WEALTH, HUNGER AND PEACE © 2005
PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS TO KEY WORLD PROBLEMS
“The exponential population growth is so far out of
balance that this will impose heavy penalties on individuals as well as nations.
Ultimately this will impose coercive measures of fertility regulation. This can
be avoided by increasing knowledge and availability of contraception. If such
measures are not made available, the penalties to the poor and nations will be
enormous and the ripple effect will inevitably extend to the rich as well." Robert McNamara, ex-U.S. Secretary of Defense and ex-President of the World Bank.
SUMMARY:
The planet can sustain 6 billion people. We have surpassed this number. We are already seeing increases in death and diseases due to decreasing sustenance as shown in the home page graph. At the present rate of population growth, we expect about 3 billion more people in the next 40 years.
Our increasing consumption is stripping our agricultural, water and fuel supplies. Fossil fuels, fertilizers and insecticides are poisoning the air and water, causing diseases and death. At the rate we are going, we will have no environment to live in about 100 years from now unless we address these problems urgently.
Nothing in the history of mankind has so threatened the world as overpopulation. Our peace, economic stability and, ultimately, our survival depends on our willingness to face this problem. The present report encompasses solutions in all fields because overpopulation touches every aspect of our and our planet’s life. The know-how to solve these problems is already available. It is imperative that we apply and share this knowledge with optimism, so we all take measures to prevent the disastrous effects that this problem, if unchecked, will bring.
The solution is simple: mass education regarding these problems, hand in hand with conservation, family planning, good stewardship for our environment and one another. In order to assure future generations sustenance, new couples must only bring one or, maximum, two children into their families or all present and future generations will have no food or environment to sustain them.
In 2002, the president of the World Health Organization mentioned to the international community, that having an honest dialog with one's countrymen will allow them to see the seriousness of the realities of our times, and they will champion reforms. How can they do so if no one openly speaks to them about this?A new ethic and moral spirit must arise from this, so we can walk into the future, hand in hand as fellow men. The alternative is devastation and war.
TIME: Population
models show that if we continue with unchecked population growth, global
devastation within 100 years will rapidly ensue, so the problem is extremely
time sensitive. Most think we have all the time in the world to address
these problems; however, since no concerted efforts have been undertaken, we are
quite behind. Showing the urgency is real, according to Cornell
University's report: Environmental Development and Sustainability, the
maximum population our planet can sustain is 6 billion people. The World
Commission on Environment defines sustainability as: “A sustainable society is
one that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs”. We have surpassed the 6
billion benchmark, and already, due to diminishing food, water, increasing
disease and pollution, the predicted human die-off is starting to occur.
In the last 10 years, the previous usual 2.2% population growth has dropped to
1.2% due to our planet’s inability to cope with the increasing needs of our
growing population, not as we assumed due to increased access to family
planning and better economies. Third world countries are the most affected
as 6 million children die annually from hunger. In the USA one in five
children goes to bed hungry every night. According to Cornell University’s
report, in order for humankind to sustain its future generations every new
family must not have more than 1 or, at most, 1.5 children. It has been
demonstrated that if we do not heed this advice and continue to ignore family
planning the planet will become uninhabitable with in this century (1,
2, 3 and 4). Reports from John Hopkins, Harvard and Stanford University’s
population studies that concur with Cornell's report, influenced the UN to embark in a multinational exhaustive
investigation. These scientists and the UN’s studies arrived at similar
conclusions, giving guidelines to all aspects of human endeavors in order to
accomplish sustainability (5).
We are
hopeful and believe the doomsday prophesies will not have to take place since
mankind already has the know-how of fixing these problems and can catch up for lost time to
curb these problems if we start NOW. We, however, need our leaders to
bring this situation to light, and have them take steps to address these
problems. Unless leaders openly point to this problem, there will not be a
chance to make any changes, for the ignorance of the subject is almost universal.
PERCEPTION: Perception is the greatest problem. Unfortunately, most people are unaware of the overpopulation problem and its urgency. Many, for political, economic and religious reasons, distort the truth by spreading misinformation claiming there is no such thing as an overpopulation problem, or claim populations are decreasing.
An illiterate poor hungry farmer cannot comprehend that there is a problem of overpopulation, for where he is, there are usually few people. When one sees the vastness of the world, it is inconceivable that the resources and space are limited. Yes, all of mankind can fit in an area the size of Colorado, so there is no shortage of space, but the planet cannot produce at the same rate as our growing needs -- therein lies the problem. We must teach that the newborn demand sustenance at a faster pace than the planet can provide. Unless we limit our new families to no more than one or two children per family, conserve and become good stewards of our planet mankind will not subsist in the near future. This is in our and our children's best immediate economic and spiritual interest.
