The New Population Bomb

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...Now, these children won't know the difference in their world. That's the tragedy of it. They will just assume that this is the way it's always been, and they will get their

wonderment from Disneyland and from Spielberg movies and from books where they will see photographs of very exotic looking creatures like gorillas that don't exist on the planet anymore ...or rhinos ...or giraffes or elephants. Or maybe there will be a few elephants left in South Africa where they are slaughtering them systematically in what they call, with a very Orwellian twist of logic, the "best method of preservation." Even a lot of poachers today will tell you that the best way to preserve a species is to poach them. Well, that's a whole other story. But the bottom line is that the manifestations are that we will have a severely depleted environment, and most people won't even know it.

MEN: If the choice is throwing yourself out the window in desperation when you contemplate a situation like that, or doing something about it, what organizations do you think exist, or what individual actions can readers take, that will remedy or at least help to remedy the situation?

 Tobias: There's a tremendous amount we can do in these countries by simply identifying with the victims, and taking concerted efforts to at least make a humble difference for them.

MEN: For example.

Tobias: As you might predict, we might start by having one child or at most two, and preferably adopt a child if you want a second. You can consume less ...you can be very scrutinizing in any foreign products that you buy. Families with three cars don't necessarily need three cars. They can get by with two cars. That is a personal sacrifice and, if none of your neighbors are doing it, you're going to be disinclined to do it yourself. But if you are truly concerned about somehow consuming less, you're going to have to be a role model. We're also going to have to cure ourselves of the notion that environments are national things. Political boundaries are totally obsolete when thinking about environmental issues. They have no relevance whatsoever, except in one instance, which the Dalai Lama himself has discussed as micromanagement. You need organizational boundaries to maximize the efficiency of any endeavor. In other words, I can do more in my neighborhood than I can do in Mexico. And so with that in mind, you use the boundaries of your known daily world to enact a variety of...to institute a variety of changes that would make your neighborhood better, and they all fall within the category of nonviolence and compassion. I'm a strong advocate of vegetarianism. I think you cannot be an environmentalist if you are not a vegetarian. I will find, and I continue to find, huge debate on the subject...

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