"Clearly, it is time for a global effort to
create everywhere on earth the conditions conducive to stabilizing
population."
- Al Gore, Earth in the Balance.
[1]
"Halting population growth is an urgent task. But what means are
justifiable?"
- The Gaia Peace Atlas.
[2]
"There have been 'triage' proposals that would condemn whole nations to
death through some species of global 'benign neglect.' There have been
schemes for coercing people to curtail their fertility, by physical and
legal means that are ominously left unspecified. Now we are told that we
must curtail rather than extend our efforts to feed the hungry peoples of
the world. Where will it end."
- Barry Commoner, Making Peace with the Planet.
[3]
The
first time I ever laid eyes on America's Stonehenge was late one spring
evening. Caught in the shadow-play of the car's headlights, this remarkable
monument appeared even more surreal then I expected. The following morning,
after lodging in Elberton Georgia, I returned to this complex modern-day
megalith for a closer look.
The Georgia Guidestones, a massive granite edifice planted in the Georgia
countryside, contains a list of ten new commandments for Earth's citizens. The
first commandment, and the one which concerns this article, simply states;
"Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature."
This population control commandment reminded me of what I had witnessed back in
1997 while attending the
Global Citizenship 2000 Youth Congress. Held in
Vancouver, BC, the purpose of this event was to incite national changes to the
Canadian educational system; specifically, to instill Earth-centric values
through the adoption of
Robert Muller's
World Core Curriculum
- a philosophy of
education that incorporates global citizenship and pantheistic concepts.
[4]
Muller, a grandfatherly figure with decades of United Nations experience, gave
an emotionally charged speech which strongly emphasized a global population
control agenda. In a dialogue between himself and Mother Earth (played by
himself!), Muller, as the Earth, challenged the participants towards a new way
of thinking,
"What are you doing to me? You have multiplied the number of beings on this
planet from 2.5 billion in 1952 to 5.8 billion today. How could you do this to
me? This big population explosion all around the world, and I, the Earth, am
supposed to feed them. Why did you do this to me?...You are killing me!"
[5]
To the attending youth and educators, Muller boasted that the United Nations
had, as a result of warnings to the world, "prevented the birth of 2 billion,
200 million people." Furthermore, he encouraged the Congress to "Try to convince
your people to reduce the number of children. This is one of the biggest
problems we have on this planet."[6]
Clearly, the heart-and-soul of Muller's population agenda revolved around a dual
theme of environmental degradation and a greater
spiritual Earth-connection,
"...behave correctly towards the Earth...You are
not children of Canada, you are really living units of the cosmos because
the Earth is a cosmic phenomena... we are all cosmic units. This is why
religions tell you, you are divine. We are divine energy... it is in your
hands whether evolution on this planet continues or not."
[7]
Not surprisingly, this interlocking three-way theme -- population, environment,
and spirituality -- can be found in the literature of one of the most influential
environmental policy organizations in the world, the
International Institute for
Sustainable Development.
In a 1995 text published by the IISD titled
Empowerment For Sustainable
Development, we find that population management, sustainable development, and
religious values are drawn together in a common theme,
"The concept [of sustainable development] is also generally viewed as requiring
major societal changes through radical or incremental
restructuring of institutions and
management approaches. For example, a paradigm shift is
envisaged towards a decentralized society characterized by small-scale, labour-intensive
enterprises, local autonomy, diversity of cultures and thinning out of
population over landscape. A more forceful and dynamic role for religious
and cultural groups to advocate principles of environmental protection has
been urged." [8]
Management: this is the operational point of planned population shifts
("thinning out of population" certainly demonstrates this concept). And a major
component of this management process towards environmental/population
mind-change is education. After all, by altering the minds of the next
generation, long-term target goals are advanced pupil-by-pupil.
Empowerment For Sustainable Development notes,
"Education has been advanced as significant in bringing about changes in
attitudes, behaviour, beliefs, and values...In order to redirect behaviour and
values towards institutional change for sustainable development there is a need
to investigate strategic options in relation to educational philosophies, scope
for propagation and adoption, and groups most likely to be susceptible to
change."[9]
Consider the First National Environmental Teach-In, which was held on April 22,
1970, and was the event that sparked today's annual Earth Day celebrations. As
an aid to this American-wide transformative event, a special book was prepared
to equip teachers and students in their quest to live peacefully with the Earth.
The follow quotes, some quite lengthy, illustrates this hoped-for managed change
in "attitudes, behaviour, beliefs, and values" - and their anticipated impact on
population issues. Remember, this text, titled The Environmental Handbook, was
geared towards high school students [my own high school used this as a textbook
for many years].
