Through the Eyes of a Foreigner
By Andrew Engel
The Elephant in the Room
I have read everything I can get my hands on covering the President’s State of the Nation address. I have to confess that I can find nothing, not a scintilla, on the countries pressing problem with population growth.
I find that beyond odd and for me, it is the elephant in the room.
As a fifth generation German Australian my mind wandered to an old German proverb, “silence is a fence around wisdom”, as I contemplated the reticence this issue seemingly caused following the SONA.
I ask myself why this is so. Clearly, some don’t find it to be a problem. For others, I’m not sure, but it can’t be because of media phobia, as the RH bill generally gets wide attention. Maybe it is overload? Perhaps the President’s choice of subject matter has focussed attention elsewhere. I can certainly understand a political argument for avoiding the subject within the SONA as it is controversial in the extreme.
Logically, it should feature prominently in the post speech assessment. Let me flip that around. Would it not be illogical to avoid commentary in such a nationally important speech if it misses a seminal issue like unsustainable population growth?
Why, well because so many of the rail tracks that represent political issues emanate from a town called population. It is arguably a root cause of many difficulties confronted in the Philippines and most of these issues have been canvassed in the wrap up of the SONA.
I guess that is partly why I find it hard to fathom the absence of a population discourse.
I realise that there are taboo subjects that just don’t get raised in polite conversation in the Philippines. A person’s religious opinion is not a topic for discussion. Sex education is provocative and generally remains out-of-bounds, divorce is an area for polite avoidance and homosexuality is a subject that is mute even though seemingly tolerated. I don’t see or hear much “gay bashing” going on here.
As an outsider one has to respect these cultural norms and understand the reasons that make certain subjects uncomfortable. It is basic politeness to do so. But, as a commentator there is an equally pressing remit to speak one’s mind, within the limits in my case of self-imposed protocols.
In any case, I don’t see population growth as being sacrosanct, so I don’t believe I am beaching my own guidelines or overstepping the mark as an outsider.
Maybe I’m being arrogant or ignorant or both. Well if I am there is certainly nothing to match the arrogance of ignorance to get you into trouble, so here goes.
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I don’t put population growth into the no go zone as its as much a long running secular argument as it is one about spiritual values. Scholars and great thinkers have been arguing the pros and cons since the late 18th century, quite separately from the moral imperatives contained in the spiritual contemplation of the issue.
That might surprise some as I realise that in the Philippines it quickly attaches itself to the moral, thus changing its form from an argument of philosophical and political dimensions, to one which is transcendental. That adds a particularly difficult layer to what is already a dense cake of disagreement.
Whatever the realm of discussion, I don’t really care.
Be it Marxists yelling that poverty and social injustice are not simply by-products of population growth, but result from the systemic pursuit of profits and accumulation; or Malthus who sees its dangers but blamed the poor; or those who fear moral degradation, I’m not much interested any more.
I am of the school of thought that unsustainable population growth has reached a point that is now undeniably destructive and detrimental to human welfare, period. The limits of the planet’s support systems are being tested in a way not conceivable two centuries ago when the modern population debate got underway. I can find no rationale in 2011 to persuade me that the damage being done is anything short of a growing human tragedy of epic proportions.
We cannot continue to consign millions yet to be conceived, to a life of servitude, a life without aspirations, a life barren of educational opportunities, decent heath care, a fair wage, and a very basic level of human rights on a planet struggling under the weight of human excess.
It is equally foolish to demand of Government the role of parent and protector when the means to do so are stretched thin, or are beyond breaking point.
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It boils down to this simple contention. Can the World and the Philippines specifically continue to grow the human population of the earth and these islands without regard to the consequences while arguing that people’s welfare is a sacred responsibility?
Also, can we consume our finite resources with impunity?
Can we continue to delude ourselves that the human species is superior to all other life, destroying what we need or believe we are entitled to take, while disregarding the interdependencies that are fundamental to our very existence?
We have now reached 7 billion heartbeats worldwide, and by 2050 the figure is estimated to reach 9 billion. The Philippines is at 100 million and you can expect that if current birth rates are maintained, by 2050 the figure will be well above 100 million.
That is the picture of a future world with more and more mouths to feed; where dwindling resources will eventually fail to meet the demand; all on an unstable planet with a climate system under duress; and under the guidance of political structures and a dominant sovereign state mentality which give little reassurance that we are wise enough to control and determine our destiny as a species.
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Population growth is not a subject to be consigned to the quiet of night or to be avoided like that annoying uncle. Whatever your view, wherever you stand, no matter what your conviction, the truth is that we are heading for a human calamity never before witnessed if we continue to expand beyond a level this planet can sustain.
In the Philippines we need to talk about it, all the time, every chance we get. Not as pessimists, but as realist with the power to do something about the risks. How many more 16 year old girls with a new born baby on their hips, a sight we witness every day on our streets and in villages, will it take to shake the very foundations of our polite silence?
How many more shanty shacks on the side of our roads need to be built and occupied by squatters, where parents and 7 or 8 kids scratch out an existence, will it take to disturb our lethargy? How many more school years need to start with no class rooms, furniture, school reference books, before we realise this is not a fault of government, it’s just a matter of simple arithmetic.
The warning signs are everywhere to be seen, the consequences of accelerating and unsustainable population growth too obvious to deny.
If we are lucky, and smart, we might just manage ourselves sufficiently well to avoid, and let’s not pull our punches here, an apocalypse.
For if we don’t, it won’t matter who was right or wrong, as in all probability too many of us won’t be here to make a judgement or to crow, “I told you so”.
(Comment or write to Andrew at engelmint@hotmail.com)
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