Dear HCN,
I note with particular
sympathy the various articles in HCN that talk of the destruction
of small Western towns due to the influx of us “city folk.”
It reminds me of my early childhood growing up
in the Santa Clara Valley, now Silicon Valley, when the majority of
land use consisted of orchards rather than the current urban
blight. All of the people now in the Santa Clara Valley came from
somewhere, and the natives such as myself keenly felt the loss of a
very special, almost magical place.
I belong to
most every major environmental group. Only with great delicacy do
any of these groups comment on the primary cause of the destruction
of the West, or for that matter our world: overpopulation. Bozeman,
Mont., is simply the victim of population pressures from other
parts of our nation and the world. Of course, making pronouncements
on the need for population control is the fastest way I know of to
become a pariah.
Yet, someone needs to stand up
and start talking seriously about population. All of our
environmental ills trace back to this problem. It is too bad that
our society is not only materialistic but baby-obsessed as well – a
particularly deadly combination. I try to have hope for our future,
but I know too many environmentalists here in California with four
kids and patio decks made out of
redwood.
Michael W.
Mace
Rocklin,
California
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Baby-obsessed in California.
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