ARCHAEOLOGY AND HISTORY: Easter Island, once a verdant forest teeming with wildlife and people, is now a barren grassy knoll studded with giant godlike monoliths staring forlornly at a future that never came. They are a reminder of how a lack of respect for the environment and ignorance of family planning caused their civilization to become extinct. They exhausted all natural supplies, having to ultimately resort to cannibalism. In Discovery magazine’s: EASTER ISLAND’S END, we see how lack of food caused ethnic cleansing amongst its inhabitants and, ultimately, led to cannibalism of their own people (6). Recently, a similar problem arose in Uganda because of severe hunger that led to a widespread massacre disguised as an “ethnic cleansing”. Let this be a presage of things to come (7).
In Phoenician times Cyprus, Malta, Greece, Syria and Lebanon were covered by lush forests teeming with trees and wildlife. Man burned the forests to cultivate crops, used timber for building and overgrazed the land with goats, thereby creating the barren lands we know at present (112). Reforesting now is beyond these nations’ economic means (8). The USA and the world are facing enormous deforestation. Tree cutting, needed to clear areas for more housing, developing, agriculture or for the use of timber is causing havoc to the environment. The forestry organization mentioned this severe problem in 1997 (9)
DEMOGRAPHICS, LAND RESOURCES AND HUNGER: According to a report of the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences, about 0.5 hectares per capita of cropland is needed to provide a balanced plant and animal diet for humans worldwide. For the 1990 population of 5.5 billion, only 0.27 hectares per capita were available and it has declined further since (10).
According to World Bank figures, 6 million children die annually from malnutrition. In the last 12 years, 40 million more people have been added to the list of moderate poverty, making their total above 2.7 billion. The World Bank defines “moderate poverty” as subsisting on $1-$2 per day. Thus 1/3 of the planet’s people live in hunger. Hunger causes wars and forces people to leave their lands. As refugees they have insufficient food, shelter and medicines. Death caused by these circumstances is already growing worldwide (11). Some argue that poor distribution of food is the reason there is starvation in many countries. The UN Global Policy Forum shows how the shortages are real, not merely political, although HUNGER IS FOR THE MOST PART DUE TO POOR GOVERNMENT (12).
Now we have 6.3 billion people and have, at best, small parcels of marginal arable land in reserve. Annually about 28 million acres of woodland and forests are destroyed for farming, building and agriculture. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) conducted a study concerning potentially arable land called: Agriculture toward 2000 This study reported that only 11% of the earth's surface is suitable for agriculture. It mentions that cultivated land is lost at about the same rate as new land that is being transformed into desert due to soil erosion. It recommends that to mitigate land destruction, at least 25% of arable land must be protected by programs of water and soil conservation. It concludes that "by the end of the century, shortage of land will have become a critical constraint for about two-thirds of the population of the developing countries”. We have arrived at this milestone, Uganda is an example of this land shortage that triggered massive killings due to competition for food.
In 40-45 years at current birth rates, we will have about 9-10 billion people, according to United Nations' projections. The United States showed 5 million people in the l800 census. In 2005 the estimates show 295.7 million. How then can we expect to feed more than the land can sustain? Modern methods, including genetically engineered seeds and animals, have temporarily closed the gap in food shortages. Their abundance has worsened the problem, for more and more people could be fed, thus allowing for unpredicted population growth. These agricultural methods are now proving destructive to our lands and are decimating them. Another factor is that there is a limit to how much crops and animal husbandry can produce. This is already reflected in the grain shortages and increasing human death rates. The FAO report’s prediction has now been proven correct. (11) (2).
