Tuesday, December 28, 2004

A Tsunami Can't Kill You If You Were Aborted Or Never Conceived

A friend sent me a link to this foolish editorial.

excerpt:
The second lesson is that out-of-control population growth in developing nations is forcing swarms of people to live in flimsy homes in river deltas, tidal flats and other low sectors where they are vulnerable to such events, including monsoon floods. Curbing the population explosion could reduce the number at risk, or at least prevent it from doubling.
Yep. There's no reason whatsoever to live in a village near the ocean or a river. Except for overcrowding.

If there's the slightest risk that you'll be killed in a freak disaster, well, better not to be born at all. It's odd, but I never have seen an anti-population-growth advocate volunteer to start easing the problem by removing himself. P.J. O'Rourke once wrote a book chapter on the "population bomb" worriers. He titled it "Way Too Many of You, Just Enough of Me".

The author of the editorial does not even consider that among the victims were many vacationers from all around the world. If we didn't have leisure time, surplus wealth, and airliner travel, those deaths could have been prevented. So maybe these things should be done away with. For safety's sake. For the children.

No comments: