IN THE LATE SIXTIES, I joined an organization called ZPG, which stood for Zero Population Growth. It was founded by biologist Paul Ehrlich who wrote the best seller ‘The Population Bomb.’ Since 2002, it is known as Population Connection. Simply put, if two adults have two children, they have replaced themselves and have not added to population growth. Way back in the late 18th Century, an economist named Thomas Malthus raised the specter of the world’s food supply, which increases arithmetically, being overcome by the population growth, which increases exponentially. Eventually, he wrote, the mushrooming population would suffer starvation and related catastrophes. It is estimated that world population when Malthus was alive was 1.1 billion people. When Ehrlich published his book in 1968, it was 3.5 billion. Today, it stands at 7.9 billion, a huge chunk of which is in China and India (1.5 billion each). Population of the USA is 334 million. Organizations that fight starvation around the globe say that world hunger is on the rise, affecting 10% of the population. It is reported that, from 2019 to 2020, the number of undernourished people grew by as many as 161 million, a crisis largely driven by conflict, climate change, and the COVID-19 pandemic. The USA, arguably the richest nation on earth, has over 38 million (11.8 %) living in households that struggled in 2020 against food insecurity, or lack of access to an affordable, nutritious diet, according to the Food Research Action Center, a whopping 9 % increase over 2019. So, what I’m doing here, if you haven’t guessed, is trying to guilt myself into dieting.
Hi Henry, I admit that I didn't see that one coming. My husband refuses to travel to some of the common tropical destinations, as many of them are countries where the vast majority of the population live in terrible conditions and struggle to put decent nutritious food on the table. He says it's because he doesn't want to "rub their noses in it" by parading his relative wealth in front of them. I think it has more to do with guilt, but either way, I admire and respect his decision not to go to these places. It could be argued that you are contributing to the economy by supporting the tourism industry. I guess that's the justification I've used when I've traveled with my girlfriends to some of these destinations. It doesn't make me feel much better about it though.
Let us know if the "guilt" diet works for you! Good luck.
Terry
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Hi Henry et al, I might be harping a bit on the history of "The Auld Sod", Eire, but only when it is useful or/and instructive.
The Ireland of the past (until the 70s...80s), contraception was banned, abortion was/is banned, and people were generally dirt poor, especially in the countryside. Most of the population depended on agriculture, before, during, and after the "Great Hunger"...in Gaelic "Gorta Mor", not called The Famine. When the food supply is used as a weapon, it is more like a genocide.
Anyway...Irish families were notoriously large. We had a neighbor who had at least 16!!! Pregnancies but about ten live births, and that was from the late 40s to the 70s. We and they were not farmers, we have 7 boys and 3 girls in my family. Women really had no way to prevent the reality of being perpetually pregnant, except for the wonderfully effective "Rhythm Method", a method forced on families by men who did not and never would have to feed or provide for a family....ever!! In Ireland back then, there was no safety net....no welfare, no food assistance.....it was every man/woman and child for themselves. The country was in bad shape as regards good nutrition and healthcare. Possibly as many babies died as were born alive. This was the state of affairs in the towns.
In the country, it was much worse. The families had to be large to be viable. One or two girls would work as maids or "skivvies" at the 'Big House', scrubbing floors, etc., etc. One or two (if Mammy got her wishes!) would be a priest or a Christian Brother....every mother's lifelong wish. The girls might sneak some food home, the priest was the ultimate source of help (some of them). Every task on the farm was backbreaking manual labor, so the more children the better for planting and bringing in the crops. Donkey and cart were the transport. When the parents got too old or died, the farm would be too small to divide it into shares, just a few acres. This reality demanded emigration for most of the family, to England or Scotland, Australia, or if lucky, the US. Ireland had probably about 5 or 6 million people before An Gorta Mor and much less than 4 million in the following years. The Malthusian population models would predict disaster if the people who left had stayed in Ireland, without that circuit breaker of emigration. Without the land laws imposed by Britain and the restrictions imposed by the Church, the country's population might have been better managed, but the fact is in a poor society, a family needs to be large to survive.....I know!! Catch 22!! Hopefully, the kids would produce more than they would consume!!??
My take on the whole population problem is that as a country's population prospers, the fewer children will be born. If pregnancies can be planned instead of just happening, the population growth will be more practical. In my street in Ireland, every family had a child or two out as a "messenger boy" on their basket-equipped three-wheel bike. Their small income kept the family going. I worked in the local pharmacy for a lovely lady (all the boys had a few years in the same pharmacy). I would dust and polish, wash the windows, etc., until a customer required a delivery. Staying busy in the store was required at all times. Mrs. Aldrich, the matriarch at the local castle, was the important customer who had this exaggerated tone of voice.....the noise I might make if someone suddenly grabbed me by the balls and squeezed!!! Lol....never understood a word she said.
