Paul “Population Bomb” Ehrlich must be proud of his legacy [see below]. http://www.amazon.com/Population-Bomb-Paul-R-Ehrlich/dp/1568495870
It is hilarious to read the reviews of his book on Amazon. Here’s one review:
“Are people STILL listening to this guy? If so, it has more to do with prejudices and uninformed—uninformable—paranoia than with scientific or logical merit. Ehrlich, in this seasoned tome, preserves for the ages some of his greatest nonsensical howlers about the catastrophic growth of human population in the face of vanishing resources and inadequate food. None of them was remotely close to the mark, but that doesn’t stop people who so desperately _want_ our evil, soulless modern world to be brought down for its sins, that they cast aside failure of his models and predictions, and refuse to see that the world has debunked him. Ehrlich’s fatal flaw is easy to see and sum up. Sure, he was a biologist who studied populations, but populations of _insects_. And human beings—get ready for a shock—are not insects. We can innovate, invent, learn, and improve. I believe that that is something worth thinking about, even if Ehrlich does not. ~ Craig Kenneth Bryant
Some examples of his legacy:
Jeff Hoffman, environmental attorney, wrote on grist.org, “Malaria was actually a natural population control, and DDT has caused a massive population explosion in some places where it has eradicated malaria. More fundamentally, why should humans get priority over other forms of life? . . . I don’t see any respect for mosquitos in these posts.”
“... Alexander King, co-founder of the Club of Rome, said, “In Guyana, within almost two years, it [DDT] had almost eliminated malaria, but at the same time, the birth rate had doubled. So my chief quarrel with DDT in hindsight is that it greatly added to the population problem.” [Because it saved lives]. bttt
Don’t these left-leaning types also love the concept of Social Security. Don’t they realize that the Social Security scheme depends on an ever-increasing population to stay afloat?
BTW, Bob Godwin has posted a killer column on his blog today, which I've posted on FR here.