‘Radical’ thoughts.
Today during lunchhour, as my colleague Gary and I sat on the front lawn of the Management Building on the Taida University campus downtown, I prodded him for ‘anything interesting’ that he’d heard lately. He brought forth a topic that apparently is making its rounds on American talk shows – as per the suggestion of a University of Texas professor Dr. Eric Pianka, that ‘the world would be better off with 90% of its population dead’, or something of that nature.
That idea shouldn’t come as any surprise, given the widely-acknowledged scarcity of natural resources at this time. I’m certainly not against the idea that the Earth will eventually prove that enough is enough, and balance out our population in its own way. But if this ‘doomsday’ scenario were to happen tomorrow, I wondered to myself – who would go and who would stay?
I asked Gary this very question to which he replied, “I would want to be one of the ones who stayed.”
I would venture to say that if we polled the billions of people on Earth, we might find relatively opposite numbers of what is required for sustenance, therefore: 90% would insist on staying and 10% would sacrifice themselves.
I pondered that question myself and found that, surprisingly, I would be willing to go.
It’s not because it’s a game of numbers, and I might as well be 6 feet under if 90% of the people I know are dead. But I feel that, all things considered, I’ve had a good go at life (briefly): I’ve had a great childhood, I’ve known failure and success, love from hate, the rich and the poor, the honest and the false – truly, I’ve had the good fortune to ‘experience’ on many levels. I’ve known happiness and its flavour. I’ve known the passion and grittiness of life. On top of it all, I’ve been privy to more ‘opportunity’ than (I would guess) 90% of people on this earth. How can I not acknowledge that I’ve had ‘enough’?
With luck, time would bring wisdom that I haven’t met yet – but in place of this wisdom, I would rather see a minority of our population have a healthy ‘go’ at life. Even if they aren’t ‘my’ children, I feel obligated to make a safe place for the wee generations of the world. And for those who have yet to be born.
And so wedged in between my playful and light chronicles is a bit of a left hitter – and a reaffirmation to myself to enjoy and appreciate this limited time.
Insignificantly, Laura.
Tags: Taiwan Living
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