Re: CP 929
john e. cavanaugh (jcavanau@indyunix.iupui.edu)
Sat, 14 Dec 1996 17:04:07 -0500 (EST)
>... Now, how do we deal the problem of someone wanting to build on such a
>>site? Or a lot of people?
> The population keeps growing, and growing. We *need* more
>and more space just to live ourselves. I want to hear some
>reasonable ways to deal with this problem, and it is a problem.
>Some people say it isn't because as the population grows, we'll
>have more geniuses to deal with such problems. ("Duh!" Is my responce
>to that line of thinking. Or is it a lack of thinking?)
>
>Dave Evans
>
One of the problems with the environmentalist movement is that we tend to
think of population numbers and emotionally equate them with a problem to
be solved. Looking at many of the world's most densely populated areas,
one would be hard-put to define the conditions as detrimental -
particularly in older areas of Asia. The population densities which can be
reached without detriment to the habitat are astounding - the problem is
not quantity, but quality. Slow or planned growth can result in areas with
preserved, diverse healthy biotomes, so long as care is given to sewage,
open areas/greenways etc. On the other hand, I have seen sparsely
populated regions turned into toxic dumps - again, not due to population
densities but to disrespect for land. I think the adage "Nobody washed a
rented car" describes the phenomenon best. The worse pollution occurs on
public land. The former Eastern bloc is the best example of this. To
preserve land, all one has to do is respect it, and treat it as if it were
a valuable commodity. To preserve wilderness, we must make it at least as
valuable as developed land to the owners. A shortcut for those of us with a
more focused agenda would be either to buy land outright, lease it, or
another exciting new development in environmental policy is that of "land
swapping" - buy farmland which would make a lovely shopping mall, and swap
the owners of a CP habitat. Both sides get what they want, nobody had to
crack any skulls, and so the solution is both practical and moral.
Remember, it is irrational to believe that anything is worth anything other
than what other people are willing to exchange for it.