a wave.
“If the world could only honesty strive to follow what the UN Secretary General said when the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted. He said ‘We have no higher priority, no prouder achievement, than our work for the rights of children!’ If that is not just empty rhetoric let’s get on with the most practical solutions we can find to make a better world.
“Insuring that children have a fair shot at a productive and happy life finds support in this UN Convention. Article 24, Section 2, requires that parents be informed of the ‘basic knowledge of child health and nutrition, hygiene and accident prevention.’ It also requires preventative health care and guidance for parents. And it mandates that parents ‘shall take all effective and appropriate measures with a view to abolishing traditional practices prejudicial to the health of children.’ The convention doesn’t say that this should be done after the children are raised! It is implicit that these knowledges be learned by parents before the child is old enough to be negatively affected. Article 3, Section 2, notes the duties of parents.
“Articles 3, 18 and 21 all require that it is the ‘best interests of the child’ that are primary. Here we find repeated the requirement in most state laws that the child’s interests, not the whims or wishes of a parent, are primary. Article 24 recognizes the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable potentials. And what’s more—Article 4 mandates that ‘States Parties shall undertake all appropriate legislative, administrative, and other measures for the implementation of the right
s recognized in the present Convention.’ This seems to me to sanction some types of requirements for parents if they choose to have children. I would call this licensing. Maybe you wouldn’t, but the U.N. clearly calls for certain knowledges and behaviors of parents as duties and responsibilities for parenthood. I think that all countries have signed the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. It was disappointing to me that my country was one of the last to sign on, and that was in 2002.
“Then Article 28 requires the various countries to provide for compulsory primary education, for various forms of secondary education, and for university education for those capable of handling it. Chet, maybe we ought to withdraw UN membership and economic cooperation with countries that don’t take care of their children!”
“You are really into protecting the children. I would agree that no country does what it should to protect children or to educate parents. But just because the people at the UN come up with ideals for ‘human rights’ or ‘child rights’ doesn’t mean that any country is going to follow those ideals. The world is still controlled from the top down and children are at the bottom. A few countries have done a pretty good job in providing educational opportunities, but I’m not aware of any trying to weed out bad parents before they conceive. But as I remember, George Bernard Shaw said almost a hundred years ago that ‘Parentage is a very important profession, but no test of fitness for it is ever imposed in the interest of the children.’” (3b)
“We must find the seeds for the beginning of a better world. And I emphasize MUST, it’s too late for ‘should.’ That’s why I’m planning to visit with some wise people around the world and try to gain more knowledge about how to go about it. Certainly what needs to be done to limit our population and improve our world will ruffle a lot of religious feathers and trample the ingrained traditions that motivate most people.”
“So Wreck, how are you going to try to educate those who have the power to sway people’s opinion? As I see it science looks at how the universe works, religion and philosophy look at why. When a scientist tells you how to behave he is outside of his realm. When a priest tells you how the universe works he is outside of his realm—unless he is also a physicist or an astronomer. The religiously or philosophically adept people deal with the purpose of life.
"Those are the people who need convincing. The scientists already know the enormity of the problem. I don’t think you can look to the politicians for salvation. In democracies politicians follow—they don’t lead. If they don’t follow the trends they don’t get re-elected and that’s the main concern for most of them.”
“Chet, I think you are rapidly becoming a convert.”
“You’d have to an illiterate idiot to not know about global warming, oil scarcity, air pollution, the accumulation of wastes, the scarcity of fresh water, and such, but with the exception of higher gasoline prices and higher utility bills my life hasn’t changed that much. Maybe Einstein was right when he said ‘Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former.’ As long as our own lives are going well we think there is no need to be concerned about the future.”
—“I was amazed when I got on the freeway yesterday. Wall to wall cars at about every hour of the day and night. That was one thing I appreciated about space travel—no congestion. Do people realize that all those cars are being driven by somebody else’s babies?
“My grandfather used to tell me about the LA of the 30s, 40s and 50s. Few cars, a freeway or two, only a few houses from La Brea to the beach. No congestion around Mines Field, LA’s only airfield, just Sepulveda Boulevard bordering its west side. Now it’s LAX with freeways all around it and houses and industry from Malibu to San Diego.
“My dad used to tell me how his buddies would decide to go to Yosemite to camp on July third. They’d celebrate the Fourth in Yosemite Valley with just a few people. Now you have to get reservations a year ahead. That’s just an example of how the good life of the past has been hampered. Certainly some things are better—frozen foods, fat free ice cream, more football on television,-- but lots of things are worse—drugs, violence, traffic, politicians!
“But this is the U.S. Just think about the underdeveloped countries, where everything is worse. They have less water, less food, more devastating genocidal wars, more rapes and murders. Overpopulation has occurred more in the underdeveloped areas of the world so they suffer more. Just look at how China began to prosper as its one child policy took effect. And as the years roll on its positive effects will be magnified.
“Today, in 2025, there are 9 billion people on earth. And it is increasing most in the undeveloped countries. Africa is expected to have over four billion people at the next turn of the century. And they already have famine problems in East Africa.”
“Well commander, or should I say ‘Wreck’, I’ve taken too much of your time, I’d better be going.”
“Stick around a few minutes, I see my buddies coming up the hill. They just turned up Crest Drive and will be here at Flathead Trail in a minute or two. They are my oldest and dearest friends. Funny, in high school we were like peas in a pod. We thought alike. We acted alike. We played the same sports and were in the same club at LA High, the Saints. The name wasn’t exactly appropriate but I guess girls’ mothers felt safer knowing their daughters were out with saints.”
“OK, love to meet a part of your past.”
REACTIONARY AND LIBERAL