All my nephews and nieces have a maximum of four children, most of them have two children, not twelve or more like the old days. These nieces and nephews look so much healthier, so much more independent, and much more worldly. These kids do not have to emigrate, they can pick and choose their path in life. The other result of the lower birth rate is the "brain drain" of the old days is no more!! Their talents and ambitions can be fulfilled in Ireland, and they can and do travel widely.
Prosperity is the most important ally of population control and ZPG. Most prospering families will have two or maybe three children at most. As the Third World and the Developing world share in the prosperity of the developed world, the slowdown in population growth will naturally follow. This sharing of resources is a very slow process, and the sooner it happens, the better for all of us, the rich, the poor, and everyone in between.
Pie in the Sky, I know, but we can dream!! It is in everyone's interest.
Putting money into vaccinating the entire world in the current disaster is in the interest of the entire world. While anyone can catch the virus, we are all vulnerable. When prosperity is shared with the less fortunate, the overall population should almost be self-regulating. All countries can benefit from the retention of the best and brightest sons and daughters and their collective talent.
I'm certainly not the best tool in the Irish toolbox, so I'm sure my departure was not that much of a loss lol... The most satisfying thing I see in Ireland today is the fact that kids have a choice in deciding their future. My generation had no choice in the matter, emigrating was preordained for very many of us.
As the saying goes, "A truly Rising Tide Raises All Boats"....even the dinghy with no engine and a fishing line looking for dinner. The Ronald Reagan "Trickle Down" is just him and his successors pissing on your leg and applauding themselves for the success of their daylight robbery.
I did it again... another novel lol....
Peace and Love to all Baggers out there. May the coming year be Medically Uneventful.
Eamon.
Hi Eamon, I kept meaning to come back and read this post, but I was strapped for time when you first posted! Thanks for the very real, albeit dark and depressing, look at Ireland's recent past. I was exposed to a bit of this through my former mother-in-law (sort of, I lived with her son for five years), but her version of history seemed to be viewed through rose-colored glasses. Your version seems much more believable. She was one of many Irish who emigrated to Canada, specifically the province of Newfoundland on the east coast. Newfoundlanders are known for being tough and resilient, but unfailingly friendly and welcoming, and have an accent that is unique as it still retains some remnants of Irish. They also know how to party! There is plenty of Guinness to be had, but "Newfies" adopted their own drink, called "Screech," which is actually rum. The new immigrants survived and thrived on the cod fishery until it collapsed. The families were huge; my mother-in-law was one of eleven, and her husband was one of fourteen. Things have changed now, of course, the economy is struggling as people try to find new ways to support their families, but always, there is that resilience. It's a fantastic place to visit, very unlike any other part of Canada. If you are lucky, you might get invited to a "kitchen party," where the singing of old Irish songs is still the order of the day.
Terry
Hi guys....ok, ok ladies...very special ladies of the site (almost wrote Ladies of The Night...L).
Saw part of a great story about the Kitchen Parties!! In South Africa, in the townships, the locals apparently have some type of tradition. A person will set up a rough and ready pub. The people can go and drink and socialize. The thing about these "pop-up pubs" is they are called "shebeens," they use that particular word. In Ireland, the British outlawed brewing in Ireland, whiskey and beer because they wanted the booze to be bought from England. The local small farmers would use their spuds and some barley to brew stout and "poteen" (putcheen). ....AKA Lunatic Soup!!! Lol. Poteen is still made (in a homemade still) and bought if you know the right people. Must have been the Irish indentured servants who brought the shebeen to South Africa. There were lots of Irish soldiers of fortune in all the British colonies.
The Newfies also wear the colorful copeens (colorful wool hats). I believe, similar to the Jamaican wool hats, also very colorful. I was in Montserrat a good few years ago. Guinness was the drink of choice...and rum of course. They have a St. Patrick's Day Festival. Many of the names are old Irish names. We sure did get around!! The video documentary could have been done in Achill or any of the West Coast Islands. Tough as nails!!
There were some very hard times in the West especially. The West was ignored by the people of "The Pale" Dublin, they were "Beyond the Pale" so didn't really count. These days the underdeveloped West Coast is the main tourist spot. And very much untouched, bogs, mountains, and lakes with a big population of very colorful sheep roaming free range, the hills. They are spray painted with strips of color to identify them for the farmers.
Stay safe y'all...
Wow!! How about a date!! Love the stockings. You don't look a day over 30, Ms. Sunflower... LOL...
I hope she comes out in the daytime too!!
When my mom lived in London training as a hairdresser, there were only ladies in the house. She was maybe 24, so she felt safe with the girls. My mom got to know all the neighbors in the building. She mentioned how lovely the girls were and they used to chat about my mom going to Mass. They didn't. They were always beautifully dressed and, of course, had a nice hairdo.
