Control the Change

Whether Climate Change is natural or partially induced by humanity, there’s alot of work to do.  But where to start and what are the big issues to deal with really.  Having listened and read various points on the topic, there is one, massive item that none are voicing as a way to help both humanity survive, lessen our impact on the planet and improve our chances.  Also, this specific action would (down the road) have the benefit of helping to reduce famine, improve quality of life and availability to water.  So, what is this single action…  Put simply, it’s controlling our global population.

It’s not a pleasant thought for many, especially if one let’s their mind run away with how this is to be done. What I am suggesting is what others have suggested in recent years, simply put, to have one less child per family. The effect of this would be to reduce our global population to levels below its current 6.7 billion, by the end of the century.

This isn’t an issue of right vs wrong, wealthy vs poor or the like; it’s about living within our means. We’re shipping food around the planet for the sake of convenience. Do we need to, no; we’ve just become accustomed to having bananas from Costa Rica all year round and apples from New Zealand (what an irony, it’s apple season in Ontario, yet it’s easier to find apples (whether conventional or organic) from New Zealand that were picked and shipped weeks or months ago (oh, and they’re apparently cheaper too…)).

This issue is very much like the “monster in the closet” of Climate Change and if you think nuclear energy, coal or GM foods are bad; this one’s just so unspeakable, that it’s not often spoken of. I mean, how would you bring this topic up in public conversation within being thought of as a monster? I suggest that you firstly talk about it with your partner and work out from there. By having less children, it doesn’t mean you don’t love kids; it simply means you can focus your energies on those you have and being able to provide better for them. Ironically, this links into self-sufficiency and dealing with climate change very nicely; just a chain of thought on how this might work:

- have one less child, leads to
- less expense for food
- clothing to buy
- smaller house
- smaller car
- smaller mortgage and debt
- less stress
- more time for you and your kids to spend together

This would lead to numerous other improvements in one’s life potentially, such as better health, greater work/life balance and maybe a counter to the forthcoming issue for those generations born after the Baby-Boomers, a chance to reduce the likely decline in life expectancy and increased reliance on an increasingly stressed medical system.

It’s not easy and some will likely say, that because they have the money to afford more kids, they should be able to do so; I would say that they’re being selfish and irresponsible, not only for their own children; but also for the fact that the writings on the wall, we’re taxing the planet to the point that we’re increasing going to suffer from the effects and we’re the only ones who can possibly be the solution. If we don’t take responsibility of our own actions, we run the risk of Nature doing it for us (or it being mandated by religious or governmental bodies) and that will lead to strife, famine, suffering and possibly a planet so polluted and inhospitable that we slide into a period of wars and maybe extinction of ourselves.

So, not to shock you; but you’re the only one who can start to work things out for the better. I leave it to your conscience to think this over and decide; I know were I stand and what I have started to do though; one less child is the way for me to go.

Cheers,

BlackMacX

For related articles and thoughts on the topic, see:

Optimum Population project is a good overview of this issue.
Population control ‘vital’ to curbing climate change from the Guardian Newspaper
Population growth and climate change article from British Medical Journal
The marathon’s not over from The Economist