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The captive self : Comments
By John Töns, published 7/4/2010Humans are just as much captives as animals in a zoo. Should our systems fail us then we are headed for an uncertain future.
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Posted by Manorina, Wednesday, 7 April 2010 8:30:12 AM
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How short sighted we all are. I have been saying for the last 40 years that over population is directly or indirectly responsible for 90 percent of the problems that we suffer today.
Religions compete for adherents and are certainly becoming more intolerant of the faith and attitudes others hold. Our overcrowding creates excessive pollution and shortages. Everything is becoming scarce yet we want more and more at the expense of land, water, air and other resources. Why can people not see that continued expansion is unsustainable. If there was ever conclusive proof of this, just watch the series of video clips on Youtube by Dr Albert Bartlett Posted by snake, Wednesday, 7 April 2010 11:01:43 AM
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Zoo? Carbon neutral kennels? No co-operation in capitalism?
The more think about it, the more I agree with George Meglogenis' article in The Oz last year that the Internet gives people carte blanche to post whacko articles like this. Soon old Manorina will start rabbiting on about cutting the baby bonus, cutting paid paternity leave, kicking out international students, stopping immigration and create sterlisation camps for women. He could well be the new face of the Liberal Party. I half wonder if some of the 'burn down the zoo' posters here are not taking the pee or maybe they've just gone off medication. I mean this article is perfect fodder for irony and send up. I wonder if they've suddenly found a sense of humour to taunt the humanists - they're using IRONY. Posted by Cheryl, Wednesday, 7 April 2010 12:04:49 PM
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Cheryl if your position is that the people who question our pursuit of growth are seriously misguided then may be this paper from the CSIRO will give you reason to stop and think.
http://www.csiro.au/files/files/plje.pdf The link is to CSIRO's critique of the club of Rome's 1972 findings which argued that the growth paradigm was flawed. They made some predictions and the CSIRO has tested those predictions. Thus far it would seem that their predictions have been uncannily accurate. On that basis we are heading for a global collapse at around 2050; unless of course we make some tough policy decisions. Posted by BAYGON, Wednesday, 7 April 2010 1:44:09 PM
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I endorse Cheryl's comments. The Zoo analogy does not stand up to a moment's scrutiny. After all, the zoo animals do not commute to work every day, take holidays or go and work in an overseas zoo for a time if they can satisfy the foreign zoo's visa requirements. They do not arrange a loan from a bank to buy a better pen, and they don't write batty articles suggesting that they are just zoo animals.
As for the business about space, the problem has never been room to live. The author seems to be under the impression that we live in a old-fashioned Boer republic where each family required two farms (one for summer, one for winter) to live. These sorts of ravings should just be ignored.. Posted by Curmudgeon, Wednesday, 7 April 2010 1:59:53 PM
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Baygon, I mean no disrespect and I like the CSIRO. More power to them. You see mate, the politics behind this silly zoo story and a few others from the anti-pops is the rebirth of an old kind of tyranny.
It's the tyranny of measuring things. How much energy do you use? How much space do you use? How much food do you consume? How far do you drive everyday? How many newspapers do you buy? Can you see that there are some fundamental principles that are very wrong behind this fanatical desire to measure things for the sake of the planet - which has far from being determined? How about - how much is a life worth? Is a small Indian man who uses less water and petrol in New Delhi worth the same as a manin Sydney who drives a Prius? Buggered if I know. It's a meaningless question. But in the act of measuring some people find meaning. When the anti-pops say 'us' they mean you and me. Remember that. Posted by Cheryl, Wednesday, 7 April 2010 2:37:50 PM
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I suspect the zoo is in for a reorganization.Thomas Malthus had a few words to say about that some time ago.
A new and better paradigm may emerge from the reorg. - but,then again,maybe not.