The Skeeter Daddle Diaries

The ‘Population Bomb’ author, Paul Ehrlich, just died. Old age mostly, not starvation brought on by world famines, over populations, water wars or cataclysmic migrations. Probably had clogged arteries from too much over saturated foods. Or … just too much food, period. For awhile back there in the halcyon days of the ‘60’s and ‘70’s, Paul was our most famous Doomsayer, the guy who predicted civilizational collapse, major famines, a world breeding itself to death, a planet too small to support billions and billions of us humans. He made a bundle prophesying our demise. The End is Near — not predicted by a cult nut but by a rational guy.

The population of the planet when he wrote the book was 3.5 billion. It’s now 8.3 billion. We could each have gotten a McDonald burger but maybe not fries. Paul was right about one thing — the population exploded! And there were a few famines and still are. What he didn’t factor in was the steep curve out of world poverty. Or the advances in agriculture, medicine, pharmaceuticals and technology. Who’d have guessed, right? Well, not Paul.

The trouble with folks who cried ‘Wolf’ too early is when the wolf shows up, nobody was listening to the alarms anymore. But … the future may prove him right posthumously. We’re fishing out the seas, watching the insect and bird die-offs, polluting our waters then pumping the aquifers dry. All us billions of people are pumping CO2 into our greenhouse and if climate change isn’t a direct result of population, well, kick some dirt on Paul’s grave and whistle through the graveyard.

If you want to be a prophet, all I can say is don’t be too specific about the day of the week Doomsday is coming. The End is Near, Not Tomorrow. Maybe not even next month. We’ll need some time to get ready.

Just got the news that the world population has passed 8 billion of us humans.  I remember fondly my sociology classes back in the 60’s where my professors absolutely forbid using The Population Bomb as a footnote or a reference.  Paul Ehrlich was no scientist, my educators said, he was a dopey doomsday prophet.  I think the world population at the time was maybe 4 billion.  A lot of us, seemed like to me.  8 billion, well, I have trouble enough getting to know the neighbors now, sure don’t want many more.

One thing I never hear in the debates concerning global warming and climate change is that maybe, just maybe, there are too many of us.  More mouths to feed, more houses to build, more cars to drive, more garbage in the landfills, more need for heating and air conditioning, small stuff like that.  Sure, turn the thermostat down, but hey, what if there were 4 billion less of us wanting to stay warm?   Oh, I know, we love our kids.  We love our dozen grandkids.  And we certainly love our 100 great grandkids.  Although, to be honest, judging from my old man’s memory at 99 years of age, he couldn’t tell you any of their names.  And he has a lot of trouble with his grandkids’s names.  Which are only three of them.  The fact that us 8 billion are living longer thanks to medical science and improved health care doesn’t really help either.

When I came to the South End, four cars drove off going north of our shack, four cars returned home at night.  Better believe we knew our neighbors back then and, unfortunately for them, they knew us.  Now it’s a constant parade of commuters and contractors and lawn service crews.  I don’t recognize most folks at the local grocery.  And with my memory, remembering their names wouldn’t be a likelihood.

So when we’re looking for solutions to overheating the planet, why not look at overpopulating it.  You won’t miss an extra grandkid or twenty, all I’m saying.