Sense And Anti-sense

[Guest fledgling666]

below is a link to NSSM #200, or National Security Study Memorandum #200, written in 1974 by Henry Kissinger. it is paraphrased (loosely, i might add) in one of the quotes at the beginning of Sense and Anti-sense. i have read a large portion of it. tell me what you think.

NSSM #200

[Guest Seraphim]

The population increases are a grim fact. It will have a negative effect on the enviornmental, political, economical, and sociological state of this planet. Overpopulation is a real problem. What to do about it is the most difficult part. Events like the recent Earthquake/Tsunami are a cruel, yet needed, requirment for our species survival. Unless people stop overpopulating, terrible things will happen. Be it wars or disease induced by humanity, or natural disasters and plague induced by nature. here is only so much food and so much air. Rainforest are still being cut down. That curbs our air supply. We need the oxygen that all of those plants produce. With lower oxygen levels, cancer will become even more common. It's not the most reassuring eventuality. I wish people would just stop reproducing so much. Maybe it would be possible to avoid the worst.

Edited January 6, 2005 by Seraphim

[Guest Allen]

Very interesting but I think it was a waste of time because how is this going to influence poor african (or you name the person) farmer who has 6 kids. I feel that in the end it will be mother nature who will step up to the plate and do something about the population. I don't mean to sound cold but I don't think at this point we can do much to stop it. I could be wrong but just looking at the changes caused by the population and their disregaurd for enviroment in my life time that I think we've already crossed the critical point that will kick mother nature into a cleansing process.

[Guest fledgling666]

alrighty.

mother nature. just saying that phrase gives the subject of it a personality, an entity, a form, a being, personification. nature, in my opinion, is the natural processes of the planet and other things in the solar system and universe that affect the natural properties of the planet. there is no controlling force, no "mother." now, having said that, i too believe that nature will be finally responsible for the limiting of the growth of the population of the human race, but the reasons are in effect today, the things that will keep us from the level of multiplication that would extinct us are here right now and have been in place since the beginning of life on this planet. these are the things which this memorandum reflects are the reasons for self-limitation of mass populations, among other less important factors such as wealth. the amount of fossil fuels, wood resources, nutrients in soil, farmable soil, drinkable water, breathable air, etc. are all limits to the amount of life that can be in existence on this planet. things like disease and famine will increase during times of over population, but not as if a decision has been made to implement a process of disease or famine by a "mother" of any sort, but because the closer people live to each other, the more easily disease is spread and the more population, the less land and the closer people must live to each other. with famine- of course, there is less food, less food plus more people equals shortages for everyone. overfarming and overgrazing will only make things worse. we will realize at some point that some of us just aren't going to make it and it's no one's fault.

i too wonder how many nations have begun population changes due to this or reports like it. from what i saw in the speech by michael Crichton in the "debate den," population estimates have shrunken by something like 50% since the 50's or 60's. maybe the estimates were wrong, maybe we have internal, extra-sensory mechanisms that tell us when to procreate and how much, maybe the influence of the look of life in America has prompted others around the globe to adopt a self-limiting posture so that they can party more, have more sex without the consequences of it, make decisions about their future that involve delaying this and other properties of "growing up." for instance- just look at how many 40 year old kids we have here in America that play video games, listen to rap music, collect expensive, yet worthless stuff, brand name items, the newest, coolest cell phone, the biggest vehicle, etc. we have begun to drag our childhoods with us into adulthood. we are just playing with bigger and more expensive toys, well, some of us, the rest of us are still playing with a "Playstation." the world is catching onto this, while our government's policy is to spread education among women so that they opt for careers instead of a family. while the men catch onto the continuation of childhood and the women catch onto education and power across the globe, birth rates will drop dramatically, in fact, in my opinion, possibly to a point of decline that we may not be able to come back from.

[Guest Allen]

alrighty.

mother nature. just saying that phrase gives the subject of it a personality, an entity, a form, a being, personification.

Or it could be a figure of speech commonly used.

Do I think nature is watching us grow and saying two more and I bring on the iceage. No of course not but I do see it as a system with checks and balances. Not enough trees to cleanse the air and too many fossial fuels triggers warming, warming melts ice the fresh water stalls the great conveyer belt etc. etc. I see it as really a great system because it will try to give us a pause to realize what we are doing before we destroy everything we need fresh air, trees, etc. The bad part is that pause will kill a lot of people.

As for the population estimate shrinking I don't have a clue why but it's not hard to beleive My great grand father had seven children, my grand father and his sibs had around seven apiece, my father and his sibs had around five, my generation (brothers, sisters, first cousins) adverge just over two apiece. Using the common estimation rules I can see how the 50s, and 60s estimates couldn't predict our generations birth rate. But again I don't know how much the reports had to do with that decline. All I can speak for is me and I only have one because I don't feel I have enough time for her let alone another.

It's kind of ironic that we view ourselves as the most intellegent spieces to ever inhabit the planet and we are going to have the shortest reign before we trigger an "extiction event".

[Guest fledgling666]

wish i remembered the exact quote, but.....

from bladerunner- something like "the candle that burns the brightest burns the shortest, and yours has burned so bright."

[Guest Allen]

Very interesting quote. It fit well.