Go Forth and Subtract

Bob Barker, the longtime host of TV’s game show “The Price Is Right”, always used to end the show by saying, “And don’t forget to spay and neuter your pets.” The intention of this sage advice was to control the exploding population of cats and dogs, most of whom were being euthanized because there weren’t enough homes for all of them. But what about the exploding population of humans on Earth, many of whom are dying of starvation and disease because there are just more of them than the planet can support? Maybe it’s time for humans to spay and neuter themselves in order to decrease the surplus population.

Something needs to be done. In 2011, the human population of the Earth is 7 Billion, and 2.2 Billion of those are children. At the current rate of rise, there will be 8 billion people by 2025, and by 2030 humans will be consuming two planet’s worth of natural resources annually. People seem oblivious to the situation and continue to spit out children like a bunch of gumball machines on steroids. The people who have the most children are the ones who can least afford them, which makes no sense. Governments and religious organizations wrongly tend to promote childbearing as if it is a good thing. Just because one is biologically equipped to have children doesn’t mean that they are emotionally or financially equipped to do so. You’re required to pass a test and obtain a license in order to drive a car, but anyone can be a parent regardless of whether you should be or not. And there’s no limit to how many children people can have (except in China). There is the old adage that “Children are our future”, and that is true, but too many children are molding a future which is unsustainable and will lead to the fall of civilization.

God told Noah to go forth and multiply, but He forgot to tell him when to stop multiplying and begin subtracting. Humans continue to multiply exponentially with total disregard for the huge responsibility and the 18+ year committment involved. It now costs an average middle-income American family $222,360 to raise a child from birth to age 18. That’s 22 percent higher than it was in 1960 (adjusted for inflation), and that doesn’t begin to include college costs which can be as high as $40,000 per year. No one thinks about the fact that there are more adults already than there are jobs for them, so that expensive college degree is no guarantee of employment. As the population continues to increase, food and clean water are becoming scarcer and more expensive.

I have never understood humans’ insatiable desire to procreate beyond all logical limitations. I understand the biological imperative to replenish the species but in the animal kingdom, when food, water and shelter become scarce, procreation diminishes accordingly. This is not true with humans who don’t seem to understand that there is a limit to the sustainability of their species. We have reached, or even surpassed, that limit. We are living in the end times. Human society is breaking down. The golden age of civilization has passed. Mother Nature is pissed and she’s trying to restore balance to the Earth by eliminating the human virus that is bent on destroying it. The last thing this world needs is more humans, and why anyone would consider bringing a child into this world at a time of such obvious doom and gloom is beyond me. So, when you consider bringing a new life into this world, you must ask yourself, “What kind of life can my child expect to have?” If your answer is the correct one, you will hopefully reconsider. Do us all a favor and have yourself spayed or neutered.