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Malthusian Catastrophe

Sunday, 25 January 2009

Happy Australia Day Weekend! And fingers crossed that the new date K Rudd promised the indigenous community will happen this year too!

I've actually had an extremely relaxing weekend and some unexpected time today meant than I've done even less than I planned! I stumbled across a large box of old readers digests I had collected and forgotten about during the move. They are mostly from the 50s, 60s and 70s. I wasn't ever sure why I collected them but it felt like they had some historical value at the time... or perhaps I'm just a pack rat (or ferret as my family has so lovingly been calling me for years)! Flipping through them some of the attitudes are hilarious and some frightening especially as it was so recent... but in particular the June 1971 Australian edition (back cover pictured) caught my eye. Apart from a story about Luxembourg that made me want to instantly pack my bags, the tale of a wealthy school girl turned revolutionary who was murdered, the anticipation of the 'computer age', Cuban submarines and the difficulty of life as a black man by the Olympian Jesse Owens the particular article that grabbed my attention was entitled 'Nature and the Case for Birth Control'. The article talks about humans being the only animal species to refuse to acknowledge natural law. I found this extremely interesting as the notion of the population explosion as being the root cause of the environmental problems we now face is a very recent one.

The article illustrates that while Thomas Malthus may have been correct about humans multiplying too rapidly and outstripping the food supply, they are alone in this regard and it is not a feature of all populations. Interesting examples of Guppies cannibalising to maintain a "optimum number" regardless of the food available, mass suicide of the lemming, hierarchy of feeding amongst lions with cubs last all illustrate the point. While the author believes humans will never outstrip the food supply (Yikes! It's happening less than 40 years later!) the case for birth control is a strong one in the face of 'death by stress' as the author refers to it.

A few notes, nothing more!

As an update to new years resolutions:

• Kilos lost to date: None... though I finally realised that if I bake bread and cake every weekend it doesn't matter how many kms I ride during the week! So no more cake from now on sadly...
• Carbon Footprint:: I planted a few more trees today and propagated a number of peace lilies to clean up carbon monoxide in the air at the office! (I give one to each person on their birthday for their desk). I also refrained from purchasing a large canvas for my next painting and instead endeavoured to find a second hand one on ebay (no luck) but I'll check out garage sales next weekend!
• Style: I have no style! Help! Though I did see a gorgeous outfit on 'eco girl' that is inspiring me to be more creative with how I dress!
• Creative Recycling: I haven't done much in the way of coding, but I have downloaded large numbers of example products to help populate the site at the beginning which is quite fun!
• Voluntary Work: I'm still waiting for my application to go through so all my voluntary work is still web related at the moment - for Sustainability Street, Friends of Royal Park and EWB...
• Learning: I have been reading... I'm thinking releasing a podcast would be a more fun (and productive) way to learn Nepali... No dancing schools anywhere near the new house unless you're under 5 or over 55 so still looking on this front! And have applied to join toastmasters during lunch times to improve speaking skills... Missed the first meeting though as I had to work.
• Friends: No updates on this front, though I car pooled the 2 other girls from work to the office and am trying to say 'yes' to everything rather than always feeling an inexplicable urge to go home...
• More focused blog posts: I may have to let this one go... I can't see it happening!
• Adventure: Still deciding on next months adventure... Perhaps a horse ride through the Man from Snowy River country?!

Labels: malthusian catastrophe, readers digest

posted by genloz at 9:33 PM 0 Comments