Sunday, April 22, 2007

 

This Day in American History

On this day in 1970, millions of Americans concerned about the environment observed the first "Earth Day." I gave a speech at my high school about the dangers of overpopulation, in which I tried to be funny, and I guess I was, but in an inappropriate, double entendre sort of way, so that the school administration cut me off. I didn't get to do my big rhetorical finish, which remained for decades one of the great regrets of my somewhat cloistered life. I would disavow everything I said now, however, because I've read Mark Steyn's America Alone, and I want all Americans to reproduce at greater than replacement rates, especially my children. I talked about overpopulation because Paul Ehrlich was then predicting world wide famines and wars over necessities in the late 70s. We all remember those, don't we? The same sort of silly, chicken little predictions of an imminent ice age and, more recently, catastrophic global warming were yet to come.

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Comments:
Rog,

So no one is starving in Africa? North Korea? Anywhere?

T
 
Ehrlich predicted World Wide famines at the end of the 70s what would kill over a billion people. Governments (and sometimes the weather) have failed nations like in sub Saharan Africa (Zimbabwe comes immediately to mind) and in North Korea--bad governments following socialism causing nation wide famines is not what Professor Paul was predicting. He actually thinks socialims is a good thing. More fool he.
 
R,

Zimbabwe is a true human tragedy. Thanks to Robert Mugaber's :poloicies" it went from he largest exporter of food in sub sSaharan Africa to being unable to feed itself.

Just as Nemesis follows Hubris, so does Aethon.

T
 
Well said, and I hadn't thought about it before, but wasn't Ethiopia Communist for a while there. Any chance it happened during the well covered famines there?
 
R,

A bit of research revealed that Ethiopia has suffered at least 31 major famines since the 9th Century; 30 since 1535.

One in 1974 helped topple Haille Selassie and install the pro marxist government of Mengistu Haille Mariam which endured until 1991. Mengistu is alleged to be responsible for te 7th worst genocide in world history (1975-78) in which 1.5 million Ethiopians were victims to his junta's purge.

The 1984-5 famine occurred on his watch, but to call it the wroth of God directed at Communists would be to view history selectively.

Guess where Mengistu sought asylum and currently resides in which country that has no extradition treaty w/ Ethiopia? Zimbabwe.

T
 
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