ETHICS AND POLITICS: The population graph on our cover page (www.lifewatchgroup.org) shows that since the dawn of man, human populations were kept in check until the 1800’s by disease caused by virus/bacteria/parasites etc. This natural balance was forever altered by vaccines, antibiotics and advances in medical care. This was spurred by the advent of the industrial revolution, the green revolution, mechanized farming, genetic engineering, etc. By virtue of this, man altered the natural order and by doing so, experienced unsustainable exponential population growth. No world leader advised us that this unchecked growth would come tumbling down because this would have been unpopular. The need for growth, fueled by economic and political interest, made it so that no world leader, even today, wants to address this problem. Many, for political, economic and religious reasons, distort the truth by spreading misinformation claiming that there is no such thing as an overpopulation problem. Due to their own agendas some distort the truth claiming that populations are dwindling. This denial is most evident among religious organizations, governments and businesses, who, needing more subscribers, loath limiting population growth as it would diminish their influence or economies. Some religions, in order to increase followers at any cost, encourage large numbers of children per family. To assure this, for example, some religions label birth control pills and condoms etc as “immoral”. The ethical question is: is it not more immoral to expose the user to AIDS or the spreading of it? In other cases, the user is forced to bring into this world a child he does not want and cannot feed. In such cases some opt for infanticide or abortion, a growing human scourge. Is this a moral situation? Some countries that are facing social security fund-shortages need the new generations to fund them. In such countries, discouraging births would be against their own agenda; for they need new generations joining the work force to pay for social security. These new generations however will face no future of their own at the rate we are going.(13)
Now that we have reached the point of the planet’s limit of human sustainability, let us teach new couples that if they want their children to have a sustainable future, they have to make the moral decision of limiting their family. The alternative is if we continue with the present population growth, the strong will force out the weaker by means of war or starvation, and usurp their resources. Let us not forget the fall of Rome, the French Revolution etc., when hungry hoards destroyed the greatest and most powerful societies. When the numbers of the hungry increase, no US military force will be able to cope with the ramming of its core by the hungry from within and from abroad. Let us not wait for governments to force us to limit us to one child per couple, as China did. China was forced to impose such drastic measures because it faced huge famines and had not addressed their overpopulation problems in time. Should it have been addressed when there was time, they could have allowed for two children per family. China has learned this the hard way. By doing so, they are becoming the fastest growing economic superpower of the 21st century (14).
Now, according to the World Health Organization 1/3 of the world is well-fed, 1/3 suffers from hunger while living on $1-$2 U.S. Dollars a day and 1/3 are starving and live on less than $1 a day, so-called “absolute poverty”. About 160 million of the world’s children under the age of five are malnourished according to the U.N reports. It has been calculated that millions of deaths could be prevented for the price of ten Stealth bombers! According to UNICEF the world's 358 billionaires have assets exceeding the combined annual incomes of countries with 45 % of the world's people. To satisfy the world's sanitation and food requirements it would cost the US only $13 billion - what the people of the United States and the European Union spend on perfume each year. The US Congress states that the USA spent, in the Afghanistan-Iraq war, $208 billion at the expense to the US taxpayers as of July, 2005 (See the politics of fossil fuels below). The assets of the world's three richest men are more than the combined GNP of all the least developed countries on the planet (15) (16). This poor distribution of wealth allows for such human inequity. The social democratic model of Sweden shows how, in this country, such disparity would never be tolerated (Charts J and K).
To a great extent poverty and hunger are political . Farm subsides in the USA and other countries make it so that it is impossible for many poor farmers in third world countries to compete with their products; thus they go hungry. These poor countries have then to ask for foreign aid, and end up paying interest to the lender nations that caused them this unfair competition. What is needed is a fair playing field. Stop the farming subsidies in the USA and elsewhere and give the local farmer’s worldwide a chance to make their products competitive so they can feed their own. For example, Switzerland pays a $3 subsidy per cow per day to its farmers. Brazilians’ poor say they would love to be a Swiss cow, as it is wealthier than them. These poor people only have their lands and their hands. No genetically engineered seeds, no subsidies, no sophisticated fertilizers or irrigation, no complex machinery and no satellites to tell them when to irrigate or when to fertilize, no sales personnel, no warehouses and/or stores distribute their products. If we do not remove subsidies, the poor will have no chance while the multinational corporations grow in wealth. Another example of political abuse causing poverty is the many government leaders and dictators supported by wealthy governments because they are willing to sell their national resources at a discount, taking away from the wealth of their citizens. Many a political leader that has stolen from its national treasure has been given asylum by other nations so the funds will not return to their country. International laws protecting nations from such pillage must be created, making leaders accountable, so this white collar theft is penalized to the strictest extent of the law, and no asylum in such cases shall be granted.
Some countries refuse to assist in family planning and promote sex education as well as prohibiting doctors to advise women with unwanted pregnancies of their reproductive rights. The USA passed in the last 5 years a "gag rule" to prevent international doctors working in family planning clinics that receive USA funds from disseminating this information. All of these and many other ethical imperatives must be addressed. By increasing awareness of these truths we hope a new outlook on life will ensue causing us to develop a new ethic and morality.
AGRICULTURE: Agricultural advances, including mechanized monoculture farming and genetic engineering, revolutionized food production and gave great hope to the world’s growing food demands. This so-called “green revolution”, hoped to eradicate hunger. Food production almost quadrupled, causing populations to grow in numbers as never before. Over forty years of experience with these methods show these techniques, although most fruitful, also bring great increases in pests, pathogens, resistant insects, weeds, Stalinization, diminishing aquifers, pollution, destruction of ecosystems and soil erosion that ultimately led to a reduction in production and, in many cases, to soil destruction according to innumerable reports (see the report of the World Resources Institute 2001 “testing the limits of Agro ecosystems”) and reports by the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization FAO (16).
