Time to thin the herd?

Time to thin the herd?













Some of you may recognize this, others will not



It may be:


A. X-ray image of the early universe taken by the Chandra telescope from near-earth space orbit

B. Bio-luminescent plankton released in one of the major spawning events of the Great Barrier Reef

C. A never-before-seen special effect from Barbarella.

D. The destroyer of cities, spoiler of civilizations



Herds of animals, if left alone by man, will suffer modification of herd size in order to allow the population to live in the habitat left available. We’ve all seen images of deer and elk dying in deep snow, unable to find enough food to make it through the winter. Diseases routinely sweep through animal populations and wipe out large numbers of fowl or fish. As habitat decreases, so does the number of each particular animal that can exist in the physical space, competing for food and shelter.

Trout, major U.S. game fish, are at risk of “Whirling Disease.” The disease was originally described in Germany and now impacts salmonid species of fish. It is sometimes described as the “AIDS of trout.”

http://hmsc.oregonstate.edu/classes/MB492/whdchelsea/index.htm

Deer are subject to Chronic Wasting Disease, suggestive of BSE in cattle and CJ Disease in humans.

http://www.cwd-info.org/

Darwinian selections aid some species in surviving disease or famine while it dead ends other offshoot, leaving them behind as unsuccessful genetic experiments. Some species adapt to eat a broader selection of food and survive famine. Others, unable to adapt, become extinct.

We don’t know how many genetic dead ends human kind has left fallen in the millennia since we collectively learned language, farming, hunting, and warfare. We don’t know if Neanderthal man was removed from the family tree by disease, by starvation, by exclusion due to physiognomy, or killed by competitors. We only know that, despite television ads telling us otherwise, they vanished.

For animals, habitat loss is critical. For humans habitat loss is less immediately critical than is habitat change. Rats, placed into an inadequately sized habitat will exhibit aggression, infanticide, and infant neglect. Other animals will exhibit like behavior when confined to shrinking habitat. Diseases become rampant, conflict for food increases. In the worst cases animals transfer all manner of deadly infections and infestations to humans.

The Black Death reached Europe around 1340 and killed ca. 25,000,000 people. The city dwellers were more heavily affected than the rural dwellers. Even then, cities, with their closely confined and poorly maintained habitat were sources of infection. Population density mattered greatly until there was suddenly no population density to worry about.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Thomas Malthus postulated that unchecked breeding among humans would eventually be controlled by famine, disease, and warfare. Quite a few science fiction novels have been written based upon Malthusian selection. Malthus failed to account for increased capability to produce food by humans. He was a strong proponent of “Moral Restraint”, which translates into the language of both then and now as practice celibacy until married, have no children outside wedlock, have no children on can’t afford. One of 8 children, he married a cousin and fathered three children. Apparently, he took his own teachings to heart.
 

Also frequently cited as ever-ready to eliminate over-population are Conquest, crowned on a white horse; War, wielding a sword astride a red horse; Famine, carrying scales, riding a black horse; and Death, swinging a scythe from his pale horse. These images stem most recently from the possible ergot-driven images described in Revelation

By this time the industrialization of society was changing the nature of work for many and pulling population from the farm field into the cities. Human habitat was being altered again after having rebounded from the Black Death.

Wars were a major factor in limiting population growth. Never as swift as disease, never as slow as famine, war plays a role in controlling population. From hundreds/day at Agincourt, to tens of thousands/day at Waterloo, at Gettysburg, to entire cities vanishing into the mechanized hell of WWII; war plays it role in thinning the herd. Warfare, in some aspects, is contra-Darwinian. Even the strongest and best able to adapt are helpless before modern weaponry.

Flash forward to present day America.

We are deluged with instance after instance of gang violence in our cities causing the deaths of innocent men, women, and children. The violence is not limited to any one racial or cultural group. The toll is staggering and looks to only become higher with each week.

Have we reached the limits in our cities where the rats begin to kill each other? We’ve already noted an immense increase in failure to protect or nurture children. We’ve noted aggression in our city-born children at surprisingly young ages now. We’ve seen eight year olds plan and carry out murder of younger children. We’ve seen rapes committed by pre-pubescent males!

“There’s an anger in the land!”

No amount of good intention, no free breakfast and free lunch program, no “mentoring” program, no prayer, no community concern is going to reverse that degree of anger in those children. But for the socialization of the streets, they have no veneer of civilization about them and they will never develop one. They will learn to use the phones and other tools and toys that define status but will never understand how to build them. They will never read for pleasure, maybe never read at all. They are essentially feral children.

Years ago, I was attacked by a young woman who appeared to be 12 or perhaps 14. She was doing her best to impale me on a bayonet because the rifle it was attached to jammed, saving me from being shot. I managed to avoid being gutted by her. When we took her prisoner the hatred in her face was so great that it was tactile. But along with the hatred that blazed from her eyes was commonality of humanity. She and I both knew why she wanted to kill me. We both understood that it was very personal, her wanting to kill me and me wanting to stop her.

Yesterday, I saw the faces of three young men 16-19 years old, arrested for beating a 16 year old to death as he left school. They killed him because he was caught in conflict between two rival groups arguing for turf and street power. They probably didn’t know him, most likely didn’t care that he was killed in what amounted to a cross fire. Unlike the face of the young girl with the bayonet, these people were absolutely unconcerned that they had killed another human. Their faces and eyes were flat and empty. There was no common humanity to see or to find. We’ve produced offspring who are no longer children, but spawn. We’ve created our own demons, our own monsters who are quite willing to thin the herd but have no criteria other than accident and chance to apply. We’ve produced such inhumane children that they must be a genetic variant, one of those instances where the species can take either of two paths and which path is taken determines whether civilization continues or crumbles. Those young men I saw are capable of taking advantage of all that civilization is, of using it for their own greed and ego. But they are not capable of furthering civilization or adding anything of merit to it. If they control the future, civilization will likely be imploded just as certainly as it was by the Black Death in the 14th century. No matter how fit or strong they are, they are a genetic dead end, very contra-survival.

The herd is in dire need of thinning. But we’ve reached a point where we can thin by decreasing the number of births wisely. We no longer need huge families to ensure the next generation’s existence. We can deal with disease and famine if we work at it intelligently. We can’t avoid war, yet; probably won’t ever be able to. But we can thin part of the hood. We only have to lock such murderers away and resist the hope that they will somehow become rehabilitated. Cage them, for life, never let them reproduce. Sounds harsh, is harsh. Has to be.

The answer is “D” The destroyer of cities, spoiler of civilizations


Immuno- fluorescent antibody stain Yersinia pestis, the gram negative bacillus which causes plague. Born by fleas, which left dying rats for not-yet-dead humans, it subsequently made the jump with the fleas and infected its final host. Plague is not wiped out. It kills people all over the world every year. We have a resident pool in the desert SW United States. Don’t play with ground squirrels, chipmunks or other cute fuzzy things.

 
 
 
 
Dinner tonight will be pizza and salad.


Oatmeal tomorrow morning.  Joshua, want the recipe?