EARTH'S SHORT FUTURE (again)

It has been roughly five years since I last posted my essay, Earth's Short Future (orignially authored in 1999). Back then, in the heady days of 2006, I was hopeful that the act of combining my persuasive  argument with the reach of the internet would spawn a revolution. It has not, but before I give up on the dream altogether I thought I would give it one more try. So I will be posting it in installments. Every Monday I will take on my critics and address the various arguments which have been raised against my proposal. This monday, today rather, I will post the opening salvo- the first few paragraphs of the essay wherein I lay out my plan to dwarf future generations (thus the "short" in Earth's Short Future. It's clever, right?) in a bid to postpone concerns of an overpopulation crisis.

EARTH'S SHORT FUTURE
by Josh Tate

It is believed that from the day that Noah stepped off the ark, until the birth of Christ, the earth’s population had risen to 300 million. In the eighteen centuries directly following the time of Christ the population continued to gradually rise until 1804, when the world’s population, for the first time, topped one billion. Since that time improvements in medical technology, coupled with a higher standard of living and more sanitary lifestyles, have brought about a great surge in population growth. By 1927 the world’s population had grown to two billion, and today the world’s population has exceeded six billion. It took a mere twelve years to make the jump from five to six billion, and today 78 million people are added to the world’s population annually. That is like adding a new France, Sweden and Greece every year, or a Philadelphia every week. Of all the people that have ever walked the face of the earth, one-tenth of them are alive today. The lusty inhabitants of our fair planet show no sign of letting up either. Some scientists optimistically estimate that the world’s population will stabilize just shy of ten billion sometime around the year 2080. Still others pessimistically hint that even with decreased fertility rates it may be too late by then. So what are we to do?


It is the purpose of this essay to propose a possible solution to what many perceive as an imminent overpopulation crisis. I will outline a clear and precise plan of action, which, if followed, will postpone any worries of overpopulation for generations to come. I propose nothing less than that we dwarf an entire generation and continue to dwarf successive generations through manipulation of the human growth hormone.

Dwarfing mankind to half its present size would have many benefits. In effect, by cutting the size of the average homo-sapiens in half, we would make the world twice as large. According to the Little People of America (LPA) the average amount of food consumed by proportionate dwarfs is far less than that consumed by average sized individuals. This means that food consumption would be reduced dramatically. Likewise, everything from clothing to soda cans would also be reduced in size. All items reduced in size would require fewer materials to be used in their construction and thus, would be more efficient. Cars are a prime example of this truth. Not only would smaller cars require fewer materials in their construction, but they would also be more fuel-efficient. Two-lane highways could expand to four, and traffic congestion would be virtually eliminated. It is surprising how many problems concerning the scarcity of resources are directly linked to the size of man and the instruments we use.

Despite the many benefits of dwarfing, of which I have only named a few, there are no shortage of critics for this plan of action. However, for the most part, their criticisms are either trivial in comparison to the crisis at hand, or faulty in their reasoning. I will now address some of the criticisms which have been put forth regarding the effects and implementation of planned dwarfism.

to be continued...