In 1982, the USA showed that one fifth of its cropland was losing topsoil at accelerated rates due to this type of farming and now about 25% is severely eroded. After so many years of this farming it has been determined that the safer and wiser older methods must be sought. Old methods are not as productive, so a balance of both new ones and old have to be replaced by a more environmentally sensitive plan that will reach a balance avoiding errors of the past. Governments must provide farmers with agricultural extension programs so farming education is readily available; crop rotation; re-tilling old crop material into the soil to maintain soil nourishment, and mixing crop plant variety has to be implemented. Water conserving irrigation and hardy multi-variety seeds are key.
1) FERTILIZERS: Artificial fertilizers have caused a considerable increase in global food production; however, these have worsened land and water pollution (18). In the book Fateful Harvest, Duff Wilson, a Pulitzer Prize nominee, writes an expose of how USA fertilizer companies mix toxic waste into fertilizers. The US, unlike European nations and Canada, does not regulate fertilizers as these countries do, thus allowing for a much higher percentage of toxins in their products. A California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) assessment of the health risk posed by toxic fertilizers warns that eating food grown with contaminated fertilizers will be the greatest single source of exposure to these contaminants in commercial products. Genetically engineered seeds have considerably increased food production; however these need extra fertilizers, irrigation and pesticides, causing pollution, drop in water tables and species destruction.
2) PESTICIDES: New farming methods require large amounts of pesticides. Over time, insects and weeds become more resistant and require higher doses of insecticides according to the World Resources Institute and OECD. Each year there are 26 million pesticide poisonings worldwide with 220,000 deaths (Richter, 2002). In the U.S., NCFH (2004) reports there are 300,000 nonfatal pesticide poisonings. The major economic and environmental losses due to the application of pesticides in the U.S. were: public health -- $1.1 billion per year; pesticide resistance in pests -- $1.5 billion; crop losses, -- $1.4 billion; bird losses due to pesticides -- $2.2 billion; and groundwater contamination -- $2.0 billion. U.S. scientist Samuel Epstein, author of several books on cancer, points out that up to 90 % of human cancers are caused by pesticides, chemical and fossil fuel pollution. With the advent of Genetically Manipulated (GM) seeds, there was hope of feeding the world in light of the shortages. These, however, require more pesticides or a number of these plants will have genetically ingrained pesticides, causing some of the insect and animal biodiversity to be negatively affected or decimated, upsetting the ecology (18) (19).
3) IRRIGATION AND WATER : About 2/3 of the world's water is wasted due to misuse, reflecting the fact that farmers are not required to pay for it. As a result, water-table levels are dropping, causing water shortages. The BBC mentions a United Nation report that across the globe water tables are running low due to misuse and increased need by new agricultural methods (20).
State subsidies for water, electricity, pesticides and fertilizers encourage
land, water and energy abuse, further destroying the soil and inflating fiscal
deficits. Dwindling water will lead to wars in the long run if laws for
fair water usage are not established now. Less than 0.08% of all the
Earth's fresh water is useful for human needs. In the next two decades,
human use is estimated to increase about 40% (graph 1, 2). In 1999, the
United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) showed a report from 200
scientists in 50 countries that pointed out that water shortages was one of the
two most urgent problems (the other was global warming) and now growing.
About 70% of the water is used in agriculture now. The World Water Council
calculates that by 2020 we shall need 17% more water than is available if we are
to feed the masses ( graph A and B).In Israel, water is treated as a
precious commodity. Its agricultural methods must be followed.
PROJECTION OF WATER USE IN 2010 GRAPH (A) (B) (Printed with permission)
4) FARMING, GOVERNMENTAL SUBSIDIES, AND INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION: According to the Heritage Foundation, U.S. farm policy "is based on the premise that a surplus of crops has lowered crop prices too far and farmers need subsidies to recover lost income”. However, the federal government's remedy is to offer subsidies that increase as a farmer plants more crops. This creates greater crop surpluses, driving prices down even further and spurring demands for even greater subsidies. It estimates that this subsidy will cost US tax payers $462 billion over 10 years, i.e. $4,377 per average US household. These subsidies are making the USA unpopular at the World Trade Organization (WTO), where USA negotiators have been trying to get other countries to reduce their agricultural subsidies. Abolishing subsidies ( which are trade barriers) would enable poorer nations to sustain their economies by exporting more of their own products and free trade would rule, causing prices to reflect the real market needs and not the artificial prices established by politicians. Many a foreign farmer cannot compete with the US and European highly subsidized and modernized farm products, so he is out of business, causing further poverty in these poor countries. In most poor countries, all they have is their farms and hands to seek a living ( photo A and B). Their countries are too poor to subsidize them.
