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RE: Plague: An Ancient and Present Peril
Not provocative intentionally at all. As you say, raising living standards is the big solution to many of our issues. As I also said.
However, it would be nice just to see resources devoted to enabling the population as it stands, instead of spending so much time, energy and resources on war.
I am not saying I would celebrate a plague, and yes, I realise it impacts heavilly on the poorer people. However, for as long as we behave like a plague on the planet, something must control the numbers. Same is true of every species. We do not really have any dedicated predators, except each other, so disease becomes the only other viable natural balancer, That or intentional culling, which would impact only the poor.
Yes we do prey upon each other. Your comment comes on the heals of research I did on Famine in India. Social Darwinism, popular at the time, led some of those responsible (British colonial administrators) for mitigating the effects of famine to just let the strongest survive. Of course, the famine was accompanied by disease, which contributed significantly to the death toll. If you're interested, this is the blog I wrote: The Great Indian Famine of 1876-78: Land Use and Social Policy in Colonial India
As you point out, it is hard to see the full scope. Famine and plague go hand in hand as food producers get sick, food production and availability reduces, people are susceptible to disease, they get sick, more services fall off, sanitation drops, food becomes scarce, drinking water scarce and plague prevales.
I think the behavior of the colonial administrators falls in the category of people preying on people that you referred to in your earlier comment. Appreciate the comment.
A good read. Thank you.