The Future

The Future
What’s easier than predicting the future? In 1963, during my first trip to California, I learned the it had just passed the population of New York, my home. Both states had populations of approximately 18,000,000 people back then. Today, 45 years later, the population of California has doubled to over 36 million and growing, while the population of New York has been static, inching up to 19 million. Meanwhile, the world’s population increased from 3.2 billion in 1963 to 6.7 billion today. With a fixed amount of arable land, increasing the production of food will require greater use of fertilizers and pesticides, with little opportunity to allow some land to lie fallow to regain its nutrients. The increase in use of chemicals to raise food results in the further degradation of the world’s water supply. The emergence of the rapid increase in world residents has led to an increase in the rate of starvation. It is estimated that one billion people are at the risk of starving, while millions are actually starving to death each year and the number is growing. A single massive crop failure could plunge the world into chaos with the reality that exists today. Enigmatically, here in the US we use the production of corn to make ethanol rather than to use it to feed the hungry of the world. Also, we use grains to feed animals for meat. The Vegetarian Society claims it takes 15 to 20 pounds of grain to produce one pound of meat, claiming that meat-eaters are a main cause of hunger today. I find that claim a bit questionable since cows produce milk, which is used to make cheese and yogurt, while grain-fed chickens lay eggs. Unfortunately, religion and ignorance go hand and hand to prevent people from employing birth control to slow the growth of the world’s population. In underdeveloped countries the birth rate is over 6 births per family, while in countries that are industrialized, the rate is between 1 and 2 births per family. When the individual lacks a healthy diet, meaning a lack of essential nutrients, malnutrition leads to infectious diseases, TB and more, eventually causing many millions of deaths annually, especially among newborns. Even more basic is the need to adopt safe a drinking water supply, provide adequate sanitation services, teach good hygiene practices and promote safe food handling. Even in the industrial countries, the simple act of washing one’s hands is a relatively newly recognized good health practice. Clean water, proper sanitation facilities and modern plumbing are considered one of the main reasons people are living longer. In our country we take these developments for granted, but in the undeveloped nations, such necessities are unknown. In my day, outhouses were common and towns and cities across the land dumped raw sewage into the rivers and lakes. TV sitcoms displayed the town water commissioner as a buffoon. Every citizen must stay vigilant to make sure that government keep the water, air and food supply free from contaminents and keep washing your hands and those fruits and veggies.