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http://www.aeffonline.org/images/forestdestructioninkenya.jpg (Printed with Permission) PHOTO (A) |
http://www.soil-health.org.nz/pastissues/SeptOct00/Indiaploughing%20p1.jpg ( Printed with Permission) PHOTO (B) |
5) GENETICALLY MODIFIED SEEDS: (referred to as GM or GE): There is a new threat to food production and biodiversity: genetically altered seeds. Once planted, some are engineered to produce infertile seeds, so farmers cannot save the “seeds” for the next year’s crops. This causes dependence of farmers on the seed companies. These plants have caused cross pollination with natural seeds, altering the fertile plant’s ability to be fertile in the future. One such multi-national conglomerate that produces such seed is Monsanto. Some of these companies are purchasing seed companies worldwide in order to monopolize the market, and only sell non-fertile varieties of seeds. There is danger of famines with these type of seeds, as mentioned under our chapter on CLONING. These GE seeds are expensive, and should farmers not be able to afford them for next year’s crop, can cause disastrous declines in food production. Monsanto has successfully sued farmers whose crops contain some of the genetically altered plants i.e. Monsanto found some of their GE plants in fields belonging to farmers who did not purchase their seeds because their seeds had cross pollinated and appeared in some fertile farmers’ land. This new litigious era in the agribusiness will further erode our ability to feed the masses. The Secretary to the Advisory cause Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE) presented a paper that shows declines in farmland, wildlife and serious concerns regarding genetically modified crops. The document outlines initiatives to combat the current GM seed situation (23).
Geerta Ritsema, GM Campaign Coordinator of Friends of the Earth/ Europe said in reference to the genetically modified seeds: “For the European Commission to allow GM seed proposals is a recipe for disaster. These seeds will lead to the widespread contamination of Europe's food, farming and environment and take away the consumers ability to avoid GM. European member states must step in where the Commission has failed and ban these GM seeds if they prove dangerous to the environment after no less than 5 years of testing. Friends of the Earth welcome this decision and believe that the Governmental Commission now has a golden opportunity to bring out better proposals that will protect people and the environment. Public safety must come before the financial interests of the biotechnology industry and monopolies must never be allowed”.
6) GENETICALLY ENGINEERED ORGANISMS: (GMO) is a genetically engineered plant or animal to which other species’ genes have been introduced in order to have them express a specific trait. For example, some tomatoes have fish genetic material engineered in their make-up, so that they have longer shelf life. Mixing species is altering our natural biodiversity in ways in which we cannot tell what their future impact will be. We do not know if these will endanger natural species. We must advocate to have years of testing before they are considered “safe”. This unfortunately is not done, and therein lays the danger. Human meddling with nature can bring surprising problems that sometimes are deadly. One example of how unexpected problems can take place: when farmers started feeding proteins (meat scraps) to cows in the hopes that they would fatten faster. Since cattle are not physiologically able to digest meat, mad cow disease appeared as a complication. These new man-created diseases are totally unpredictable, but their impact is deadly to economies and species. Susan Davidson, organizer of The Vermont Genetic Engineering Action Network mentions that: “very little testing is being performed on genetically engineered seeds and their resulting crops before they are released to market – and the USDA, the FDA, and the EPA have shifted or bypassed regulatory standards in their zeal to support these firms and their new technologies. The FDA currently does not require labeling of genetically engineered foodstuffs; the consumer right to know is only enforced by the FDA when it deems that the food has undergone a ‘qualitative change’ by virtue of an ingredient or a process. The FDA has thus effectively stated that willfully manipulating a plant’s genetic structure by mating it with a species that would not naturally be a viable breeding partner, thereby creates a new life form, and does not constitute a qualitative change to the plant itself” (24). In light of this, new regulations must be written to prevent future disasters. GMO’s and GE seeds should be tested as stringently as human medicines are prior to their release into the market for assurance that no danger will ensue from their utilization.
AGRO POLITICS: Unfortunately, politically connected companies are the ones who obtain permits, and governments with their regulatory offices look the other way, as these billionaire companies purchase connections and politically get their agendas approved. Most of the public is unaware of this. In reference #25, there is a complete list of multi-national companies that produce genetically engineered seeds and organisms. These are some of the leading companies: Monsanto, DuPont, Aventis, Novartis, and Syngenta. A list of some products where products from these seeds are utilized mention: Coca Cola, Fleishmann’s margarine, Fritos, Green Giant Harvest Burgers, Karo Corn Syrup, Kraft Salad Dressings, McDonalds French Fries, Nestle Crunch, Nutrasweet, Quaker Oats corn meal, Roundup and Similac Infant Formula among others (24) (25). About 20 years ago, approximately 7000 world seed companies reached 10% of global markets. Since then, only 10 companies survived and now control over 40% of the worlds’ market (26).
