Population links

Thu, 2008-05-15 08:40 by admin


by Ross Gittins, SMH, 7 May 2008

"If Australia continues to grow at 4 per cent per annum for the next 20 years, my kids are going to be nominallytwice as wealthy as they are now, but I know they are not going to be twice as happy," the pollie said. "One of the questions that is not put in the political process by either side of politics, let alone answered, is: Towards what are we striving to grow?"

The politician was Brendan Nelson. But he said it as a backbencher; he wouldn't say it today. He raised a good question, nonetheless: where is all this growth supposed to be taking us?

From : “NECSP is a not-for-profit NGO, engaging the citizens of New England and their leaders regarding the importance of a sustainable level of human population on the planet.”

‘New England’ is the name for the grouping of the US Eastern seaboard states of , ,
, , and

New York Times, 20 April 2008

This article drew the following response from Edmund Davey of Britain's Optimum Population Trust:

The Pope displays all the consummate double-speak of the Devil he would claim to oppose. Whilst drivelling about the rights of the immigrants, he carefully ignores -- or is blind to -- the fact that many of the poor immigrant families who flock to the States are poor because they are members of oppressed congregations who trust the words of this hypocrite for their salvation -- his words, and, of course, his opposition to contraception, filtered through his minions in such as the Philippines.

He has not been able to bully Western RC's in the same way, so he turns on the poor & ignorant. This is theocratic thuggery of ancient vintage. If his view of the Universe contains a Hell -- as it may, since, if has created it for himself he'll have to exist in it -- then he'll find a welcoming party in the person of his predecessor. I hope they get along well together.

Comments

Anonymous (not verified)

Sun, 2010-02-28 14:41

Subject was: Edmund Davey's comment. - JS I am going to keep it brief: Congratulations, Edmund Davey! All you say about the Pope (aka 'Holy Father') is spot-on. Remember seeing a program about the slums of Mexico City where a woman who had had 12 kids had an IUD implanted only to be told by her priest that this was a sin. She then had the 13th child, but had another implant and did not tell her priest. Unfortunately our current leader of the (Australian) opposition is a fundamentalist Catholic - dark times ahead. All best to you, Helga from down under Editorial comment: We appreciate brevity, but there is no need to be brief for its own sake. Please feel welcome to make your comments as short or as long as you wish. (But of course, within reason. We would probably consider more than 10,000 words excessive. However, if you feel the need to post that many words, then post them all the same and we will try to work out how to handle it.) - JS