Editor's Update  -- April 2009:

This page was written in 2004.   Things have gotten considerably worse in the past five years.   The consequences are beginning to show up on a much larger and much more ominous scale.   Although the volume, the frequency of calls to wake up are increasing, and the evidence is now absolutely irrefutable, significant actions to reverse this trends indicated below are still non-existent.   

Decision by Default:

Sooner or later, the human overpopulation  problem must be addressed.   If we, as humans don't resolve this problem, mother nature will, very soon,  do so for us.    When that day arrives, literally billions (that's billions not millions) of human beings will die.  

Any biologist who has studied how animal populations grow and decline can tell you that any species which fails to keep its population in harmony with its environment, faces disaster.   By producing an excessive population, and/or destroying the environment's ability to sustain that population, the overpopulated species soon faces a rapid population decline.   This pattern applies to all animal species, including humans.  

We  need to face truth about ourselves.   The human population is in the final stage of excess growth and will soon be in the rapid decline phase.   In other words, billions of humans are about to die premature deaths because we have failed to match human population with the Earth's ability to provide for us.   We have four choices:  1)  We can ignore this fact an allow disease, famine, pandemics, major sudden earth changes,  or some other natural disaster to reduce the human population.  2)  We can ignore this fact an allow wars, terrorism or some other form of human violence to reduce the human population.   3)  We can continue business and usual allow Global Warming, to drastically alter the environment and kill all the large, animal life forms on the entire planet and kill at least five billion humans.  4)  We can face the truth and make a major effort to face the overpopulation problem.  

Unfortunately, we have passed the point where reducing births can solve this problem.   Like it or not, believe it or not, we are facing a rapid decline in the human population.   The question is no longer "Will a major population reduction occur?"  The question is  "When and how will it happen?"

Do you recall hearing about the people who were trapped in the top floors on the World Trade Center in New York on the morning or September 11, 2001?   They had to choose between two deadly alternatives -- burn to death or jump off the building and die when they hit the ground.   Collectively humans are facing a similar, but slightly better choice --  Reduce the human population or outside conditions and circumstances will do it for us.

You can pooh-pooh the above assessment and bet that the thousands of scientists and the other people who have studied this problem are wrong,  but the price of losing this bet is disastrous,  deadly and irreversible. 

¤   Destruction of the  Ancient, Virgin Redwood Forests:

Redwood forest destruction and dozens of serious, environmental problems are simply  symptoms of the main problem -- overpopulation! 

¤   Collective Impact:

One person, alone, will rarely have any significant effect upon its environment, but our collective impact all too often becomes  destructive, deadly, and irreversible.  Almost all of us have experienced a personal example of how our collective activities impact each other's lives.   

You'll experience that  example again the next time you drive your car on the freeway in any city environment.   Notice that when there are very few other cars on the highway, you can travel at the top, legal speed with no interference.   But during certain times of day whey thousands of other cars are on the same highway, gridlock sets in and you speed is drastically reduced, and sometimes stopped completely.   That same type of impact (on a much grander and on a destructive, deadly, and irreversible  scale)  is what we, collectively, are doing to the entire Earth.

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¤   Species Extinction:

Human overpopulation is causing the death and extinction of uncounted thousands of unique, irreplaceable life forms on Earth?  Present estimates are that life forms on Earth are becoming extinct at the rate of one per hour - - that is 24 extinctions each and every day,  168 extinctions per week,  720 extinctions pre month,  and 8,760 extinctions per year.   That’s an extinction rate equaled only by the demise of the dinosaurs.   And, as you well know, EXTINCTION  IS  FOREVER!

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¤   Aggravating other Problems:

Human overpopulation is aggravating and amplifying every major problem facing humanity today - - problems such as:

Overpopulation and Disease Control:

Thousands of incredible brilliant and highly dedicated men and women have done some phenomenally successful work in the field of disease control.    Unfortunately, we are, in essence, throwing their work away by not also bringing people out of poverty and desperation.   What is the benefit of curing small pox if millions still live in filth and squallier, without clean water or sewage disposal, and they die of some other disease or they starve to death?  