AGRO EDUCATION: Governments must aid farmers with education regarding better agricultural techniques, including encouragement for reforestation, alternating crops, mixed crops and planting/tilling techniques to prevent soil erosion. Water conservation using Israeli techniques should be taught. Cooperative marketing, based on free enterprise farming, allows farmers to share equipment, buy and sell products as a team. This stimulates farming, increases incomes and makes the middle man unnecessary. Public schools and health care facilities must be brought to the country to assure settlements. Logistic and distribution systems must be made available in rural areas and offered to all farmers to enable commercialization of their products. Systems, such as farmers markets must be encouraged by governments to enable farmers to sell their products directly to consumers. The alternatives are decreased food supply and human migration to the cities, creating subhuman slums like those in Mexico City, Manila or Calcutta.
FORESTRY: Trees and plants are the lungs of the world since they are our oxygen producers. They clean the atmosphere of C02, retain moisture, prevent land erosion and provide habitats to wildlife. Worldwide massive deforestation is aggravating desertification, drop in water tables and global warming ( graph C, D photo C).
(Printed with permission) PHOTO C http://www.tcha.org.au/Starvation-creek.jpg
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Area of
primary forests in the United States (lower 48) (around 1620, top; and
1850 middle; 1920, bottom) EFFECTS OF LOGGING IN THE USA |
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Http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange2/current/lectures/deforest/deforest.html
CURRENT VIRGIN WORLD FORESTS 1997
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(Printed with permission) : World Resources Institute: Washington, DC, 1997 | |
Since 1600, 90% of the virgin forests that once covered much of the lower USA’s 48 states have been cleared away. The majority of the remaining old-growth forests are on public lands. In the Pacific Northwest about 80% of this forestland is earmarked for logging under the current administration.
The
following are estimated worldwide yearly average rates of deforestation in acres
during 1990-1995
(Printed with permission) GraphD
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World Resources Institute 1991 |
37.84 million acres 15 million hectares |
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World Watch Institute 1998 |
38.40 million acres 15 million hectares |
Land protection of arable and forest has been so successful in Japan that their ideas can be used as a blue print. This includes encouraging vertical dwelling in order not to diminish arable land and allowing for plant and animal habitat (27).
A major part of the deforestation problem is that many people take the short-term profit even though patience is more profitable. The New York Botanical Garden and Yale University reported in the l989 issue of Nature that one hectare of Brazilian rainforest can produce $6,330 dollars if it is left as is, selectively harvesting its fruit, latex and timber over 50 years. The same hectare, transformed into a timber plantation, would produce $3,184 during 50 years; if that hectare were used for cattle farming, it would produce $2,960 during that same period. But, because that same hectare would produce $1,000 immediately when it is logged, the owner invariably takes that one-time income, leaving nothing for his children's future. Bad governance has shown how forests and peoples depending on them have also been harmed. Some of the funds loaned by the World Bank have caused disastrous effects in Cambodia, for example, as reported by Brettonwoods org. (28)
INTERNATIONAL DEBT: The World Bank loaned $22.3 billion to foreign countries in 2005. Developing countries owed $2.28 trillion in 1990 in international debt according to the World Bank. This debt also requires interest payments, which these countries can hardly afford. Valuable forests had to be cut or burned to raise crops for farms ( photo A) or logging in order to pay the debts to make ends meet. To a great extent poverty and hunger are political . Farm subsides in the USA make it so that it is impossible for many poor farmers in third world countries to compete with the US products; thus they go hungry. These poor countries have then to ask for foreign aid, and end up paying interest to the lender nations that caused them this unfair competition. What is needed is a fair playing field. Stop the farming subsidies in the USA and elsewhere and give the local farmer’s worldwide a chance to make their products competitive so they can feed their own. In July, 2005 during the G8 meeting, some of the billions of foreign debt were forgiven realizing the desperate situation these loans are causing poor economies. (29).
In a world that lives with prejudice, racism and is facing limiting families, genetic manipulation could lend itself to people the likes of Hitler to use cloning for population control and choosing only the ones they conclude are "ideal prototypes" and eradicating those that are not the “chosen” ones. Because of these reasons, human cloning is unethical. The movie THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL is a chilling reminder of what mankind is capable of dreaming up in order to control the world.