"What we do about ecology depends on our ideas of the man-nature relationship.
More science and more technology are not going to get us out of the present
ecologic crisis until we find a new religion, or rethink our old one." [10]
"Both our present science and our present technology are so tinctured with
orthodox Christian arrogance toward nature that no solution for our ecologic
crisis can be expected from them alone. Since the roots of our trouble are so
largely religious, the remedy must also be essentially religious, whether we
call it that or not. We must rethink and refeel our nature and destiny."
[11]
"In a welfare state, how shall we deal with the family, the religion, the race,
or the class (or indeed any distinguishable and cohesive group) that adopts
overbreeding as a policy to secure its own aggrandizement? To couple the concept
of freedom to breed with the belief that everyone born has an equal right to the
commons is to lock the world into a tragic course of action." [12]
"No technical solution can rescue us from the misery of overpopulation. Freedom
to breed will bring ruin to all...The only way we can preserve and nurture other
and more precious freedoms is by relinquishing the freedom to breed, and that
very soon...it is the role of education to reveal to all the necessity of
abandoning the freedom to breed." [13]
"A prerequisite to any lasting solution to environmental pollution is a zero
growth rate - the birth rate equalling the death rate...The essential cause of
environmental pollution is over-population, combined with an excessive
population growth rate; other antipollution measures can be used
temporarily, but so long as the central problem is not solved, on can expect
no lasting success." [14]
In order to hammer home these population concerns and affect lasting world
change, The Environmental Handbook proposed that educators should embed
population issues into core subject areas,
"Biology - Compare elimination of predation and consequent overpopulation of
animal species (e.g. deer) with health advances followed by overpopulation of
human species...Discuss methods of contraception.
Economics - Investigate key to affluence...Compare rates of population growth.
Growth of various countries with rate of GNP growth; were former exceeds latter,
living standards declines.
English - Read (perhaps as outside reading, with book reviews given in class) Malthus [author's note: Robert T. Malthus is the father of the science of
population control, he lived from 1766 to 1834], Ehrlich's Population Bomb... any
of the Sierra Club's Wilderness Conference books.
History (U.S.) - Consider changing attitudes toward birth control...
History (World) - Trace population growth in various areas of the world...
Mathematics - ...Calculate some of the horrors that will take place if breeding
isn't slowed...
Psychology - Study (perhaps experiment
with) effects of overcrowding..." [15,
underlining added]
So how do we deal with the "pollution" problem of too many people? On page 291
of The Environmental Handbook, it suggests that instead of giving gifts at
Christmas, you could send money to population control organizations such as Zero
Population Growth and Planned Parenthood/World Population.
Other options were given in a section titled "Suggestions Toward an Ecological
Platform,"
"Stabilizing the U.S. population should be declared a national policy. Immediate
steps should be taken to:
1. Legalize voluntary abortion and sterilization and provide these services
free.
2. Remove all restrictions on the provisions of birth control information and
devices; provide these services free to all, including minors.
3. Make sex education available to all appropriate levels, stressing birth
control practices and the need to stabilize the population.
4. Launch a government-sponsored campaign for population control in the media...
5. Offer annual bonuses for couples remaining childless and eliminate tax
deductions for more than two children.
Control of world population growth is simply a matter of survival of the human
race. Federal priorities must be made to reflect this fact. We propose:
1. Massive federal aid to supply birth control information, planning and
materials to all countries that will accept it.
2. Foreign aid only to countries with major programs to curb population growth.
3. Increased research on birth control methods and on attitudes toward
limiting births." [16]
Traditional family life, too, was targeted as a population concern. "Explore
other social structures and marriage forms, such as group marriage and
polyandrous marriage...Share the pleasure of raising children widely, so that
all need not directly reproduce..." [17]
This is societal management at its highest, and religion comes directly into
play. According to The Environmental Handbook, "...nothing short of total
transformation will do much good." So with that in mind, a list was given of
appropriate religions, spiritual traditions, and philosophies,
"Let these be encouraged: Gnostics, hip Marxists,
Teilhard de Chardin, Catholics,
Druids, Taoists, Biologist [author's note: biologists may have been listed
because of the evolutionary principles underpinning much of modern day
biological science], Witches, Shamans, Bushmen, American Indians, Polynesians,
Anarchists, Alchemists...the list is long. All primitive cultures, all communal
and ashram movements." [18]
As the foundation for today's
Earth Day events, the 1970
Environmental Handbook
provided a virtual roadmap for societal transformation. Since then, our
educational system, sciences, and political circles have been inundated with
population change agendas - be they in the guise of environmentalism,
alleviating world poverty, or ensuring food security. [19]
Climate change, too, is linked into population issues. Noted environmental
science writer Jonathan Weiner explains,
"If our numbers continue to spiral upward, so will greenhouse gases, and so will
the temperature of the planet...If we cannot manage our impact on the planet
now, how would we do so if there were many more of us? Can we defuse the Change
Bomb while human numbers explode? Can we cut our carbon production in half while
doubling the size of the human sphere?
