Clay, You have an unstated premise in your arguments: That the purpose of human life is to contribute to economic prosperity, and the value of each persons life is proportional to their relative contribution. This is an inherently flawed way of looking at it, because economic systems are tools developed by people to improve their lives, not the other way around. An economic system has no value unless it's providing a benefit to humans, but humans still can have intrinsic value without providing a benefit to economic systems. This type of thinking is what leads to justification of gross injustice (see the Summers memo at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summers_Memo) .
Nevertheless, it's clear that our planet is far above it's sustainable carrying capacity, at least with the levels of resource consumption people currently have (see http://jclahr.com/bartlett/). That still doesn't give you a right to play god by using your own value system to decide who lives or dies. I highly suggest reading the writings of Professor Albert A. Bartlett (see previous url) for some insight into the causes and solutions to the overpopulation problem that don't involve you becoming king of the world and executing people based on their relative economic contributions. Also, these people that you say aren't "keep[ing] the economy chugging along" and should be "let go" are also likely consuming much less resources, and contributing less to both global warming and over- consumption of resources than those who are. By your own logic (which I want to be clear that I disagree with) you are choosing the wrong group of people to "let go." There is a single proven sustainable way to live on our planet: the way that indigenous peoples have been living around the world for thousands of years. I am guessing that the people that you say are "smart, well fed, well resourced people" are living the least like the indigenous peoples, and are contributing the most to the problem. If I've misunderstood what you're saying please let me know, but it comes across as self-contradictory the way I'm reading it. Sincerely, Tyler On Aug 19, 2008, at 5:52 PM, Redghost wrote: > come on Luther! There are 6.x BILLION humans around. How many of > the 300 million Americans are actually holding down a job that serves > to make the nation better or even keeps the economy chugging along? > I am thinking there are a few million folks on the mainland that > could be let go and we would not even feel a hiccough in the national > fabric. Could have a huge rebound effect on the amount of funds > needed to support them that is now available for roads, schools, > infrastructure upgrades or defense. Could pay teachers and nurses a > decent wage for the work they do to strengthen our kids and health > care. Just think, SMART and HEALTHY citizens! > > What of the drain all the underproductive people worldwide are > having? Can these african nations truly support millions of starving > people? Can the Amazon support all the folks going in to clear, > burn, and leave sterile after a few years? Can the world support > that kind of abuse and not have a very bad reaction down the road? > All this whining about global climate change is not going to quiet > down until there are fewer humans suckling at the drying out teat. > > When business and such goes bad in your town, most folks just pick up > and move on to where there are resources to support them. Where is > that place now? Not China. Not India, Not Africa. Not even Latin > America. You plan on heading north to Canada when the heat gets > unbearable? I am sure a couple hundred million other citizens are > looking at that too. Sadly the land there will not support such an > influx of refugees. This planet does not even support the current > population and we continue to spew more people out. > > The rich will continue to prosper and the poor will breed themselves > into horrors we have not seen on a global scale. Soon enough there > will not be enough smart, well fed, well resourced people left to > keep the global economy in motion. Then there will be a massive > collapse and what you feel is moral will be about as important as the > dust in a holed bucket. > > I really like the way my life is going and do not wish any of the > horrors I have seen afflict my fellow man. I am realistic enough to > acknowledge that what I want is really insignificant in the grand > scope of the universe. At any given time there is just so much to go > around. When it is gone, it is gone and you have to pass GO to get > anymore. > > clay > > > On 19 Aug 2008, at 15:54, Luther wrote: > >> You, my friend, might be one of those that needs to be shipped off to >> your own "Soylent Green Factory" since your brain has ceased to use >> logic. Sometimes your logic works and is ok, but when you are way >> off >> base and far out in your radicalism, you are beyond help. >> >> Luther _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new parts see official list sponsor: http://www.buymbparts.com/ For used parts email [EMAIL PROTECTED] To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
