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yesterday we were talking about the
the possibly humans might vanish from the earth
is there is seldom global warming mmm getting into a
and unstoppable positive feedback loop a downward spiral
but the
this is very interesting wesley smith who is a senior fellow at the Discovery
Institute's
center on human exceptionalism is the author a book called the war on
humans you can read about over discovery dot org
and wesley is without say Wesley welcome to the program
some good talking to you again thank you for joining us again
our people know better than rocks maggots and squirrels
you know from the point of view love
love biological systems from the point of view of the planet
I would suggest that probably
were not as good as rocks maggots and squirrels because
they're staying within their ecological niche
and we have reached the point where we're consuming more than half of all
the fresh water on the planet
we're consuming about half the net photosynthetic productivity the planet
we r
were were were driving to extinction dozens if not hundreds a species every
day
a yeah I got a problem and also your enslavement
no I'm not anti human I'm anti I'm anti is sick
culture we did not behave this way toward the planet
until the last couple hundred years you know the the planet doesn't have a phone
interview
second meeting only in the last couple hundred years a human beings that has
I existence is that you can even call prosperous
so mean last 200 years we've been able to defeat disease and not have a
hand-to-mouth
former miserable exist by if you really believe that you never bothered to study
anthropology
very things that brought us prosperity and freedom have you
are you familiar with the phrase white indians no
okay I would I would strongly recommend that you go back and read the history
up the early settlers from Europe %uh North America
and starting with John Jamestown and
and you know basically for the first 100 years or so the old
very large number the very real problem that these European settlers had
most of them were you know I here on behalf of the East India Company
la to the labor that they brought with them was was
poor Europeans were indentured themselves or I'd come over for a job
they got here they got to know the american indians the Native Americans
in the communities around them and they said Wow life is really good for these
people
and life really sucks here in these American colonies there's disease
there's doubt there's
plagues and famines and all kinda weird you know and I'm gonna become
an Indian and they called them white indians there there there were a lot of
tribes in a lot of communities
on Ascot live in a tent somewhere do away with running water and not have
electricity to run your shelf
well they didn't have electricity back then the europeans are now I just either
much harder because they didn't
what would be the best thing that could happen to the African continent for the
people living in Africa
electrify the entire come and have a grip
on the comment not if they do if possible fuels we can't do that because
it'll destroy the earth
keeping people mired in destitution and misery I can imagine
you as a good little water here
your making a straw man argument a false argument there there are
places across Africa where they're putting in fact I I've been there
I i've seen these operating in South Sudan and in Kenya
where relief groups are going in and they're putting in solar panels
to run pumps to bring fresh water at a Bach offers
so that people can access to fresh water ok and how long and
it burns no jostle fuels
are many decades you think it will be too do that kinda little solar thing
which i'm for
before the whole car thing can be agreed well it took germany ten years to reach
the point where forty percent of the total electricity was generated by solar
power
there with your what solar power is going to be the answer
in this world for decades and so it took Germany 10
years to hit 40 percent in disease
and misery for decades well i cud Wesley are you listening to me
what a compassionate wonderful caring man you are
are you have you heard anything I've said let people go down the drain
Wesley let me say it again it took Germany 10 years
to reach the point where they could generate 40 percent of their electricity
with solar power ten years
you asked how long is it gonna take to Solarize Africa
I think you know with with it with a significant investment
and and a buy-in from the people that are you doing a decade
I don't think so but let's also but in the meantime let's get it going
with things that we know will work now less electrify Africa
and by the way I don't know how you expect to have people started
follow the environmental movement in which some other main voices are now
beginning to calls a cancer on the planet
a plague on the planet supporting China's one-child policy that involve
forced abortions female infanticide
that's the end up the environmental movement you wonder why
environmental movement has lost a lot of the following in this country
take a look at the Anna humanism and has replaced the positive
environmentalism that clean up our water cleanup are here
so you think has seven billion humans on the planet
is a good thing I think that's the way to do with how many more should we have
I yeah I think you I think that they should we become 10
wanna let me answer the question richer the election
go for thank you very much way to handle
I the number of people on the planet is to increase prosperity
more that people are prosperous fewer children they will have
that if you wanna go down the road of China one-child policy
like to David Attenborough doesn't many other african chick global warming
you're talking about instilling a former Tierney
I can't believe you would want forced abortion Tom as away again your
suggestion straw man I've never suggested any of those things
asking you you defended China's one-child policy no I didn't
well then then I'm saying you can just made that up
alcee you cannot have that kinda policy and now you are a very simple way to
reduce population
it's not increasing prosperity it's giving education
and political power to women and you do that of car dealers have a level of
prosperity
population drops we will totally agree let's increase
powerful women in this increase education for women and less increased
prosperity because the more prosperous people are the smaller families say
feel comfortable and not necessarily the the if you look at Saudi Arabia you look
at Qatar
a look at you look at these countries in the Middle East where people are given
forty thousand dollars a year
from the government as a baseline right everybody's rich
they still had 11 children as an average families happens to got nothing to do
with prosperity it has to do with the power of women
know that has to do with a also religious to respect it has to do with
the religion that oppresses women
just like fundamentalist Christianity does I don't care about fundamentalist
Christianity or Islam in this regard we need to increase prosperity
people allow smaller children and we certainly should not stop prosperity
let me ask you don't you condemn China's one-child policy on equivoque
Chur yet what he does in other areas agreement that those who don't
condemn it in fact those who supported I can't I contend are and thank you
years sane 7 billion people on the planet is just fine we have had more
than half us about $5 billion others are living on less than two dollars a day
if all seven billion others lived at the standard of living
the poverty level in the United States it would take four planet Earth's to
provide the natural resources to make all the junk
that with that we would all be consuming where you get that from
we're going to first of a technology and secondly
what I'm talking about years not engaging in policies
that would be destructive to the people who are alive on this planet today and
to promote cancer kinda policy the United grier
more powerful women and I just wish you believed in more prosperity
as opposed to a lot of environmental to talk about deemed very concerned about
your definition a prosperity
well i'm concerned. lester's to to how many more people can this planet with
hot withstand
I don't know depends on technology you don't think we're overpopulated right
now
I i think is probably a little over popular so what are you gonna do about
answers I'm not going to engage in one child tax policies
infected so what are you going to do about policy in China they have what are
you going to do about
do it I'm not going to do anything except when you have a 3-2
which isn't true prosperity which is Jude I
improved powerful women to improve education for women
to give people better technology to grow do and have a
more electricity in the fourth place in and engage in pro-union environmental
ethics anti-union you're no better than a school night
well I and this is the Thom Hartmann program I do think from the point of
view the plan a
and I and I disagree I think it is essential that we are no better than
school
wesley smith discovery dot org you know about thankless
thank you tom