"Think of the U.S., which has already seen
the most fantastic population explosion in human history, from 18 million in
1750 to 250 million today, an increase of 3,500 percent. The U.S. population
will reach almost 300 million in the next one hundred years. And at present
rates, of course, each citizen is shoveling about five tons of carbon into
the air...300 million people consuming resources as fast as Americans do
today would produce about 1.5 billion tons of carbon per annum. That is to
say, in one hundred years, the United States alone would be producing more
than half of the whole world's annual quota of greenhouse gas. Something has
to give; the planet cannot afford that many American consumers."
[20]
And herein lies an ironic
dialectic rub: Historically, the loudest and most
powerful voices in favor of population control have been Western oriented.
Typically under this scenario, population control promoters have cited poverty
alleviation, disease eradication, and even the safeguarding of America's economy
and national security [21] as reasons to restrict Third World population growth.
Now, however, as the above quote by Jonathan Weiner illustrates, much of the
global population debate has shifted towards lessening populations in the
advanced countries.
The reason for this turn around is that Western developed countries (also known
as the "global north") are viewed as the major consumer of natural resources.
According to the Treaty on Consumption and Lifestyle, an alternative document
penned by non-governmental organizations at the 1992 United Nations Earth
Summit, the global north shoulders the brunt of the responsibility when it comes
to the population agenda.
"While overall population growth is a danger to
the health of the planet, it must be recognized that population growth in
the North, due to extremely high levels of per capita consumption, is a far
greater immediate environmental threat than population growth in the South.
Meeting basic needs is a prerequisite for stabilizing population growth."
[22]
Certainly Western and developed nations use the largest percentage of the
world's resources, but they are also the chief extractor and refiner of natural
commodities - and subsequently a significant supplier of food sources and raw
energy the world over. [23]
But the Treaty on Consumption and Lifestyle points to something more; blaming
the global north, this NGO treaty demands that the north make reparations to the
global south through the redistribution of wealth and land, and by creating an
international environmental management regime flanked with a radically altered
global-socialist economic structure. Of course, this alternative treaty makes
the point that central to these societal changes is the revamping of humanity's
values, particularly as it relates to spirituality and nature.
[24]
Regardless of what the reason is for reducing the world's population, the
formation of a new global spirituality and the re-forging of the world's
political/economic system occupies a central place in the agenda.
[25] And we've
been witnessing this political-religious blend take shape for decades - from the
First National Environmental Teach-In to the scores of agendas and documents
from the United Nations, [26] from the reports of the Club of Rome
[27] to the
incessant call of the neo-pagan Green/Gaia movement.
[28] Sometimes, however,
while elaborating on the reasons for global control, proselytizers present ideas
that can only be described as "apocalyptic."
Obviously, the ability to manage the world's population requires the development
of an integrated world system. Whether you call it "planetary management," world
federalism, or global governance, it all points to the same end: world
government. Noting this necessary interconnection, Bertrand Russell, one of last
century's most recognized philosophers, wholeheartedly embraced mass
depopulation as an indispensable component for securing a more unified world.
"I do not pretend that birth control is the only way in which population can be
kept from increasing. There are others, which, one must suppose, opponents of
birth control would prefer. War, as I remarked a moment ago, has hitherto been
disappointing in this respect, but perhaps bacteriological war may prove more
effective. If a Black Death could be spread throughout the world once in every
generation survivors could procreate freely without making the world too full.
There would be nothing in this to offend the consciences of the devout or to
restrain the ambitions of nationalists. The state of affairs might be somewhat
unpleasant, but what of this? Really high-minded people are indifferent to
happiness, especially other people's.
"...unless there is a world government which secures universal birth control,
there must from time to time be great wars, in which the penalty of defeat is
widespread death by starvation...
"...The need for a world government, if the population problem is to be solved in
any humane manner, is completely evident on Darwinian principles."