She said that it took a while to figure out that the girls changed boyfriends very often, a different one every time they met. Finally, she got it! My mom almost whispered, "Well, wasn't I the eejit (idiot)? They were ladies of the night, but they were so nice to me and encouraged me not to lose my faith and keep going to Mass. They were very nice, and we became great friends." Women from Ireland were very innocent, and until recently, there was no sex education at all in Irish schools.
That's the picture I got in my head when I mistyped "night" instead of "site". I got a flash of the "girls" having my mom in for afternoon tea and biscuits! My mom and dad were very open-minded. Live and let live was the rule they lived by.
Eamon: I'm sure you've read "Angela's Ashes" by Frank McCourt. If you haven't, you ought to, 'cause you just described it. HenryM
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Hi Henry, I sure have. I was very young in the worst times. The book described Limerick, down near Shannon Airport. Most towns of the West Coast were like that, the biggest export was people providing cheap labor for Britain and fresh settlers for Australia and New York. There was no Safety Net from the Govt so families had to hustle creatively just to put food on the table. One common way to add a few Quid (Pounds) to the kitty was to go to Scotland picking Spuds, called... Tatie Hokin... by the Scottish. The conditions were horrendous. Whole families would go for the Seasonal Harvest. They lived in the Cow sheds on straw and a blanket, bag of straw for a pillow. Any belongings would be held close, shoes under the head or they would be stolen. Spuds for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Thankfully my family never had to go on the Taties but my older Brother was a bit of a wild boy so he sneaked off with a local woman three times!! He was a bit of an adventure hound!! The third trip put an end to his travels after he was robbed and beaten in the "Bothie" (cow shed). I often talked to him about it and it was horrible, he thought it would be better next time!!? Our neighbor would bring the whole family!! Coal was like gold because it kept us warm and cooked our food, much of it was really cheap coal full of dangerous impurities which had to cause lots of Cancers. We would get Turf (peat) from a small plot of Bog. The process of cutting and drying was tough and labor-intensive and families would help each other.
My Dad was very resourceful, worked as a Butcher (lots of meat!!) and became a top-class stone mason, Brick, stone, tiles, etc. so we did better than many. My Mom had some income as a hairdresser. Her customers were people with money, the hotel owner, pharmacist, etc. so she did pretty well. We were pretty lucky given the general conditions. Most kids never even got to High School, right to work at 10 or eleven. Half of us got to high school and the others got apprenticeships. We have all done very well and my Mom and Dad put us on the right road early on.
Rabbit often provided some extra protein but the risk of getting arrested or shot by the sellouts who worked for the local "Big House" as game wardens was always present. Their big vegetable plots provided many a dinner for poor families, the risk was worth it!!
Eamon
PS... There is a classy pub/restaurant in The Marina District in San Francisco called Perry's. When we lived (me and Brother) in Pacific Heights, we were just up the hill (mountain!!!) from Perry's. We would go there for their great hamburgers and fish n chips. It's a beautifully built old style western pub with lots of beautiful polished oak and redwood. Who was the star bartender? Malachy McCourt and sometimes his brother Frank would join Malachy behind the bar. Another Limerickman had different memories of those hard days and Frank wrote another book "Tis" after Angela's Ashes. Gerard Hannan wrote a counter to Tis called "Tis'in Me Arse", he had the rose colored glasses on apparently or lived in a better part of town!?
Eamon
I think one of the reasons Newfoundland has retained its Irish flavour is the fact that it's so isolated, on its own island, and not easy to get to. It's known as "The Rock", because basically that's all it is. You have to be a hardy breed to live there. Surrounded by the cold Atlantic, almost constant wind and brutally cold winters. Newfies are known for their strange/hilarious place names, streets and towns. My good friend, who worked in the social services field, was interviewing a client, whose paperwork indicated that she lived on "Pig Shit" Road. When my friend challenged her on this, her client asked her to look it up on the map, and there it was, Pig Shit Road. I got a picture of "Spread Eagle Road" near where we were staying in St. John's. We had to visit the small fishing village of "Dildo", and also drove through "Heart's Delight", "Heart's Content", and "Heart's Desire". These are just a few of the strange and wonderful names. It seems that nearly everyone has some musical talent and it's on full display at the kitchen parties. I was also amazed at how tolerant everyone is. The friends we were staying with decided to have a kitchen party on a Tuesday night, in the middle of the summer. The party spilled out onto the back deck and was LOUD. I should mention that they had many close neighbors. This party went on until well past 2:00 a.m., and not a peep or complaint from the neighbors (mind you, some of them were at the party). Our hosts assured us that this was a perfectly normal thing to do and was completely tolerated by everyone. Newfies are a rare breed!
Terry
Oh yes, I forgot to mention Come By Chance. Are you sensing a theme here? There isn't much else to do on those cold winter nights!!
Terry
I don't mind the theme of that place at all. I might be leery of dating anyone from there.