Dear Mother: February-March 2009
Letters from our readers on population, tips for starting a fire, genetic engineering and more.
February/March 2009
Letters from our readers
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“We must formulate a world population policy, and do it soon. The elephant is stirring.” — Howard Pellett; Anacortes, Washington
DMITRY NIKOLAEV/FOTOLIA
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Do the Right Thing
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I’m so glad that you’re brave enough to take a stand for population control; not many organizations have that kind of courage and vision nowadays. No matter how carefully we live, people take up space and use resources. In Dear Mother, Kathleen Plumb complained that population control “caters to the selfish.” Back in the early ’70s, when it became clear that runaway population would lead to famines and environmental destruction, my husband and I decided to have but one child. For us, this was not selfish, but a sacrifice; and we’re still convinced that we did the right thing.
Mary Pratt
New Haven, Vermont
A Broken Planet
Kathleen Plumb’s comment that population “should not be a target in protecting our planet” was disheartening, to say the least. She offers no reasoning for her stance, just a little weak rhetoric about how reducing the population is “selfish” and about how the world was put here for mankind.
To Ms. Plumb and those who would espouse her beliefs, I must ask: How do you think the Creator feels about how we treat the great gift which is this world? I bet it is something like a parent who has given a child a remarkable gift, only to discover the child has carelessly broken it.
Cliff Seruntine
Antigonish, Nova Scotia
Time to Evolve
When I read Ms. Plumb’s uneasiness regarding a solution to our problems with human demographics, I must admit I jumped in my seat! Especially when I read her statement that “Our resources were put here for mankind.” I thought for a second I was reading something out of a 16th-century book.
This may offend some more religious readers, but it’s time humans evolved (another dreaded word for some) from a narrow religious belief to a more modern open-mindedness, in which each human is important and each human is mindful of the other living creatures that share the Earth!
Pearl Duval
Montreal, Quebec
We Won’t Conserve
You make some interesting points in Three Mountains We Must Climb. However, you exhibit a naive viewpoint as well as a lack of general knowledge concerning history and social/political science, as well as basic human behavior.
These ideas have never worked, nor will they. Conservation will never be widely accepted or effective. It hasn’t been cost effective in the marketplace, and until it is, people will not conserve.
Mark Meler
Newcastle, Oklahoma
Facing Earth’s Carrying Capacity
Kathleen Plumb argued that increases in population aren’t a major cause of environmental destruction. I suggest that she check the dictionary for the term “carrying capacity.” Better yet, ask a farmer. Once a country exceeds its carrying capacity, it can either decrease births or accept increased deaths from war, famine or disease. If any society cannot accept sensible population control — due to religious, cultural or nationalistic reasons — let God sort it out the old-fashioned way.
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