Today I got an email from my friend / debate opponent Bill Devlin. Good guy. He wrote to tell me that once again he was hearing about the infamous petition to remove a show from TV because it mentions God in it too much. Usually it’s Touched by an Angel or some show like that.Naturally, these rumors are false. TV stations are private (non government) companies and can broadcast whatever they like. There has never been an attempt to stymie Freedom of Speech like this — it’s a lie by those who themselves lobby so that you can’t rent movies like the Last Temptation of Christ from Blockbuster (they don’t like it, so you can’t watch it).For verification, check out the fcc.gov web site and do a search for Atheist.And for anyone who receives this email, I urge you to “reply-all” and include the FCC link — people who spread falsehoods should be known for it.
Alex,
Do attribute your quotes – the idea is far from new. See,
“The Marching Morons,” by Cyril M. Kornbluth
See, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyril_M._Kornbluth
Of course, you may prefer eugenics – and there is a long and vile history to that movement.
Eugenics was first defined in 1883 by English anthropometrist Sir Francis Galton, Darwin’s cousin, as the “science of improving the stock.” Because it was seen as a cutting-edge science, eugenics took root in America and imparted respectability to exclusionary immigration laws, which limited the entry not just of those with hereditary diseases but of entire ethnic groups, as well. Eugenics even made its way into the Supreme Court, which in 1927 upheld compulsory sterilizations in the case of Buck v. Bell. Oliver Wendell Holmes, the most progressive justice of the era, wrote, “Three generations of imbeciles are enough.”
Cearly J. Holmes’ opinion presaged the Cheney, Bush & Rumsfeld administration.
Here’s a news flash – recent – & this is the appropriate thread for it:
http://biblioblography.blogspot.com/2006/03/were-going-in-anyways.html
based on this news story released today:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060327/pl_afp/usbritainbushiraqdiplomacy_060327064943
I say we impeach this goddam loon before he screws anything else up.
Alex,
I agree. People are reproducing irresponsibily. In my college biology class we did an experiment with duckweed. After unchecked reproduction in a closed environment, all the duckweed died. Why? Because their environment reached it’s carrying capacity. As I watch urban sprawl decimate what were fields when I was a child, I wonder–When will mother earth reach her carrying capacity. Probably not in my lifetime, but our grandchildren and great-grandchildren best be warned.
Cry4Turtules,
You might want to check out some stuff on the Malthusian catastrophe. It’s basically the theory you espouse, except in some detail. But be prepared because it is rather old and has significant holes.