EDITORIAL
New OCA initiative
has same message
At a news conference following the announcement of
a new anti-gay rights initiative. Oregon Citizens Alliance
Director Lon Mahon explained why opponents won’t
defeat the measure in the fall of 1994.
"If a person opposes this initiative, it can only be on
the grounds that they Imliove homosexuality should be
granted minority status and that homosexuality should
be taught to our students and children as a good and nor
mal behavior," Mahon said.
In other words, the OCA cut out the most mean-spirit
ed section of tin* original Measure 9. Homosexuality is
no longer abnormal and perverse -- it's just pushy.
I he new initiative is titled the “Minority Status and
Child Protection Act.” It would prohibit the government
from granting “minority status ' to gays anti lesbians.
deriving punuc scnoois
the opportunity to
equate homosexuality
with "race, color, reli
gion, gentler, age or
national origin." It
would also ban chil
dren’s books that
address homosexuality
from public libraries.
It’s been said before
and apparently needs to
be said again. What
Mahon fails to recog
nize is that there is a
In a perfect
Oregon, residents
would see right
through Mahon’s
manipulative
rhetoric to the real
focus of his
measure: a hatred
of the gay lifestyle.
ditlerence oeiween
granting a group minority status and granting a group
equal rights. Minorities ostensibly receive special pro
tection under the law. protection that every person does
not have. Programs like affirmative action are designed
to give more opportunities to pooplo of color in the work
force — they correct past injustices against minorities.
Gays and lesbians, however, do not receive special
Erotection. nor do they want it. They are not asking for
ousing over heterosexuals. They don't want people to
give them jobs because they are gay. They simply don’t
want to be denied rights based solely on their sexual ori
entation. They want a landlord to make a decision based
on references or credit history.
In a perfect Oregon, residents would see right through
Mahon’s manipulative rhetoric to the real focus of his
measure: a hatred of the gay lifestylo. Unfortunately. 43
percent of Oregonians were fooled last fall, and at least
that many will likely be duped again.
Perhaps the real crime of the new initiative, however,
is that it will once again detract from more important
issues in the state — the budget, school funding and
child abuse, among othors. Both citizens and the Legis
lature should be concentrating on solving serious prob
lems. not arguing over homosexuality.
However, the OCA has complicated things again. It
feels it must once again divide the state into two angry
factions, both of which rely on omotional arguments
over rational reasoning. That is a real shame.
Oregon Doily
Emerald
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COMMENTARY
Population control is key to future
By Eben Fodoc
II (list keeps growing and
growing and growing
No, not tho national
debt Population.
Most people steer clear of this
macabre subject. Hut that's just
not the proper response As the
global population of humans
reai.hes 5.5 billion, we are in
uncharted waters
We've never had this many
people on the earth before In
fact, our population grew more
in the past 40 years than ever
before. This is the phenomenon
of exponential growth
Was Thomas Malthus right
when he predicted in the early
1 80(>S we would breed ourselves
to the point of social and envi
ronmental collapse? We seem to
lie doing a fine job so far.
('.rowing at exponential rales,
world population is twice what
it was in the mid-1950s. At the
current rate of increase. I H per
cent per year, we will double
again in about 40 years We are
now growing ISO times faster
than the historical average for all
of human civilization.
Some people say we don't
have a population problem in
the United States Ixsciiise we are
growing at less than 1 percent
per year. To understand just
how dramatic our current
growth is. take the following
example
If we were to go back to
10.000 B.C. w hen humans were
just beginning to develop agri
culture. and start with only two
people, we can see the effect of
exponential growth. If this orig
inal couple were to increase
their population at a steady rate
of just 1 percent per year up to
the present time, there would be
so many people today that it
would form a solid ball of
human flesh with a size greater
than our solar system. We
would In* expanding faster than
the speed of light. (Yep. check
it out, physics students.)
We really don’t know what
the human carrying capacity of
the earth is A logical population
limit is the number of people
who c an be fed if all arable land
is used for intensive agriculture.
Population experts put this pop
ulation at about 10 billion — a
number that we may reach in
lust 36 years.
Hut we are already facing
shortages of food and land for
agriculture. In most underdevel
oped countries, every scrap of
decent land is heavily utilized.
Adding chemicals — fertiliz
ers. pesticides and herbicides —
may increase the world's food
supply temporarily. But these
chemicals rely on high inputs of
expensive fossil fuels, which art*
in limited supply.
And the indications are that
such methods can't l>e sustained
over long periods of time with
out causing permanent damage
to soil productivity.
flow about genetically engi
neered plants that could pro
duce more food per acre? This is
certainly a hopeful area. In fact,
it's the only area that offers
much hope at all.
Genetically engineered plants,
if successful, will still rely on
photosynthesis to make food.
They will require sunlight,
space to grow (land), essential
nutrients and. of course, water.
The last three requirements are
already in short supply. Thus,
although we may extend our
food supply somewhat, there is
no panacea here.
We ure at the point where our
demand for resources is crowd
ing other species off of the plan
et The best estimate is that
87,(KM) \|>ecies of plants and ani
mals went extinct last year. The
rate of extinction has increased
far beyond natural levels as
human population has grown.
Overpopulation is the mother
of all environmental issues.
Ozone depletion, global warm
ing. acid ram. toxic and radioac
tive wastes, soil erosion, and air
and water pollution are all
directly related to human popu
lation. Our environmental crisis
is actually a population crisis.
Some people argue that there
may be an overpopulation prob
lem in Africa. China or India,
but that a solution can be found
in better distribution of wealth
and political reforms. They sug
gest that other countries just
need to improve their
economies, and that with
democracy and greater social
equity, everyone can enjoy our
level of prosperity.
The trouble with this argu
ment is that it ignores basic laws
of physics. First of all. Ameri
cans consume roughly 100 times
more resources per capita than
do third-world residents. We
also generate 100 times as much
pollution and environmental
damage.
Imagining 1.3 billion Chinese
consuming resources in the
American style — with large
homes, lots of appliances and
gas-guzzling oars. We would
have already exhausted the
world's oil supplies, not to men
tion the resulting environmental
consequences.
The real issue with popula
tion is not whether we will be
able to care for all of the new
arrivals. Rather, it is that we are
not able to care for those who
already exist. According to the
World Health Organization,
35,000 children die every day
because of hunger and poverty
related disease. Millions own
little more than the clothes on
their backs and lack any hope
for a decent life. Shouldn't we
address this problem before we
add to it?
In the United States, where
we are supposed to have the
highest standard of living in the
world. 19 percent of our chil
dren are raised in poverty. And
per-capita income is declining
Today's young adults will earn
less than their parents did. Over
population means a declining
quality of life for everyone.
Our only real choice is to sta
bilize our population as quickly
as possible. If we don’t do it our
selves. through humane meth
ods. it will be done for us in less
desirable ways — wars, famine,
disease.
Population control doesn't
have to be coercive, but it will
Imj if we don't get our act togeth
er. Right now we can work to
make family planning available
to everyone worldwide. Birth
control, abortion and voluntary
sterilization must he available at
low or no cost. We must remove
tax incentives for large families
and replace them with incen
tives for small families with two
or less children.
Some problems actually do
resolve themselves. This isn't
one of them. We must move
from a policy of denial to one in
which population control is a
top priority, at home and
abroad.
then Fodor is a graduale stu
dent in environmental studies.