The Stork and the Plow

This book succinctly points out that over-population is the real rattlesnake in the woodshed. Because correcting this will involve limiting family size, politicians will not only ignore this they will stubbornly refuse to even talk about it. The alternatives of war famine and disease are the politically correct ways to control population. Sad.

A rising stock market easily distracts me from the realities lived by world neighbors. This book slowly, but inexorably brings the real world into sharper focus. I'm encouraged that someone is brave enough to take on so large an issue as global sustainability. The authors have responsibly reported their world view as it relates to sustaining the growing population with a precarious food supply / environment. It is a human view, marked with both optimism and pessimism. At times some points are belabored, but most are important to make. I forget, too soon, how destructive my impact is on this limited planet. I recommend this book as a refesher course in population and environmental issues in the modern world. It motivated me to increase my activities toward a more sustainable use of the planet's resources.

This book is a fascinating look at the race between agricultural production and population growth. To claim that Ehrlich and his co-authors are misanthropes (haters of mankind) is clearly bogus. The authors have a deep and abiding love of both mankind and the natural world that supports us. This came through to me on every page of the book. Clearly the authors don't love human behaviors that are unsustainable and destructive. No thinking person does. The authors admit to mistakes that Ehrlich made in books he wrote thirty years ago, and look at why things have played out differently than he predicted. They have learned from their mistakes, and we can too by reading this book with an open mind.The Sept. 25 reviewer calls this a "miserable gloom-and-doom tract. There is some truth to this. No thinking person can take a hard look at the current human situation without admitting to some scary trends. But this book looks for answers and finds them. Anyone unable to admit to the problems facing us will not be part of the solution.

Paul Ehrlich looks at the prospects of feeding the growing world population. The content is a sobering wakeup call. Continued population growth and finite resources of the earth present a bleak picture. Although the overall picture is somewhat depressing, Ehrlich describes some points for optimism including the trend in several areas for reduced or reversed population growth. This book provides a warning of what will occur if steps are not taken reduce population growth and prevent environmental degredation. Previous predictions of the doom of humankind have not come to pass, but attention should be given to the projections of this book and ideas that are presented as possible means to avert future disaster.