In another thread, one about extremes of weather, I noticed

[Hekate]

62. A few years later (in '65 I was only 17) I made the decision to only have "replacements" i.e. 2 kids

Last edited Fri Jun 21, 2024, 02:55 PM - Edit history (1)

Population was then “only” 3.5 billion, I think. The same people starving now were starving then, give or take a few wars and pandemics.

Funny you should mention climate change, though — I distinctly remember science-based discussions back then of environmental devastation to come, and the examples used were based on the animal world.

* Islands where introduced rabbits or deer breed themselves into starvation. They eat everything and the island is denuded and destroyed. This is not an experiment, it is a repeated observation where it has happened.

* Terraria (or jars) where bacteria or something similarly small multiply like crazy until they use up all the oxygen and then die, leaving toxic substances behind.

*Oh, and here’s my favorite: the rat model. Rats trapped like that go crazy even when provided with food and so forth. Severe overcrowding breaks their brains.

Speaking of the rat experiments: have you ever read Brunner’s future-fic “Stand on Zanzibar” ? Written in the same era as when I read “The Population Bomb, “ I always recommend it when this topic comes up. Brunner took all the info then available (as the best authors do) and posited a world where severe overcrowding was, well, making us crazy.

I’m glad I had the two, and only two. My son had a vasectomy, so he made the same decision as you.

But here’s where I was completely wrong: I thought we had more time to get it right, but it turns out that as a species we blew it. Just about the time I started to think I wanted to write a letter to my great-grandchildren deeply apologizing for the climate change they were going to have to live with, I realized: it’s here right now. The turning point has happened in my lifetime, and the 3 grandsons I have (and all that there ever will be) are going to be living it. I’m sorry, kids, I’m truly sorry.

This is just by way of a conversation — believe me, I respect your decision.