We are doing to the human population what the car manufactures have done to the automobile industry.   Since the 1970's the auto industry has made significant improvements in fuel economy, doubling the miles per gallon that a car can achieve.   Instead of using the new technology to reduce fuel consumption, the car makers built heaver cars with greater engine horsepower, completely canceling and, in some cases,  reversing the efficiency gains.   

A foolproof contraceptive would make a very significant contribution to reducing the  misery, destruction, disease, poverty and desperation, that overpopulation produces.   Let's not save lives in one way and then kill them (allow them to die) in another way.  A foolproof contraceptive is definitely worth the 100 million dollar reward.

Is Overpopulation a Myth 
as the Fundamentalist Christian Leaders Claim?    

Let's  examine the question:  "Is there an overpopulation problem today (July 2004) on planet Earth?

Let's ask the question again in a couple of other ways:   

1)  Does everybody on the planet have adequate food, clothing, shelter, and basic medical care?

Two Billion people do not even have access to electricity.    Each and every day,40,000 innocent children. starve to death or die from curable diseases.  And the latest UNICEF  report tell us that over one billion  children suffer the severe effects of poverty. *¹   

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2)  How many of the major problems facing humanity today would simply not be a problem if the human population were one billion instead of six billion?  

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3)  Is the present population level sustainable given the speed at which we are depleting and/or irreversibly destroying our non-replaceable natural resources?

The answer is obvious.   NO !

4)  How many of the major problems facing humanity today are aggravated and made worse by having more people on the planet?  

Consider problems  such as poverty,  starvation,  overcrowding,  wars,  crime,  gang violence,  child abuse,  environmental destruction,  rainforest destruction,  ozone depletion,  topsoil destruction, air pollution,  water pollution,  and species extinction.*²

 *² (Present estimates are that life forms on Earth are becoming extinct at the rate of one per hour - - that is 24 extinctions each and every day,  168 extinctions per week,  720 extinctions pre month,  and 8,760** extinctions per year.   That’s an extinction rate equaled only by the demise of the dinosaurs.   And, as you well know, EXTINCTION IS FOREVER!)   

Constant population growth requires a constant increase in goods and services --  More food, clothing, houses -- an increased infrastructure to meet their needs care for them (i.e.  more water systems, more roads, more electricity, more hospitals, and schools, etc.)

5)  How long can we continue abusing and destroying our environment before we trigger a major disaster?   

Many scientist are telling us that we have already caused irreversible changes that will soon produce devastating consequences.   The evidence indicated that it's not a question of whether or not an environmental disaster will strike, it's only a question of when.

6)  If there were fewer humans on the planet, would that reduce the percentage of the population that is presently living in poverty, misery, sickness, and war zones?

The answer is obvious.   YES !

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Overpopulation, Wars, and Social Chaos:   

Humans are stuck in a rut called: 
      "Treat the symptom -- Ignore the Cause."

When you look at religious wars, social conflicts, and the like, the fundamental underpinnings of these problems go deeper than differing religious beliefs.   The first cause of most major social conflicts is the imbalance between population and the production and distribution of the goods and services required to care for all the people.   

When adults are living in squalor, and feeling helpless as they see their children suffering and in many cases dying, religion becomes an easy place to find a scapegoat  -- an easy point to release one's frustrations.   The groundwork for violence has already  been programmed into many mindless true-believers in this or that religious-based fairytale.   Many religious devotees have been trained to dislike, distrust, or even hate those who hold different beliefs about God.   Religious organizations are structure within which to seek solace and to seek answers to problems. 

Think about this for a moment:  If all humans on the planet had available to them goods and services equivalent to that of an upper-middleclass American, how may people would be our protesting in the street, or sneaking around committing crimes, of going off somewhere to become a rebel and kill someone?

How Can Fewer People be a Problem?   

The forced motherhood leaders  tell us that if the human population was reduced that that would somehow create a problem.    But none of them tells us why.   