[29]
As menacing as Russell's model appears, it resonates with a certain segment of
the population control community. In 1968, Paul Ehrlich wrote that "We must
rapidly bring the world population under control, reducing the growth rate to
zero or making it go negative." [30] His suggestions seem tame by comparison to
Russell's ideas, but "making" a population "go negative" carries with it some
stark connotations.
Garrett Hardin, a campaigner of lifeboat-styled population management, [31] had
this to say; "How can we help a foreign country to escape overpopulation?
Clearly the worst thing we can do is send food.... Atomic bombs would be
kinder..." [32]
Garrett too, admits that a global sovereign which oversees human reproduction is
the only real solution. [33] However, Garrett attests that the current practical
answer is that individual nations, each lifeboats of sorts, experiment with and
actively pursue various population management programs at the local level.
[34]
In this system of planetary trial and error, nations that succeed in controlling
their populations can be emulated by other countries.
Maybe
Bertrand Russell was right; "Really high-minded people are indifferent to
happiness, especially other people's."
And the ultimate number of people? Garrett suggests that "we might be able to
settle on a world population of up to 100 million."
[35] The Environmental
Handbook makes this suggestion,
"Situation. There are now too many human
beings, and the problem is growing rapidly worse. It is potentially
disastrous not only for the human race but for most other life forms.
Goal. The goal would be half of the present world population, or less."
[36] [italics in original]
Cutting the world's numbers in half, or dropping the optimal level to 100
million - or 500 million as in the case of the Georgia Guidestones - is not
"population control," it's genocide.
In 1998 I was a subscriber to the Progressive Population Network listserver, an
online community of environmentalists and population control advocates. One
posting, a short note written by a lady named Joan, [37] offered a glimpse into
this "exterminationist" version of population control,
"Humans had to thin a heard of deer by shooting them because the natural
mechanisms (probably wolves) for keeping the deer population in check had been
disrupted. So instead of shooting humans to 'thin' us, lets find the natural
mechanisms for keeping human populations in check. Otherwise people will just
keep breeding and we'll just have to keep shooting them. And that's just too
icky for me.
Since there is no equivalent to wolves for
humans, one idea would be to just stop providing food and medicine to people
who out-breed their habitat. Let them make the choice between starving or
limiting their procreation. People need to see more clearly the connection
between their reproductive habits and the destruction of the environment."
[38]
From the Georgia Guidestones to the roots of our
Earth Day celebrations, from the nation's classrooms to the pundits of global
religious change, it is evident that many of our society's "people shapers"
[39] wish to re-forge the world in the image
of their bloody utopian dreams.
Endnotes:
1. Al Gore, Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit (New York: Plume,
1992/93), p.317.
2. The Gaia Peace Atlas: Survival into the Third Millennium (New York:
Doubleday, 1988), p.171.
3. Barry Commoner, Making Peace with the Planet (New York: The New Press, 1992
edition), p.167.
4. A copy of Muller's A World Core Curriculum, distributed during the Global
Citizenship 2000 Youth Congress, is on file in the author's archives.
5. An audio recording of this event, including Muller's speech, is in the
author's file/audio archives. This section of his speech is also included in the
facilitator's guide, When the Earth Still Had 1000 Days, a post-event handbook
published by Creative Learning International (May, 1999).
6. For more information on this event, see Carl Teichrib's article "Global
Citizenship 2000: Educating for the New Age," Hope For The World Update, Fall
1997. Copies of this issue can be obtained by writing: Hope For The World, P.O.
Box 899, Noblesville, Indiana, 46061-0899, USA.
7. Ibid.
8. David VanderZwaag, "Law Reform for Sustainable Development: Legalizing
Empowerment," Empowerment for Sustainable Development: Toward Operational
Strategies (published for the International Institute for Sustainable
Development by Fernwood Publishing, 1995), p.70.
9. Naresh Singh and Vangile Titi, "Empowerment for Sustainable Development: An
Overview," Empowerment for Sustainable Development: Toward Operational
Strategies (Fernwood Publishing, 1995), p.27.
10. Lynn White Jr., "The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis,"
The
Environmental Handbook: Prepared for the First National Environmental Teach-In (Ballantine/Friends
of the Earth, 1970), p.24.
11. Ibid., p.26.
12. Garrett Hardin, "The Tragedy of the Commons," The Environmental Handbook,
pp.41-42.
13. Ibid., p.49.
14. Jon Breslaw, "Economics and Ecosystems," The Environmental Handbook,
pp.111-112.
15. Gary C. Smith, "Suggestions for the Schools," The Environmental Handbook,
pp.295-296.
