[at-l] An Inconvenient Truth / a complete list/not!/So!!

[Carol Donaldson]

I disagree.  I think the earth has the resources for many millions more.  It's just that people who won't eat 'sacred cows' need to reconsider their options.  And people who have more money than they can spend in a lifetime need to be encouraged to reconsider what they do with the money they know they can't spend in their lifetimes.

People seem to feel that if they have more or bigger or better or newer or more costly or in a different neighborhood/city/state/country that they'll be happier.  It isn't necessarily so.

How can I be happy when I know that a relative (of the human race) living in the Sudan is starving to death?  So I make a donation to a relief agency.

That means I don't get to purchase soft-drinks or beer this month.  That's not much of a sacrifice.  But, every little bit helps.  If I can give more to more relief agencies, then I do.  I don't need to eat out every day at lunch.  I don't need to by a newer car or move to a more "upscale" trendy neighborhood.  I can take that money and help another human being get a second chance to live.

I see the problem as conspicuous consumption rather than as population growth.

A person can be happier with less money when they choose to live on less money so that they can donate money to help others.  And a person can have a house full of children and teach them to live simply and joyfully, too.

Coosa

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Shane Steinkamp 
  All we really need is to die-off a few billion of us, and the planet will
  recover nicely.
  There isn't anything on the planet that isn't the planet.
  Most people seem to miss that for some reason.
  Shane