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The Obligations of Death Must Be Observed
The Issue of Population from Both Ends of the Curve
By Jim Stiles
Copenhagen. December 2009.
The joke is onus.
The issue of climate change, global warming, the potential collapse of the earth's eco­
systems, mass extinctions, a dramatic rise in sea level and the ultimate dramatic forced
migration of millions of humans and untold animals—i.e, the end of life on Earth as we
know it—has been set aside yet again.
The Copenhagen Summit was a disgrace.
The politicians and media in the United States disingenuously suggest that the develop­
ing nations, and China specifically, sabotaged any hope of a significant agreement among
the nations of the Earth. There is little or no mention of the fact that, l) we have been
exploiting the natural resources of the developing countries for our own greedy pleasure,
for centuries and that, 2) if China now has the
power to hold the rest of us by our throats, it
is only because we gave it to them in the first
place.
We continue to empower Asia even more
with every passing day. As long as our society
measures prosperity in terms of accumulated
material "wealth," as long as our governments
promote and cheer an increase in consumer
debt, when politicians encourage an inexpli­
cable leap in holiday spending and praise the
latest energy technology that allows even more
consumption, no matter how "green" it might
be, we are fools.
We degrade the integrity of our species, we
ignore the consequences of our neglect and we
leave a shameful legacy to the future. If, a thou­
sand years from now, there is a human race to
recall these times, we will be reviled.
As the Copenhagen Cop-out sputtered to a
close, with no binding agreement, we sneered
at the developing nations' demands for a "cut
of the action," accused them of demanding eco­
nomic "hand-outs," and belittled their own taste
for a piece of the promised Green Economy.
And the charges are absolutely right. We have
taught them well. We always claimed we were
the envy of the world. Wasn't that what the fall
of Communism was all about? They wanted to
become us. It's what we wanted as well. And
they have.
But there simply isn't enough to go around.

If America represents 496 of the world's population and consumes almost 30% of its resources, the math is simple. Global population is set to surpass 7 billion in 2012. De­
mographers believe it will peak at about 9-10 billion, near mid-century. No matter how
"green" we shift our technology, the expanded human population, combined with a much
hungrier global consumer economy, cannot stave off the effects. It cannot be done.
And if, by definition, this global free market economy DEMANDS an ever-growing con­
sumer population to fluorish, what do the demographers propose, once or if the popula­
tion DOES stabilize?
There is little or no mention of the fact that,
1) we have been exploiting the natural resources
of the developing countries,
for our own greedy pleasure,
for centuries and that,
2) if China now has the power to hold
the rest of us by our throats,
for more than three decades. Their "one child" strategy has generated human rights abuse
charges and even claims that it encouraged infanticide. But Zhao insists that China's
population policy has made a dramatic contribution to the issue of global warming. Zao
says that China's family planning policy has resulted in 400 million fewer births. The
decline in births produced 18 million fewer tons of CO2 emissions a year.
Even a report from the 2009 State of World Population, released earlier by the UN Pop­
ulation Fund claims that, "Calculations of the contribution of population growth to emis­
sions growth globally produce a consistent finding that most of past population growth
has been responsible for between 40 per cent and 60 percent of emissions growth." The
report noted that if the global population could be slowed to 8 billion by the year 2050
instead of the projected 9 billion, "it might result in one billion to two billion fewer tons of
carbon emissions".
Zao concedes that China's population program
has been controversial-its population is aging
more rapidly and it does face the issue of "gen­
der imbalance."
"I'm not saying that what we have done is 100
percent right, but I'm sure we are going in the
right direction and now 1.3 billion people have
benefitted," she said. "But 85 percent of Chinese
women in reproductive age use contraceptives,
the highest rate in the world....This holistic ap­
proach that integrates policy on population and
development, a strategy promoting sustainable
development of population, resources and envi­
ronment should serve as a model for integrating
population programs into the framework of cli­
mate change adaptation."
Zao's comments generated little interest in the world press.
In the United States, population control is a
non-issue. Political suicide.
In Australia, its "progressive" Prime Minister
Kevin Rudd supports an increased population
rate. He recently proposed that Australia's popu­
lation expand to 35 million from its current 22
million by 2049.
He sais, "I actually believe in a big Australia.
I make no apology for that...I actually think it's
good news that our population is growing. I
think it is good for us, it's good for our national
security long term, it's good in terms of what we


can sustain as a nation."
National Security?
His own treasury secretary Ken Henry doubted whether Australia's environment could
accommodate an extra 13 million people by 2049. "With a population of 22 million, we
haven't managed to find accommodation with the environment. Our record has been
poor, and in my view, we are not well placed to deal effectively with the environmental
challenges posed by a population of 35 million."
The explosive population rates of developing countries is well-known and we do very
Still on one level, albeit controversial,
China HAS confronted one of the two major issues
that have led our species and our planet
to the brink.
POPULATION & BIRTH CONTROL....The Unmentioned Issue
Please understand I have no sympathy for China or her clear quest for world economic
domination. They have become a far more successful version of the model we created.
And their unwillingness to deal with a crisis of global proportions whose consequences
will not be felt for decades or centuries is even more detached than the United States. Still
on one level, albeit controversial, China HAS confronted one of the two major issues that
have led our species and our planet to the brink.
At the Copenhagen meetings, the population issue was barely mentioned. Andrew
Revkin, the climate change expert for the New York Times, noted the lack of discussion
and even blamed the media, in part, for failing to force the subject.
But China at least raised the issue.
At Copenhagen, Zhao Baige, vice-minister of National Population and Family Planning
Commission of China (NPFPC) said, "Dealing with climate change is not simply an issue
of CO2 emission reduction but a comprehensive challenge involving political, economic,
social, cultural and ecological issues, and the population concern fits right into the pic­
ture,"
It is true that aspects of China's draconian family planning policy have been condemned
little to assist. Not yet at least. One can't help but wonder if the richer nations see popu­
lation growth, not as a threat to the planet, but as a future opportunity. Where will the
cheap labor force come from 50 years from now? You have your answer.
THE OTHER COMPONENT OF OVER-POPULATION...
The Unspeakable Issue
While the looming threat of over-population is scarcely mentioned in the mainstream
media, the issue of health care in the United States and elsewhere is a topic of constant
and never ending debate. Of course, what issue can be more personal, and therefore more
critical, than our own physical well-being? But "well-being" is the key to health care....
feeling well is my goal. Being merely alive physically-maintaining "biological function"—
-without being well, is an issue lost in the discussion.
In the United States, health care opponents accuse each other daily of not only being
insensitive to the health needs of the country, but that the intransigence of each side will
"cause more deaths." As if dying is the issue here, when it should be living and living well.
More than twenty-five years ago, Colorado Governor Richard Lamm committed politi-
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