Merchants of Despair

[the iron horse]

Have you heard of this book or read it?


Amazon.com: Merchants of Despair: Radical Environmentalists, Criminal Pseudo-Scientists, and the Fatal Cult of Antihumanism (New Atlantis Books) (9781594034763): Robert Zubrin: Books

[Pearl]

I've neither heard or read this book.

But I see nothing wrong with humans wanting to lower birth rates for the sake of the planet. There is not enough resources to take care of, say, 9 or 12 billion people. So I believe there is nothing wrong with educating people to have fewer children. And besides, there is no need for five or six kids. People are living longer and healthier; there is no need to double a population that is going to be around for a long time.

[ladyfreckles]

I have not read it though now I want to.

Pearl, many people are not having kids. The reproduction rate in first world countries is very low. The fastest growing countries are third world countries where it is still common for families to have 7+ children. It's those countries that are contributing to an increasing population, not first world countries.

[Danny Boy]

There have been groups in the US encouraging couples to have one child (or fewer) since the 60s, but yeah, it's third world countries where the population is really exploding. We will eventually outstrip the planet's food supply at the rate we are going.

[Canadiens1131]

"Anti-humanism" referring to an overwhelming majority of scientific researchers supporting climate change findings produced using the scientific method.

Because caring about the fucking thing WE LIVE ON is "anti-humanist". Oh, for fuck's sake, people, is this how ridiculous conservatives really are on the environment?

Now we just need INDY to chirp in about how radical environmentalists are roving the woodlands ready to strike at Everyday Christian Americans who dislike tax increases. (after departing from their liberal indoctrination factory university, of course)

Or someone post that stupid UK commercial of people exploding made by some yoo-hoos and bemoan how our way of wonderful capitalist excess is under attack and that we all my be threatened by radical anti-humanist hoards wearing nothing but hemp underclothes.

Think of climate change research as preventative home maintenance. Is that down to earth enough for you Everyday Christian White Folks Under Siege?

[PhilsFan]

South facing windows hate God.

[INDY500]

The Everyday Christian White Folks Under Siege judges give Canadians1131 a perfect score in the Unhinged Late-Nite Rant.

[INDY500]

Originally Posted by ladyfreckles

I have not read it though now I want to.

The reproduction rate in first world countries is very low. The fastest growing countries are third world countries where it is still common for families to have 7+ children. It's those countries that are contributing to an increasing population, not first world countries.

A cruel twist of demographics given it's the first world that truly needs third world fertility rates to fund our ponzi-schemed welfare states, pay off our accumulated debt and support our 15-20 year retirements.

[Pearl]

Originally Posted by ladyfreckles

I have not read it though now I want to.

Pearl, many people are not having kids. The reproduction rate in first world countries is very low. The fastest growing countries are third world countries where it is still common for families to have 7+ children. It's those countries that are contributing to an increasing population, not first world countries.

ladyfreckles, I am quite aware of this. Perhaps I should've been more clearer in my post that I wasn't referring to the first world. But then again, I didn't think anyone would suspect I was talking about industrialized nations.

[ladyfreckles]

Originally Posted by Danny Boy

There have been groups in the US encouraging couples to have one child (or fewer) since the 60s, but yeah, it's third world countries where the population is really exploding. We will eventually outstrip the planet's food supply at the rate we are going.

We have more than enough food. The politics of the food we have remains questionable, though.

Originally Posted by Canadiens1131

"Anti-humanism" referring to an overwhelming majority of scientific researchers supporting climate change findings produced using the scientific method.

Hold up here. I haven't read the book yet, so I can't speak for the accuracy in that section of it, but I will say that there seems to be a fundamental flaw in the way people approach climate change. The past few decades have accounted for about 65% of the increase in temperature since 1870. However, at the same time, while I do believe we have sped things up, I also believe that this sort of change is inevitable and our focus should be on adapting to this climate change as well as slowing it down.

I'll have to go to the library and flip through this book sometime today or tomorrow to actually read what it says, but I can see what the author might have meant by applying anti-humanist here (if he did). The world has been warmer than it is now in the past. It has been significantly colder. The planet is ever changing. Regardless of us being responsible for messing up the natural order of things, our planet has an extraordinary ability to adapt.

Yet we have people insisting that we have killed a planet that has existed for much longer than our species has and has handled much worse than this average increase in temperature. The planet will adapt. Will we? I'm not so sure. Not if we continue plugging our hands into our ears and pretending that climate change is something we have any control over. We can slow it down, sure, but unless we have a backup plan to deal with a hotter world, we're in for a rude awakening.

Because caring about the fucking thing WE LIVE ON is "anti-humanist". Oh, for fuck's sake, people, is this how ridiculous conservatives really are on the environment?

Personally I try my best to protect the planet and keep things sustainable/natural, but at the same time, I think we also try to play god and protect creatures that are going extinct on their own. The truth is that people take humanism to extremes and people take environmentalism to extremes. I don't think the book is opposed to environmentalism (based on the reviews I read), I think the book is opposed to an extremist view of it.

7 Billion People: Everybody Relax! - YouTube

[Diemen]

Originally Posted by INDY500

The Everyday Christian White Folks Under Siege

Ah yes, that poor oppressed minority.

[ladyfreckles]

Originally Posted by Diemen

Ah yes, that poor oppressed minority.

[INDY500]

Originally Posted by Diemen

Ah yes, that poor oppressed minority.

Those aren't my words so why are you quoting me?

[the iron horse]

Originally Posted by Diemen

Ah yes, that poor oppressed minority.

No surprise.


If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.

~John 15:18 (New International Version)

[corianderstem]

Originally Posted by INDY500

Those aren't my words so why are you quoting me?

Please refer to post #7 of this thread.

Was it a quote from somewhere else? Or did you just retype the caption from wherever you got the picture from?

[the iron horse]

I have not read the book yet, but reading some reviews I found
this quote from the book:


There was a time when humanity looked in the mirror and saw something precious, worth protecting and fighting for, indeed, worth liberating. Starting with the Biblical idea of the human spirit as the image of God, taken forward by Renaissance humanists defending the dignity of man, our greatest thinkers developed a concept of civilization dedicated to human betterment and “unalienable rights” among which are “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness,” proudly asserting that “to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men.”

But now, we are beset on all sides by propaganda promoting a radically different viewpoint. According to this idea, humans are a cancer upon the Earth, a horde of vermin whose unconstrained aspirations and appetites are endangering the natural order. This is the core idea of antihumanism.


~Robert Zubrin

[INDY500]

Originally Posted by corianderstem

Please refer to post #7 of this thread.

Was it a quote from somewhere else? Or did you just retype the caption from wherever you got the picture from?

It's way back in post #5.

[corianderstem]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Missed that. carry on.

[Irvine511]

all this summer heat seems pretty anti-human to me.

[Diemen]

Originally Posted by the iron horse

No surprise.

If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.

~John 15:18 (New International Version)

It's also no surprise that you (falsely) assume I hate Christians.