Is more open space a problem?   Are more forests and wetlands a problem?   Are more unspoiled natural setting a problem?   Is sharing the planet with eagles, panda bears, lions, and elephants some kind of a problem?   If we weren't causing irreversible destruction of our oceans, our forests, our grassland, and our agricultural soil, would that be a problem?

If we didn't have polluted streams and rivers, would that be a problem?  If we didn't have acid rain, ozone depletion, poverty and wars over land rights, would that be a problem?   Would fewer cars on the freeway be a problem?   Or how about the absence of the waiting lines that pop up just about everywhere humans gather?  Would shorter or fewer lines cause some kind of problem?

NO!  But having fewer people on Earth conflicts with the fundamentalist Christian view of the world.   The next section below answers, why?

When Disaster Strikes, Will That Be a Problem?

The way we  (the collective we)  are treating Sacred Mother Earth, it's only a mater of time before before disaster strikes.   From the fundamentalist Christian perspective, is that a problem?   No.   Why not?   For them, disaster is a good thing.   Here's a portion of their belief system.   That will answer the "why not" question.

They believe in the literal word of the Christian Bible.   The Bible say "subdue and conquer the Earth," (which humans have done to excess.)  In their belief system, what happens to Earth is irrelevant because the Earth was created at 9:00 am Monday morning about six thousand years ago and the end of the Earth is coming very soon with what the fundamentalists call "The  Rapture." **rs1    On the day of rapture, disaster will strike the Earth and all good Christians will be instantly taken by God directly to heaven, and everyone else will be left to perish or live in misery on what's left of planet Earth.

According to their belief, fundamentalist Christians are required by God to convert as many others to their belief as possible, so in this scenario, an increase in the human population is a good thing.   More people means more people will be born as Christians and there will be more people to convert to Christianity.   According to their belief system, this is  good because,  it gets more people into heaven on rapture day.   What happens to all the plants and animals and to Earth, itself, is completely irrelevant.   The Earth and everything on it was  created by God for one reason and one reason only.   Earth is a testing ground -- a ticket to Christian heaven.

Is overpopulation a problem?  

So now, let's put fundamental Christianity and overpopulation back together again and ask our initial question.   Is overpopulation a problem?   

From the fundamentalist Christian  perspective the answer is,  "No, it's a blessing."   

From almost everyone else's perspective, the answer is:  "YES, of course it is and we know is."   Not only is it a problem, it's the most fundamental and basic problem facing humanity today.   Overpopulation creates and/or aggravates every other problem on the planet.

Human overpopulation is causing a global environmental disaster and a species extinction rate of proportions not seen since the demise of the dinosaurs.   Human overpopulation is causing social and political disasters on a magnitude never seen before on Earth.  Human overpopulation is causing grief and misery for billions of human beings.    Forty thousand innocent children starve to death each and every day.  That's twenty seven dead kids every minute.

In the face of this already-in-process disaster, forced motherhood promoters are denying the existence of a population problem  -- and they're promoting the birth of still more people!    They are literally forcing unwilling women to birth still more unwanted babies so that they, the fundamentalist Christian leaders, can get more people into Christian heaven.

Is it possible that some of the inhabitants of Wonderland have climbed out of Alice's rabbit hole and are now running the Earth's most influential institutions.   Or could it be that the tooth fairy and the Easter bunny are secretly ruling the world?  

But all is not lost.   Out of all the millions and millions of hours that our forced motherhood friends have spent attempting to save embryos, someone managed to  discover the absolute irrefutable reason why abortion should be a government crime.   Here's the real truth:

"Water is water because it's wet 
and its wet because it's water,
 therefore abortion should be be illegal."   

What do you  suppose would happen if the mindless Christian sheep turned their brains on for just one minute each day?   

References:  

   The ABC's of Forced Motherhood  --  The  ABC' s  of  Abortion Rights
      http://www.pro-truth.net ' 

    The Voice of Choice  --   Your Online,  Reproductive-Rights,  Education Course
       http://www.choice101.com ' 

Saving the Virgin Forests of 
Ancient, Giant Redwood Trees 
Continues on  the page titled:   
It's Action Time '  

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