A fable for our time.

The Great Race

One of the most discussed topics among my readers is the future of the human species under the pressure of uncontrolled population growth. The ratio of the amount of food available per capita is decreasing annually despite vast advances in food production during recent decades. Population growth has outrun these advances, and the distribution of the food supply makes it more available in developed countries where population is not growing as rapidly. The amount of the earth's surface which is suitable for cultivation is finite, and is being steadily reduced by human habitation, diversion to non-agricultural uses, damage and destruction. These trends stimulated some interesting speculation among some of my scientist friends and I about what would be the limits of food production if all paved land was to be reclaimed for agriculture, the deserts were to be restored to green, and organic farming would gradually reduce the salinity and pollution in our seas and water resources. Would the food per capita keep up with the population? Mathematically the answer is no. Once maximum production is reached, the food per capita will begin to decline. Unless we, the "intelligent" masters of the earth impose population controls, starvation, disasters or plagues may do so for us. The present population of our planet is estimated to be 6 to 7 billion and to double within the next two decades. We agreed that the number that would allow survivability under acceptable living conditions does not exceed the present. The implications of that are immense. We should be thinking, and doing something about it now.

Balance of Power-part two.

Until 9/11 national power was expressed through the muzzles of guns. With the obscenely expensive interventions into the mid-East all that changed. Power for the last decade has resided in economies. The world leaders today are characterized by rapid economic growth--with highly trained and educated hordes of manpower, willing to work under disciplined conditions, for modest wages. They have scant interest in workers rights. They have new and advanced production facilities, access to the raw materials of the less developed world, and tight control of their currencies. In addition they are willing to extend credit on easy terms, even to financially
stressed countries such as ours.
By transferring our industrial base to the Asian giants, we traded conomic power for
miltary dominance, and set our feet firmly on the road to second class national
status. Now that military power of the traditional variety no longer works in the asymmetric warfare common today, we find we have made a fool's bargain and must work
our way back to fiscal health. Slashing sll government programs across the board won't do it. It requires sensible growth policies designed and administered by
experienced economists, not rabble rousing politicians. The sooner we get at it the better our chances for success.