“It's obvious that the key problem facing humanity in the coming century is how to bring a better quality of life -- for 8 billion or more people -- without wrecking the environment entirely in the attempt.” Edward O. Wilson

 

As this series continues, hopefully, it ‘connects the dots’ for Americans as they see their freedoms erode, their environment degrade and their ‘quality of life’ fade into memories. While people ‘existing’ in large cities understand and accept a lowered quality of life, rural people cannot help but ‘feel’ the pulse of life accelerate beyond their normal rhythms.

 

Again, how do we mitigate our exploding population projected to add 100 million people by 2035—a scant 25 years from now? (Source: PEW Report, “U.S. Population Projections” by Fogel/Martin at www.fairus.org , and U.S. Census Bureau)  Current U.S. population by the end of December 2010 reached 312.7 million people.  We will total 400 million by 2035 if we continue on this same course.

 

In the quote above, the imminent biologist Dr. E.O. Wilson wonders how we can accommodate ‘quality of life’ on this planet with eight billion people. Actually, he must update that number to 9.2 billion within 40 years.  (Source: www.PopulationReferenceBureau.com) 

 

Unfortunately, we already suffer environmental, water and resource problems on a magnitude beyond solving today when you consider ‘population momentum’, or the propensity of the human race, like a brakeless train, to keep adding speed as it travels downhill.

 

“How long can men thrive between walls of brick, walking on asphalt pavements, breathing the fumes of coal and of oil, growing, working, dying, with hardly a thought of wind, and sky, and fields of grain, seeing only machine-made beauty, the mineral-like quality of life?” Charles Lindbergh

 

Lindbergh asked a powerful question. How can animal creatures like us, the hairless ‘primates’ of the world, so used to hunting and gathering for thousands of years, abruptly turn ourselves into city dwellers stacked on top of each other and crowding each other in our relentlessly growing cities?   How do we find quality of life in gridlock traffic, long lines at the NFL game toilets, walking on concrete our whole lives, breathing air we can see and enduring endless honking horns, blaring music, sirens, gun shots and irritating if not totally crazy neighbors? 

 

Can it be good for kids to grow up never having seen a chick hatch, horse give birth, deer leap over a creek, a fox dash after its prey or watch Canada geese skimming down into a lake for a landing?  You might wonder if it’s a quality of life to be able to ‘see’ the air you breathe.

 

“As we approach the new millennium, we see how much remains to be done to give our young and future generations a better world to live in: a more peaceful society with a healthier, cleaner environment and a pattern of sustainable development which seeks to eradicate poverty. Education is the single most powerful means to improve the quality of life... the single most powerful weapon against poverty and intolerance. Education builds a culture of peace ... it empowers human beings, both young and adult, to be effective in their chosen sphere of activity ... education in its essence, opens doors to both personal and social development.”  Federico Mayor