Cav's Place

Some time ago I stumbled upon This I Believe and spent a few days racking my brains to figure out what I could submit but didn’t come up with anything. Needing to write about a single thing made the choice next to impossible and the ridiculously low word limit ensured there was no way I could get anything across that wouldn’t seem shallow even if I could choose. Plus that needing to write about one event that illustrates your belief, and in so few words too, is just silly. I read some of the featured essays and the best they got out of me was an amused grin. So I’ve been meaning for a while to write a post where I’m simply listing my beliefs, the way I think the world should be like, and now here it is. Or here is the first part of it, since there’s a lot to say even if I’ll only outline each.

I believe Earth is terribly overpopulated. The very fact that there are 6.7 billion people on this planet is frightening in itself, even without looking around and seeing what all those people are doing to themselves, to each other, to all the other creatures that they share this planet with and to the planet itself.
I trust the studies showing that this planet can hold at most three billion people in decent conditions and while also leaving enough room for other creatures and that we only need about two billion to efficiently exploit all of it. I also think we don’t need to exploit all of it, so being less than two billion would certainly be no problem. At times I even find the appeal of the idea described in “Adiamante“, less than ten million people split among several completely self-contained cities around the world, but I’ll usually agree that such a thing would be taking it too far. Let’s get under 2.5 billion first and then we’ll see.
To achieve that, I think draconian eugenics laws should be passed and enforced everywhere, initially forbidding at least 90% of people from ever having children, though that percentage will drop as the population drops. Also that not even most of those who would be allowed to have children should receive any aid in raising them, but should be held accountable for the slightest slip from their parental duties, so people will see having children as a chore as much as possible, not as a joy. None but those who have absolutely extraordinary qualities to pass on should be encouraged to have any children or helped in raising them.
I also think “right to die” laws should be passed, so anybody will be able to go to a clinic and ask to be put to sleep for any reason, or even no reason at all. In addition to that, medical research should focus on improving the existing life instead of extending it. Don’t know about you, but I for one would much rather live 50 or 60 good years and then just drop dead than 80 or even 100 but start struggling with health problems around 30 or 40. This would also take care of the aging population problem, as people who are alive, regardless of age, will generally be active.

I believe love should be allowed to conquer everything and that relationships must be the top priority for everyone. Doing anything that might jeopardize your relationship, like moving for a new job or school when your partner can’t come with you, shouldn’t even be considered. Of course, as long as everyone involved knows and fully accepts the situation, I can accept temporary relationships and relationships based solely on sex and can even sometimes tolerate the relationships that are basically described as an exchange of sexual favors for money (those where one is very rich and the other is very good looking, especially when there is a noticeable age difference between them), but those are not the ones I’m talking about.
I think that any relationship that is not clearly defined and fully agreed upon from the very start as being something else should be understood as being for life, though not necessarily monogamous, excepting extreme situations. And by “extreme situations” I understand repeated physical or severe emotional abuse, forcing the other into criminal activities that they don’t approve of, severe substance addiction without even the desire to quit and a couple of other such things, all of which are crimes in themselves, of course.
I also think that, while break-ups on common agreement should of course be permitted, there should be severe penalties for those breaking up with their partners over anything except the above-mentioned extreme situations while their partners still want to be in that relationship, and also for those who start purposefully treating their partners badly in order to make them want to break up as well. Granted, the punishment would serve little to no purpose after the harm has already been done and nobody wants to see the person they love hurt even after that person hurt them, but this might make people reconsider when they start thinking about breaking up. Starting a relationship should imply a full-time commitment to making it work, no matter what. “I make you happy and you make me happy. I don’t worry about myself as long as you do and you don’t worry about yourself as long as I do.”
To make this achievable, seeing as nobody is or could ever be perfect for another, I firmly support polyamory. Though the term can also be applied to open relationships, I’m talking about solid, trusting, committed relationships involving more than two people. I can’t understand jealousy or the need many people have to feel that they are all that their partner needs, when obviously their partner isn’t all that they need. If you can find a way for all to have all of their needs met, why not use it? And if somebody truly loves you and you can grow to at least somewhat care for, or at least about, them, why not have some sort of relationship with them alongside that with the partner(s) of your choice, making everyone happy?
And I should also note that, despite everything, the best way, and possibly the only way, of making a relationship stay happy over many years is not to expect it to be. If you expect only good times you’ll make the bad times even worse than they are and reduce the chances of solving the problems that caused them. After a while, a good relationship turns into a comfortable routine, emphasis on “comfortable”, with a balance of good and bad moments that break said routine, and that’s exactly what you should expect it to be. If the good moments noticeably outnumber the bad then it’s absolutely fabulous, but you should be careful not to get used to it and end up running away at the first sign of trouble afterwards.

I believe the environment should concern us all and that economic and even social interests should be swept away when they go against what’s best for Earth. We’d have nothing without Earth and we should act like we know that! Business should be tightly regulated not according to social concerns or economic principles, but in order to preserve the environment. If something can’t be done in a way that doesn’t harm the environment more than its normal rate of regeneration can heal, then it shouldn’t be done. If prices or taxes need to be raised in order to come up with less harmful products and practices, then they should be raised. If people will need to end up unemployed because a polluting factory will be shut down, then they should end up unemployed.
I think humans should never put themselves above the world. We’ve harmed it long enough, how about starting to fix it for a change? Personal interests and even whole settlements should be sacrificed if they stand in the way of real environmental preservation plans. Move those who accept to move, jail those who don’t, it’s that simple. You can even justify this from that same rotten perspective that puts humans above all things: We all benefit from the environment, so isn’t the good of all worth the sacrifice of a few?
Public transportation should be improved and encouraged on all levels. Once that is achieved, personal cars should be phased out and any measures are fair for that purpose. I’m thinking that having certain areas where the only motorized vehicles permitted are those that are part of the public transportation system and basically ensuring gridlocks and lack of parking spaces for those who insist on taking their cars on other routes would work, despite protests. I also think new roads or railways shouldn’t be built unless absolutely necessary, and even then they should be underground as much as possible.
Presently undeveloped areas should stay undeveloped, and as many presently developed areas as possible should return to Nature. I firmly believe that at the very least 25% of both the waters and the land surface of Earth, chosen from the best areas, most suited for all the plants and animals that live in them, should be off-limits for humans except for research purposes and perhaps a little tightly controlled tourism. Drastically reducing the human population would go a long way towards achieving that, since right now we’re overcrowding each other’s personal space as it is and many don’t even have access to the basic necessities.
I think taxes should be used to encourage environmentally-friendly products and discourage the environmentally-harmful ones. It’s easy, put taxes according to how much a product harms the environment and use those money to fund research for “greener” alternatives, or even as direct subsidies for cleaner products. Organic foods are a great example as to where that should happen. Sure, conventionally grown foods are affordable, genetically modified ones might be even more so, but what is their true cost? How much is the health of the planet worth? Actually, how much is your own health worth?

I think the top three are enough for now, I’ll continue at some other time… Maybe… If I’ll still be around…