Although Malthus was wrong, he was dead right

Earth’s population is the elephant in the room.

Thomas Malthus (right) first alerted the earth to population difficulties when he wrote about the issue in the late 1800s.

Many of his predictions were well-wide of the mark and so his credibility collapsed, however the elephant is still there and getting bigger.

Malthus’s predictions, as time illustrated, came out of a vacuum of understanding about man’s innovative nature or his growing grasp of technology because, in fact, most of the technology that transformed life on earth had not been thought of, let alone invented.
Human numbers on earth are growing exponentially with nearly seven billion jammed on board and the best estimates put that number at about nine billion by 2050.
Sixty years ago, 1950, earth’s population was about 2.5 billion and although the bus was then a little overloaded, it seemed the planet’s resources were coping.
However, the numbers have since crept inexorably upward as we have become better at preserving life, despite our seemingly blind insistence throughout the 20th century at slaughtering millions of our fellows.
We have become technologically smarter and although we can see things whose existence is small in the extreme and beyond the understanding of most, we can’t see, or don’t want to talk about, the elephant in the room, earth’s population.
Those around the world with sufficient influence to alter attitudes on population, simply don’t, or won’t, go there as it means promoting or espousing ideas that question a fundamental of humanity, procreation.
Various plagues have decimated humans on an off for centuries, but the worst plague – that’s you and me and our fellows – goes on largely unnoticed and additions, certainly in the developed world, are greeted with celebration.
Opportune times to grasp a kindly solution seem to have passed with nature poised to illustrate that our place here hinges on collaboration, friendliness and the abandonment of perverse human traits that has seen the human landscape forever troubled by competition and confrontation.
Humans, like all other life forms, have an insatiable need to maintain and extend their gene pool, but forces most don’t understand will soon halt that and decimate humanity

Weekend-long discussions about the stewardship of our earth

Nearly 20 people spent the weekend in Tatura considering stewardship of the earth.

But, there was more to the two-day of discussions than that.The weekend-long session had been organized by Tatura Transitions – a small group of like-minded enthusiasts’ conscious of the difficulties humanity faces as climate change and oil scarcity really begin to impact on our lives.

Recognising and acknowledging those changes are seen by many as apocalyptic, the group is eager to see the people of Tatura, and others in the Goulburn Valley, embrace the idea of transition as it would enable them to change their ways of living and so exist comfortably and profitably in a low-energy future.
Transition is not about casting away all that is good about life and living a subsistence lifestyle, rather it is about living in a sustainable way, the builds community making our towns and cities more sociable; escaping from the present industrial way of life that has an emphasis on growth, profit and confrontation that disregards the wellbeing of people with a preference for machines; improving our food security; sharing with our fellows and broadly helping people understand the role nature plays in underpinning their lives.
The emerging difficulties brought down upon the world by the activities of our booming population are complex in the extreme and as knowing how to respond to them is equally complex; the Tatura group asked two transition trainers to share their understanding of how the shift can be made.
Jane Phillips and Jacinta Walsh, both from Castlemaine, and each with some 18 months experience of helping similar groups in three states, first helped the group understand the realities of climate change and peak oil and then spent the rest of Saturday and Sunday explaining and consolidating the transition idea and within that the rich benefits to community.
Dentist, Ross Musolino, is the “face” of Tatura Transition, but his commitment to the idea of seeing his town living successfully in a low-energy future has seen others quickly identify with his views and enthusiasm and so after two days of intense training, the group was bubbling with excitement.
The transition concept works in communities all around the world and sometime soon it will be unleashed in Tatura.

Personal lifestyle suggests denial of looming difficulties

Human induced changes to our climate, oil depletion, famines arising from both issues, and waste, along with the increasing difficulties of a booming population illustrate the certain difficulties ahead.

However, like so many others in the developed world, my lifestyle suggests denial.
Many are either in denial or ignorant and some simply don’t care as they live for the moment, which I can’t criticise except to say that we must understand that while present activities might be pleasant, they can create difficulties for those who follow.
Having listened to many world authorities on climate science, oil scarcity, famine, various professors, and read many books written by them and their peers, any questions or doubts I had about the coming difficulties have been erased.
However, understanding what was being said and written, I continue to live as if in denial, but it’s not that as like many others I’m caught-up, or psychologically trapped, in a way of life that has evolved over the past 200 years and has been built around easily accessible fossil energy.This is a pleasant, rewarding and satisfying life, but those of us in the developed world are living in a style the world cannot support and our burgeoning numbers suggest we need to be thinking carefully about our fertility.
Being conscious of and sympathetic to emerging dilemmas is not enough to help our world as it limps toward catastrophe, but like many in the developed world my addiction to the bounty of the fossil fuel-rich world is going to be difficult to break.
Shepparton climate change campaigner, John Pettigrew, has said many are conscious of global warming, but most are unsure of what to do and that confusion breeds inaction.
But, there is more – most of us unable to absorb the complexity of what is needed and so can’t understand where to even begin making the necessary lifestyle changes.
We need to be empowered – our leaders can do that or we can do that and a start can be made by listening to and watching the work of the Tatura Transition Town – more details about Tatura TT from Ross Musolino at sandalino@iinet.net.au.