Population
The daily news is peppered with stories which can be traced back to problems rooted in the human mind's misunderstanding of its own impact on its environment. The most salient impact of human beings on any environment is the impact of its population. Human beings are large omnivorous predators with extended lifespans and increasing infant survival rates.
An example of human mental dysfunction is the current abhorrence of socialism in the United States. Socialism is an adaptive social mechanism which is simple common sense in the face of the population pressures the species places on its environments. More people cooperating and pooling resources more effectively can actually improve the general human condition. When the general human condition in a society improves, violence, crime and social unrest diminish. Common sense. Barring gross corruption, as we have seen in Greece, socialism is an effective way of dealing with population stress.
In the United States and other developed nations, the religious Right has decided to meld pro-life (more population) politics with anti-socialist Libertarianism (egocentric self-determinism). Perhaps this is an application of divide-and-conquer politics by religious and political leaders. After all, if you are chained to a conservative past, what was good enough for Julius Caesar in Gaul over two thousand years ago would probably seem good enough for you. However, Libertarianism is hardly progressive.
The stress of human population on environment is a core human issue, going largely ignored by the education and political establishments in favor of free market capitalism in countries ruled by financial elites, like the United States. This is a no-win tactic for the whole human species, despite the short-term gains it brings to the wealthy and greedy. I believe it is necessary for humanists to be in favor of drastically increasing sex and reproductive education as part of any agreed-upon progressive agenda.
Beyond that, I believe we have reached a point in human history when the onus of intentionally bring new life into the world should be placed on those who engage in reproduction. I believe that any person or pair of persons who decide to bring a new human being onto the planet should be expected to take full financial and ethical responsibility for the whole of that new human life. It is time, I believe, in developed countries to throw off the outmoded serfdom of children to parents. Rather than parents seeing their children as investments in their future to take care of them in old age, it is time for parents to be educated to see that they are responsible for the quality of the life on the planet well into the future, beyond their own selfish needs.
I understand this is rough going for those who have been raised in traditional heterosexual models of parenting and reproduction. After all, my own grandparents were serf-descended farmers from Eastern Europe. As the younger child in my family, I was expected to be the designated caretaker for life. Things have come along way among the educated since I was a child, but I think a large segment of the population still operates on ancient models of reproduction and child-rearing. Unfortunately, due to lack of education and manipulation by those with wealth, they are encouraged through religion and media propaganda to support political and educational policies against their interests, the interests of their children and the interests of the planet.
The key to living happily with change is beginning with honest understanding of where and who you are. As a species, this consciousness must be achieved to progress from being a drain on our environments to being active participants in a healthy planetary environment. In my opinion, how we deal with reproduction and the issue of our own population will determine our failure or success as a species.
An example of human mental dysfunction is the current abhorrence of socialism in the United States. Socialism is an adaptive social mechanism which is simple common sense in the face of the population pressures the species places on its environments. More people cooperating and pooling resources more effectively can actually improve the general human condition. When the general human condition in a society improves, violence, crime and social unrest diminish. Common sense. Barring gross corruption, as we have seen in Greece, socialism is an effective way of dealing with population stress.In the United States and other developed nations, the religious Right has decided to meld pro-life (more population) politics with anti-socialist Libertarianism (egocentric self-determinism). Perhaps this is an application of divide-and-conquer politics by religious and political leaders. After all, if you are chained to a conservative past, what was good enough for Julius Caesar in Gaul over two thousand years ago would probably seem good enough for you. However, Libertarianism is hardly progressive.
The stress of human population on environment is a core human issue, going largely ignored by the education and political establishments in favor of free market capitalism in countries ruled by financial elites, like the United States. This is a no-win tactic for the whole human species, despite the short-term gains it brings to the wealthy and greedy. I believe it is necessary for humanists to be in favor of drastically increasing sex and reproductive education as part of any agreed-upon progressive agenda.
Beyond that, I believe we have reached a point in human history when the onus of intentionally bring new life into the world should be placed on those who engage in reproduction. I believe that any person or pair of persons who decide to bring a new human being onto the planet should be expected to take full financial and ethical responsibility for the whole of that new human life. It is time, I believe, in developed countries to throw off the outmoded serfdom of children to parents. Rather than parents seeing their children as investments in their future to take care of them in old age, it is time for parents to be educated to see that they are responsible for the quality of the life on the planet well into the future, beyond their own selfish needs.
I understand this is rough going for those who have been raised in traditional heterosexual models of parenting and reproduction. After all, my own grandparents were serf-descended farmers from Eastern Europe. As the younger child in my family, I was expected to be the designated caretaker for life. Things have come along way among the educated since I was a child, but I think a large segment of the population still operates on ancient models of reproduction and child-rearing. Unfortunately, due to lack of education and manipulation by those with wealth, they are encouraged through religion and media propaganda to support political and educational policies against their interests, the interests of their children and the interests of the planet.
The key to living happily with change is beginning with honest understanding of where and who you are. As a species, this consciousness must be achieved to progress from being a drain on our environments to being active participants in a healthy planetary environment. In my opinion, how we deal with reproduction and the issue of our own population will determine our failure or success as a species.
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