Science uses animal, vegetable bacterial, viral, microorganism’s DNA for diverse uses in cloning. In this narrow scope, cloning is useful and ethical. For example, some day, we will be able to clone microorganisms that carry genetic material capable of producing certain exact enzymes or substances necessary for our health that can be introduced into humans who lack them. By cloning these cells, one can assure pure standardized material production that can be regulated and lifesaving. The future of many branches of medicine is in the hands of genetic engineering.
ABORTION: Lack of
knowledge of family planning, and poor mores show that in 2002, the World Health
Organization registered 46 million reported abortions worldwide, 20 million
under unsafe conditions.
Maternal mortality from
abortion is low in developed countries, where the procedure is legal (0.2-1.2
deaths per 100,000 abortions). In developing regions where abortion is
illegal or highly restricted, abortion mortality is hundreds of times
higher than in countries where these are legal (330 deaths per 100,000
abortions). The high mortality is due to "unsafe" abortions. The
World Health Organization defines "unsafe abortion" as a procedure for
terminating an unwanted pregnancy that is performed by a person lacking the
necessary skills or in an environment lacking minimal medical standards, or
both. Abortions face varied degrees of maternal and infant
mortality. The USA spends $13
billion/year for the expense of its unwanted pregnancies, according to
Profefssor James Trussell, PhD, a Princeton University economist and director of
the school's Office of Population Research (ref
B).
An
estimated 150 million women in developing countries want to delay or stop
childbearing, but cannot afford contraceptives, are unable to find family
planning services readily because some governments will not provide them, some
because they fear their partner’s retaliation, and some, and some find
themselves pregnant because no contraceptive method is perfect. According to the
Alan Guttmacher Institute annually, there are about 46 million reported abortions
worldwide. These represents 22% of the 210 million pregnancies that occur
yearly that we know of, as often abortions are not reported. The Safe
Motherhood Initiative, launched by the United Nations Population Fund
UNFPA, UNICEF, WHO, UNDP, the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF)
and the Population Council provide contraceptive and family planning aid,
comprehensive education, information on sex communicable diseases and prevention
services and follow-up care.
Abortion is not morally
accepted by some religious organizations, carries mortality and morbidity, and
must not be considered a form of family planning. Many women have physical
and emotional scars from this. To bring into the world a child where one
does not have food to feed it, funds to cloth or time to love it because one’s
time is already taken to make ends meet to feed the other siblings that are
already here, is a terrible dilemma, something that best be prevented by family
planning. However, under the circumstances, facing an unwanted pregnancy, if the woman chooses abortion based on her personal belief, laws and governments
must respect her choice.
Statistics show how sex education makes a positive impact in all aspects of its
population. For example, countries like Japan and Sweden, where sex education is part
of the school curriculum, have a much lower incidence of communicable
diseases, unwed mothers, rapes and abortions when compared to th USA, where sex education is not enforced countrywide (chart
1A, 2A, 3A, 4A).
Legal Abortions Reflect Lesser Maternal Deaths |
 |
PRACTICAL MEDICAL SOLUTIONS: family planning, sexually transmitted diseases and infant mortality.
1) Prevention by means of education is the most practical of solutions for preventing unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases and infant mortality. Education starts at home and a person’s future happiness and success depend on parental teachings, love and devotion to their children. According to a Canadian Correctional Research, good family relations may play a more significant role than criminal sanctions in deterring crime or on legislating social mores. If marriage and good parenting reduce the numbers of criminal offences, family supports are much more important than legislation in deterring crime and recidivism rates. This applies also to promiscuity, drugs, rape, abortions and unwed mothers. The Canadian report shows that people are more concerned about losing their family's love and respect than about being arrested or imprisoned. To expect laws to replace good parenting is irresponsible and harms lives. Sexual mores, responsibility and obligations for respecting love, sex, marriage, and self, must be taught at home. Parents who fail to educate their children in these arenas face the sad consequences along with their children and grandchildren. Many families will not discuss sex education or responsible family planning at home, yet expect their children to know about this and are surprised when they fail. In a culture where sex education is lacking, the government has to step in, and teach basic principles to prevent social disintegration. Current USA political thinking believes that teaching sex education in schools encourages promiscuity. This is not true as the facts in the enclosed graph show. (Impact of sex chart (A) (CHARTS K))
2) Sex Education Parental, or to a lesser degree, institutional education is the solution to prevent AIDS, unwanted pregnancies, abortion, and sexually transmitted diseases and to avoid the 45 thousand children that die every day in third world countries from disease and starvation. If families, because of personal or religious reasons, prefer to teach their children these concepts themselves, governments must respect their wishes, but national testing must be a requisite. Lack of knowledge in family planning, and poor mores show that in 2002, the World Health Organization registered 46 million reported abortions worldwide, 20 million under unsafe conditions. The USA spends $13 billion /year for the expense of its unwanted pregnancies according to Professor James Trussell, PhD, a Princeton University economist and director of the school's Office of Population Research (B).
