So the human population is growing exponentially and the earth's natural resources are being depleted; what's the big deal? Human ingenuity will come up with some way to save the planet. Kinda like people were smart enough to save us from the bubonic plague...or the Great Depression...or global warming. Wait, looks like we're all gunna die. So I guess we could blame all of our problems on Margaret Thatcher, or we could try to find ways to protect the planet. Although I choose the former, here are some personal observations for those who prefer the latter.
Traveling through China this summer, I noticed great discrepancies in wealth, education, resource consumption, living standards, etc. The poor have almost nothing while the rich live extremely lavishly. Many of the poor beg or sell trinkets/harass tourists to try to make a living. Women have such limited freedom compared to men that they are left without the tools they need to improve the lives of themselves and their children. Pollution is a terrible problem, especially since so many people live on the streets. (We saw several families sleeping on the rooftops of buildings that were scheduled to be demolished.) Most Chinese people don't even have access to public restrooms, or at least anything that we would believe would resemble a restroom. Instead, they just have holes in the ground that serve as bathroom facilities. The water is green, the press is censored, and people cannot own property (they have to lease it from the government for 99 years - and its expensive!).
Those are just a few comments from my experience, but it looks like we're going to need a lot more family planning, education, and campaigns to raise public awareness of the problem in order to avoid catastrophe.
Who knows, maybe Poseidon can save us...just a thought.
With all my love and affection,
James Creech
P.S. Global spending on education: $6 billion.
Global spending on reproductive health for all women: $12 billion.
The look on Dr. Singh's face when he found out he had Student X in class again this year: Priceless.
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2 comments:
I know you are very observant James and it shows. Had you visited India the problems that you mentioned would be 100 folds higher. China is still a bigger economic power than many other countries. Still that is the general patterns in most of the developing countries! Thanks!!
Nice article Mr. Creech I couldn't of said it better myself.
-Adam Nielsen
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