Dear HCN,
I was saddened to read
recently that one of your supporters, Kathleene Parker, dropped her
subscription (HCN, 5/29/95). I share Ms. Parker’s concern about the
impact of a growing population on our bounded world, and I respect
her desire to put her finite resources where she feels they will
have the most impact. At the same time, I wonder if the population
problem is, after all, both the cause of and caused by the issues
that HCN does cover and that supporting HCN is therefore equally
worthy.
In a very simplistic sense, the
“population problem” in North America is related to
over-consumption. It seems to me that we over-consume in an attempt
to gain a sense of self-worth (I am what I own: houses, cars,
sports equipment, etc.). I wonder if we couldn’t gain a similar
sense of self-worth by developing a better understanding of our
place in the web of life, by understanding our connections with the
people and plants and animals and land around us. Perhaps with this
understanding we would recognize that we can and do play an
important role in the various communities of which we are a part,
regardless of our possessions. It seems to me that much of the good
news HCN reports is related to people developing this
understanding. And much of the bad news, unfortunately, is
manifestation of a lack of understanding or feeling of
connection.
Perhaps Ms. Parker is right that HCN
could do a better job of highlighting the “population dynamics’
behind its news stories. On the whole, though, it’s hard for me to
not see both the causes and the consequences of overpopulation in
most of the stories. The problems of our world are inextricably
(and sometimes exasperatingly) connected, and all are challenging
to solve.
Jenifer
Morrissey
Loveland,
Colorado
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Population problem is implicit.
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