From: Brian D Williams (talon57@well.com)
Date: Thu Apr 26 2001 - 08:18:47 MDT
>From: "John Marlow" <johnmarlow@gmx.net>
>Ooohboy. Africa. In a nutshell, here's the problem: It's always
>been a mess, it continues to be a mess, and it probably always
>will be a mess. Yes it seems like the humanitarian thing to do, to
>bring food to the starving masses--and I do not argue against
>this. Who could? But here is what happens--this causes the
>population to grow rapidly, producing a far larger crisis which
>must be solved with far more food, and so on ad infinitum.
>Eventually, by saving the first bunch you have rather directly
>caused the eventual and seemingly inevitable death-by-starvation
>of a far, far larger number of people.
You've identified a primary problem, simply increasing the food
supply and the population could explode, obviously it must be dealt
with on more than one level simultaneously.
>You hand them the tech to provide for themselves, they won't.
>They're too busy being oppressed by their own or other
>governments and slaughtered by warlords or neighbors.
Remember the lessons we've learned, handouts don't work, teach them
to fish, just don't give them the fish....
>The majority of the continent is a total write-off. Eventually
>they'll eat the wildlife or destroy its food/water sources.
>Kenya has it halfway together half of the time. A few of the
>northern nations. The rest? Pfff.
Part of why I am an extropian is to accelerate my own progress, but
I have a considerable amount of Buddhist ethic in me as well, and
this requires that I do what I can, when I can, to save as many of
the rest of sentient beings as I can.
>We think we have problems? We have inconveniences. Just to be born
>here (US) with all your marbles to decent parents is 99.999999% of
>everything you could want, when you think about it.
>Don't believe it?
>Tour Eritrea.
I'm somewhat familiar with Eritrea's problems, and as I said I
consider it part of being an Extropian that we address these
problems.
How many Eritreans are Extropians and don't know it yet?
Brian
Member:
Extropy Institute, www.extropy.org
Adler Planetarium www.adlerplanetarium.org
Life Extension Foundation, www.lef.org
National Rifle Association, www.nra.org, 1.800.672.3888
Ameritech Data Center Chicago, IL, Local 134 I.B.E.W
Current reading: The Earth Manual by Malcolm Margolin
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