16. Keith Murray, "Suggestions Toward an Ecological Platform," The Environmental Handbook, pp.317-318.
17. Ibid., p.324.
18. Ibid., p.331.
19. See Shin Sakurai's article "Food Security & Population," Population 2005,
Vol.2, No.1, March 2000.
20. Jonathan Weiner, The Next One Hundred Years: Shaping the Fate of Our Living
Earth (New York: Bantam, 1990), pp.221-222.
21. See Why Population Matters, by Population Action International, 1996. See
also, US National Security Study Memorandum 200, published in April, 1974.
22. Treaty on Consumption and Lifestyle, NGO Alternative Treaties from the 1992
UN Earth Summit, paragraph 8 under the "Principles" section.
23. Further to the argument of western resource usage in light of population
control issues: Critics of the "global north" often cite that western nations
strip the "global south" of their natural resources. And yes, some horrid things
have been done by Western nations in the quest for Third World resources. But
while it's true that western companies are involved in resource extraction in
diverse corners of the world - which is not necessarily wrong in itself, as some
critics automatically assume - a massive percentage of the world's resources are
extracted from first world countries. My home country, Canada, is arguably one
of the world's most important commodity "battery bank" nations, providing
essential raw energy and resources to a host of first and third world countries.
In fact, the United States, which is viewed as the largest user of the globe's
resources, relies on and is dependent upon a first world country - Canada - for
the majority of its imported energy needs.
24. Treaty on Consumption and Lifestyle, NGO Alternative Treaties from the 1992
UN Earth Summit, paragraph 1 under the "Principles" section.
25. In many respects, The Earth Charter is the latest and most fulfilled
embodiment of this spiritual, political, social, and economic macro-agenda.
26. See Agenda 21, Programme of Action of the United Nations International
Conference on Population and Development, Global Biodiversity Assessment (UNEP),
Cultural and Spiritual Values of Biodiversity (UNEP), Caring for the Earth: A
Strategy for Sustainable Living (UNEP, IUCN, WWF), and Ethics and Agenda 21:
Moral Implications of a Global Consensus (UNEP).
27. See Goals in a Global Community: The Original Background Papers for Goals
for Mankind, Volumes 1-2, RIO: Reshaping the International Order, The Limits to
Growth, Mankind at the Turning Point, etc.
28. See James Lovelock, Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth; Lawrence E. Joseph,
Gaia: The Growth of an Idea; Edward Goldsmith, The Way: An Ecological
World-View; Robert Muller, New Genesis, etc.
29. Bertrand Russell, The Impact of Science on Society (Simon and Schuster,
1953), pp.103-105.
30. Paul Ehrlich, The Population Bomb (Sierra Club-Ballantine, 1968), p.131.
31. Lifeboat population management essentially states that poor nations should
be cut off from food aid.
32. Garrett Hardin, "The Immorality of Being Soft-hearted," Stanford Alumni
Almanac, January, 1969. As quoted in Barry Commoner's book, Making Peace with
the Planet (New York: The New Press, 1992 edition), p.167.
33. Garrett Hardin, "Living on a Lifeboat," article originally printed in the
October, 1974 issue of BioScience. The article can also be read on the Garrett
Hardin Society website:
www.garretthardinsociety.org
34. Garrett Hardin, "There is no Global Population Problem," The Social
Contract, Fall 2001. This article can also be found at the Garrett Hardin
Society website.
35. An interview between Frank Meile and Garrett Hardin in Skeptic, Vol. 4., No.
2, 1996, pp.42-46. This interview can also be found at Stalking the Wild Taboo,
located at
www.lrainc.com/swtaboo/stalkers/fm_hardn.html
36. The Environmental Handbook, p.323.
37. I have intentionally left off Joan's last name and contact information.
38. Copy of email listserver message on file. Progressive Population Network
listserver, November 29, 1998 posting.
39. An older but still very relevant work on mass societal manipulation -
"people shaping" - is Vance Packard's book, The People Shapers (Little, Brown
and Company, 1977)
Carl Teichrib is a highly respected freelance researcher
and a wise and authoritative writer on issues pertaining to globalization.
Please visit his website at
www.forcingchange.org
His earlier articles include:
Bloody Utopian Dreams, Part I: Hammer and Sickle
Part 2: The Enigma of the
Third Reich
|
Flattery and the Big Lie | Global Citizenship 2000
Lucifer Rising - 1,
2,
3
|
The Millennium Messiah and World Change
Esoteric Christianity |
Re-Creating Eden |
A Short Guide to Occult
Symbols
Re-zoning the World: The Merging of the Americas in a New Global Order
A New
World Agenda - Canada's Role In Sustainable Development
