Water

Here in the U.S. there are daily news reports about the effects of hurricanes and tropical storms on rivers and streams. Farmers and suburbanites alike bemoan the effects of flooding, as though some foreign force had invaded their privacy. Their personal tragedies have blinded them to their own part in creating these disasters. 

I would wager that many of the rural individuals affected so deeply by water have supported political figures who have dragged their feet on dealing with climate change, caused by human overpopulation. I would also wager that many have chosen to believe in religion over science in formulating their world views. I would wager that many also take delight in Libertarians who rail against government and what they perceive as socialism.

Water is a basic necessity of all life. It is a force far greater than human prejudice or ignorance. It will collect and flow with gravity after falling from the sky. It will fall from the sky in greater volume as the ice caps melt and the atmosphere becomes more concentrated in carbon dioxide. As long as more and more humans require more and more manufacturing of food, home heating and travel by machine, this water 'problem' will persist and worsen. 

The great and fatal human weakness may be human optimism under the influence of ignorance. Ignorant optimism is foolishness. It is indeed the province of religion. It will not sustain an overgrown human population on a planet with limited atmosphere and other natural resources. As long as religions peddle ignorant optimism in lieu of science education, their influence will be toxic to the progress and survival of the human species.