Statistics show how sex education makes a positive impact in all aspects of its population. Countries like Japan and Sweden, where sex education is part of the school curriculum, have a much lower incidence of communicable diseases, unwed mothers, rapes and abortions ( chart 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A)
(Printed with permission)
|
IMPACT OF SEX EDUCATION |
(CHART
1A-2A) |
|
COUNTRIES |
PERCENTAGE OF FAMILIES HEADED BY SINGLE PARENTS |
TEEN PREGNANCIES PER 1,000 |
TOTAL TEEN ABORTIONS PER 1,000 : |
|
USA |
8.0 % |
98.0 |
44.4 |
|
SWEDEN |
3.2 % |
28.3 |
19.6 |
|
JAPAN |
2.5 % |
10.5 |
5.9 |
From the book: WHERE WE STAND by M. Wolff has a 1991 comparison the United States, Sweden and Japan, and some updated figures from UN, and WHO 2004 http://guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3202400.pdf
AIDS/HIV - SIDA is growing worldwide in part
due to insufficient funds and lack of education. Lack of sex education is
not only costly in human suffering but in economic terms to tax payers.
Following is the average USA annual cost for treatment of sexually communicable
diseases: $9.3-15.5 billion in the mid-1990’s:
SEXUALLY COMMUNICABLE DISEASES PER 100,000
USA vs. SWEDEN
|
Infection and country |
Rate (Per 100,000) |
SEXUALLY COMMUNICABLE DISEASES %/100,0000
| ||||
|
|
Among 15-19 year olds |
Total population |
15-19 to female/ Male Annual sexually transmitted infections |
All 15-19 year olds to total population | ||
SYPHILIS |
Total |
Male |
Female |
Population |
||
| Sweden (1995) | 0.6 |
1.2 |
0.0 |
0.8 |
† |
0.76 |
| United States | 6.4 |
8.6 |
4.3 |
4.3 |
2.00 |
1.49 |
GONORRHEA |
||||||
| Sweden | 1.8 |
2.0 |
1.5 |
2.8 |
1.31 |
0.63 |
| United States | 571.8 |
758.2 |
394.8 |
125.1 |
1.92 |
4.57 |
CHLAMYDIA |
||||||
| Sweden | 569.6 |
921.0 |
235.2 |
156.0 |
3.9 |
3.7 |
| United States | 1,131.6 |
2,067.0 |
245.8 |
192.6 |
8.4 |
5.9 |
|
CHART 2A |
|
|
|
|
( Printed with Permission) | |
*Adolescent rates are calculated using the number of infection cases at ages 15-19 per 100,000 populations CHART (3A)
CHART
(4A) (Printed with permission)
WOMEN’S REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS AND CHILDREN’S RIGHTS: The United Nations unanimously agreed in 1994 that overpopulation is the major problem facing the world. However, they pointed out that this cannot be solved without addressing women and children’s rights. In a world where unwanted pregnancies threaten the life of the mother, steal food from the children already here, impose nations' expenses for their sustenance that they cannot afford, it is unconscionable to deny an abortion to the woman who wants to undergo said procedure under safe and legal conditions.
Hunger forces some parents to use and abuse their children. In some, poverty, lack of education and women’s rights as well as worldly pressures brings out machismo or abusive male control. Here are some examples of what violations are done to women and children as mentioned by the UN:
COMMON VIOLATIONS:
1) About 60 million girls are” missing" mostly in Asia, as a result of sex-selective abortions, infanticide or neglect.
2) Domestic violence is a frequent cause of suicides among women.
3) Rape and other forms of sexual violence are increasing. Many rapes go unreported because of the stigma— less than 3 % in South Africa to about 16 % in the USA report due to shame.
4) Two million girls worldwide between ages 5 and 15 enter in the commercial sex market per year.
5) At least 130 million women have been forced to undergo female genital mutilation.
6) The majority of battered women worldwide are afraid of using contraceptives for fear of spousal retaliation.
7) Malnutrition contributes to more than half of children’s deaths worldwide.
8) 70% child labor is in subsistence agriculture. (2002)
9) 211 million, i.e. 1/6 the of the world’s children under age 15 works.
10) About 8.4 million children are in the worst forms of child labor: bonded labor, military service, and drug trafficking and the sex industry. Most common, especially in Asia, is forced and bonded labor. In the developed world and Latin America, the most prevalent is the sex industry.
1-6 data from: http://www.unfpa.org/swp/2000/english/ch03.html
