[William Dowling]

Okay, here is Bill Dowling’s  attempt at some foresight intelligence, for what it is worth!
(Please note – I have also posted this comment under the forum topic : The Few and the MAHB)In my opinion we are simply too disunited to achieve anything.I do not think we are too few, we just need to get better organised.What this situation really calls for is coordinated mass demonstrations outside of as many embassies as possible all over the world,  all on the same day – such as World Population Day 2014 (& repeated on 2015, 16 & 17 if necessary!) BUT – we must all be demanding, and this I strongly feel is extremely important,  exactly the same thing! And therein lies the rub. Can we ever get enough people to agree on exactly what it is we environmentally concerned people and NGOs all collectively want?
I think all the people in power and influence don’t really know or understand what we want collectively because we are all pulling in slightly different directions with our own pet projects, all at the same time. And, I am pretty sure the public are pretty unsure and quite confused about all this “environmental stuff” too.
This is where something like the “Consensus Statement by Global Scientists” comes in, BUT –  it must be signed up to by as many “green ” national and international  bodies as can possibly be mustered first.This is of absolutely key importance  – isn’t it?. United we stand, divided we fall. If we cant even agree amongst the few of ourselves, how on earth can we expect to persuade enough of the 7 billion other people out there to follow our lead?
Armed with such a single common “hymn sheet” being waved and “sung to” by all these many 1000′s of demonstrators, all on the same day all over the world,  with such a strong united front being presented, we should, at last, stand a fighting chance of being heard and listened to by all the powers that be.
At the very least – just think of all the publicity this would gain via the media.

[William Dowling]

 I most certainly agree about being too disunited to achieve anything!
I am not nearly  so sure about being too few, in  my opinion we just need to get better organised.
What this situation really calls for is coordinated mass demonstrations outside of as many embassies as possible all over the world all on the same day – such as World Population Day 2014 (& repeated on 2015 &16 &17 if necessary!) 
BUT – must be all demanding, and this I strongly feel is extremely important,  exactly the samething! And therein lies the rub. Can we ever get enough people to agree on exactly what it is we environmentally concerned people and NGOs all collectively want? I think all the people in power and influence dont really know or understand what we want collectively because we are all pulling in slightly different directions with our own pet projects,  all at the same time. And, I am pretty sure the public are pretty unsure and quite confused about all this “environmental stuff” too. This is where something like the “Consensus Statement by Global Scientists” comes in, BUT –  it must be signed up to signed up to by as many “green ” national and international  bodies as can possibly be mustered first.
This  is of absolutely key importance  – isnt it?. United we stand, divided we fall. If we cant even agree amongst the few of ourselves,  how on earth can we expect to persuade enough of the 7 billion other people out there to follow our lead?
Armed with such a single common “hymn sheet” being waved and “sung to” by all these many 1000’s of demonstrators, all on the same day all over the world,  with such a strong united front being presented, we should, at last, stand a fighting chance of being heard and listened to by all the powers that be. At the very least – just think of all the publicity this would gain among the public via the media.

[William Dowling]

Too be honest, I very much doubt it! But a real Citizens revolt,  a proper revolution, a “Spring Awakening” in the West could. I certainly agree that if only we could persuade everyone to focus on the future for our children and grandchildren and descendants, we might get somewhere.
As for this proposition, well certainly we would  have to go about it with near religious zeal and fervor, but I’m not sure about  being ” quasi-religious.”
Does  that  mean that somehow we have to engender enough faith and belief in what we are aiming to achieve in joe public simply by  writing lots of words of wisdom down like in the bible? And then, when this great literary work is finally (if ever) done, presumably with the help of this forum and many others (equally well intentioned) like it; are we going to preach from it –  so that the people all  rise up and follow our lead quickly and willingly?
Haven’t enough words to fill a bible several times over already been written  about the huge environmental mess we are in?
Yet we know that this “born – again” or “quasi -religious ” conversion of the masses that we seek is extremely  urgent, and is getting more desperate every minute. We really need  action  NOW – not more words, ideas, debates and  discussions in yet another forum, however laudable it may be.
I have the greatest respect and admiration for Paul Ehrlich, and these are yet more great words of wisdom and guidance from him, but ACTION speaks much louder than words – and it usually gets an awful lot more publicity at least. So to be honest, I’d be far happier if Paul Ehrlich was calling all his supporters together for a mass demonstration demo outside of the White House or better still the UN HQ demanding some real ACTION from them, rather than soliciting  for more support for this  MAHB project. viz: “which is providing a public forum for generating information, insights, and solutions to the global environmental crisis.”
What exactly is this going to achieve? WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING PHYSICAL – out there in the real world, not lost in the ether on the Internet.
I know it is good to feel you are doing something useful about this  – I’m doing it myself right  now!
But all these  words we are  typing in is all too easy really isn’t it –  while sitting in front of a PC in a comfy chair?

