August 16, 2004
Yea, Yea, Yea
When I was a senior in high school 27 years ago, I was told we would be out of fresh water, oil, and food within 15 years, i.e., by 1992. Seems like nothing ever changes, at least for the BBC:
The World Water Week in Stockholm will be told the growth in demand for meat and dairy products is unsustainable. Animals need much more water than grain to produce the same amount of food, and ending malnutrition and feeding even more mouths will take still more water. Scientists say the world will have to change its consumption patterns to have any realistic hope of feeding itself.
Thank God Bill Clinton came along in 1992 and restored the Earth to health, at least until the evil George W. Bush came along and destroyed everything. Again.
But my favorite item in this story was this picture with this caption:
Meat is a treat for the rich
Somehow, I don't think this is how the lucky 1% who have unfairly benefitted from George W. Bush's tax breaks on the backs of the middle class eat. But I can't wait for Morgan Spurlock to discover that he is now succeptible to John Kerry's confiscatory tax policies as one of the "rich."
Huh. Maybe in Europe meat's still a rich man's meal. I grew up on steak, pork chops, steak, ribs (seared like John Kerry's brain over our ce-ment barbecue grill in the back yard) and steak. Oh -- and sometimes my parents could be persuaded to prepare chicken, or we would go to grandma's. And let's not forget pot roast. Mmmm...
Anyway, we weren't rich -- living mostly off my dad's teacher salary in Florida made sure we'd never have enough money for everything -- but my parents had had enough of going without meat (or making it "stretch" -- as in, meatloaf, etc.) when they were kids in the Depression.
Posted by: Andrea Harris at 11:06 PMMmmm, meat! That burger looks homemade, rather than from a fast-food joint. Unlike third world countries, the poor in the US typically do not suffer from a lack of meat.
I have seen some interesting projections (can't find the link!) of world population growth quickly decelerating and levelling off after 2050 (or was it 2100?). World population may see a bigger setback if the Islamofascists keep pressing their luck and unleash a particularly nasty biological weapon.
Posted by: MarcV at 01:07 PM