|
Lileks: Snuff your children for Gaia's sake.
ScreedblogAmong the many things we get from England, cautionary examples may be their most useful export: COUPLES who have more than two children are being irresponsible by creating an unbearable burden on the environment, the governments green adviser has warned. Of course he has. Whats the line from Scrooge - better they should die, and decrease the surplus population? Im surprised thats not an applause line these days. If Scrooge had forbid Crachet from putting on more coal because it would contribute to global warming, hed be the hero, and Crachet would have got the three spirits. Jonathon Porritt, who chairs the governments Sustainable Development Commission, says curbing population growth through contraception and abortion must be at the heart of policies to fight global warming. It hasn't taken long, but its taken hold: children, to some, are not bundles of joys, but bundles of sticks whose inevitable combustion harms the planet. It doesnt matter whether reducing the population might deprive the world of another Mozart or a scientist who can cure cancer; the latter would just mean people living longer and going more harm, and its an act of pure cultural arrogance and classism to suggest we need another Mozart anyway. (Plus, non-political culture we cannot afford in these desperate times. Its not that it makes people think the wrong things; it just takes up time that could be spent thinking about the right things.) I think we will work our way towards a position that says that having more than two children is irresponsible. It is the ghost at the table. I think there might be other ghosts jostling to be heard. Smaller ones. . . . Go read it all. Posted by: Mike 2009-02-03 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=261498 |