Zubrin is a genius and visionary.
The man should be in charge of NASA.
Great review of what looks like an excellent book. With all the nonsense coming from Rio and the radical left, people need to understand the roots, and the end game for Agenda 21 and all of the UN’s wacky ideas for the earth.
Thanks for posting the link.
Scientists not driven to false conclusions by ideology and bigotry of some sort have long separated form the eugenics / population control in their thinking about human evolution and evolution in general. Long gone is an idea that evolution must lead to the survival of the fittest to be replaced by survival in the current environment combined with genetic drift. Further, there is much thought about what exactly separates us from other creatures. Paleontologist Ian Tattersall clearly acknowledges the large cognitive gap between people and all other species. This leads inevitably to valuing the individual.
Empathy is found in other species with high intelligence for other individuals of that species and in some domesticated animals for humans they are closely associated and dependent upon. Nothing begins to approach the wide range of empathy the individual is capable of. Empathy is essential for any “community” beyond say ants. Certainly one where membership is partly voluntary. However, only people can have the empathy of a Jain who agonizes over the pain an insect feels (an extreme only humans are capable of).
This is one of many reasons eugenics and radical environmentalism is eventually unworkable outside of cults. We can begin to eliminate an “enemy” but eventually the effort will “run out of steam” as we observe the pain we cause. Even Tamerlane eventually took pity on his enemies.
bflr
In (partial) defense of Malthus, at the time he wrote he was more or less accurate.
1798 was right at the start of the Industrial Revolution and right in the middle of a huge UK population explosion. It is not reasonable to expect him to have been able to foresee how industrial and agricultural technology would change things.
IOW, projecting the situation when he wrote into the future, he was more or less right.
If you study Chinese history, you see a series of Malthusian events, with population pressures at the root of disruptions that eventually bring down a dynasty, the resultant chaos resulting in 50% to 75% drop in population.
New dynasty eventually emerges, brings stability, population growth resumes. Rinse and repeat.
IOW, most of the criticism of Malthus is based on 20/20 hindsight.
Just downloaded it into my Kindle.
This sounds like a beautiful and timely book.
I wouldn’t, however, be so quick to include genetically modified foods and vaccinations into the benefits column when discussing antihumanists and the Club of Rome - these technologies have been badly abused by those globalists most determined to “reduce” the population by any means. And their ferocious battle against effective oversight of these technologies proves it, not to mention that they are obvious potential carriers of just as much ill, as the good they could provide.
In any event, it’s incredibly refreshing to see a scientist take the position that consciousness was not somehow generated from matter through mere “complexity.” Watching this denial of the Second Law take root among neurobiologists has been most depressing.
Very interesting read. Thanks for posting.
turning the culture of death into a science. the ultimate vanity.
Obama’s Catch-22 Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Fast and Furious front and center - Victim becoming a footnote Boston Herald
Fast and Furious and OCDETF [in depth account of DOJ procedures]
Washington-based Justice Department officials had earlier [in 2010] discussed bringing Attorney General Eric Holder to Phoenix for a triumphant press conference with Arizona U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke to herald the conclusion of the Department’s flagship firearms trafficking case. In the aftermath of Agent Terry’s death, the task of announcing indictments at a press conference fell to ATF Phoenix Division Special Agent in Charge William Newell and Burke. Holder did not attend.
The last link should open on my comment with a link to the printer friendly version. It was a newbie's very first post. The story was just linked.
Some noteworthy articles about politics, foreign or military affairs, IMHO, FReepmail me if you want on or off my list.
Thanks for posting!