[William Dowling]

I’ve just joined this Forum, but may I be so bold as to make a constructive suggestion? This is a frustrated and heartfelt plea for MAHB to become a signatory to this document : http://europeanpopulationalliance.org/documents/position_statement.pdf I feel I must stress that everything in Section 1 contains only irrefutable facts. The conclusion is inescapable, and the recommendations are perfectly logical and reasonable in the light of the foregoing. The only thing causing all our environmental woes on this planet is too many of us humans, and of those far too many are consuming far too much. More of us can only make matters  worse. If only every organisation behind running environmental forums,  every environmentally concerned think tank,  every environmentally concerned NGO and every “green” political party in the world, and maybe even some “green” inclined businesses  were to sign up in support  of a  Joint Position Statement on Population and the Environment,  such as this  – Perhaps it would then be seen, by the powers that be that run this world and by many more members of the public,  that we are “all singing from the same hymn sheet” – and loudly, in unison, and  in a powerful, clear, concise and unequivocal fashion? Then – we might actually really start to get  things done about the state of our planet; instead of just chiefly talking amongst ourselves and banging on our own particular drums about what needs to be done! If MAHB cannot  sign up to this,  please tell me why not ? What is wrong with it? And, If MAHB  can come up with a better “Joint Position Statement on the Environment”,  an “Accord” that every purportedly environmentally concerned or “green” body can be persuaded sign up to – please can it do so ASAP? In my view, an International Accord such as this is sorely needed. I do hope I can persuade MAHB to agree.

[William Dowling]

I’ve just joined this Forum, but may I be so bold as to make a constructive suggestion? This is a frustrated and heartfelt plea for MAHB to become a signatory to this document : http://europeanpopulationalliance.org/documents/position_statement.pdf I feel I must stress that everything in Section 1 contains only irrefutable facts. The conclusion is inescapable, and the recommendations are perfectly logical and reasonable in the light of the foregoing. The only thing causing all our environmental woes on this planet is too many of us humans, and of those far too many are consuming far too much. More of us can only make matters  worse. If only every organisation behind running environmental forums,  every environmentally concerned think tank,  every environmentally concerned NGO and every “green” political party in the world, and maybe even some “green” inclined businesses  were to sign up in support  of a  Joint Position Statement on Population and the Environment,  such as this  – Perhaps it would then be seen, by the powers that be that run this world and by many more members of the public,  that we are “all singing from the same hymn sheet” – and loudly, in unison, and  in a powerful, clear, concise and unequivocal fashion? Then – we might actually really start to get  things done about the state of our planet; instead of just chiefly talking amongst ourselves and banging on our own particular drums about what needs to be done! If MAHB cannot  sign up to this,  please tell me why not ? What is wrong with it? And, If MAHB  can come up with a better “Joint Position Statement on the Environment”,  an “Accord” that every purportedly environmentally concerned or “green” body can be persuaded sign up to – please can it do so ASAP? In my view, an International Accord such as this is sorely needed. I do hope I can persuade MAHB to agree.

[William Dowling]

I’ve just joined this Forum, but may I be so bold as to make a constructive suggestion? This is a frustrated and heartfelt plea for MAHB to become a signatory to this document : http://europeanpopulationalliance.org/documents/position_statement.pdf I feel I must stress that everything in Section 1 contains only irrefutable facts. The conclusion is inescapable, and the recommendations are perfectly logical and reasonable in the light of the foregoing. The only thing causing all our environmental woes on this planet is too many of us humans, and of those far too many are consuming far too much. More of us can only make matters  worse. If only every organisation behind running environmental forums,  every environmentally concerned think tank,  every environmentally concerned NGO and every “green” political party in the world, and maybe even some “green” inclined businesses  were to sign up in support  of a  Joint Position Statement on Population and the Environment,  such as this  – Perhaps it would then be seen, by the powers that be that run this world and by many more members of the public,  that we are “all singing from the same hymn sheet” – and loudly, in unison, and  in a powerful, clear, concise and unequivocal fashion? Then – we might actually really start to get  things done about the state of our planet; instead of just chiefly talking amongst ourselves and banging on our own particular drums about what needs to be done! If MAHB cannot  sign up to this,  please tell me why not ? What is wrong with it? And, If MAHB  can come up with a better “Joint Position Statement on the Environment”,  an “Accord” that every purportedly environmentally concerned or “green” body can be persuaded sign up to – please can it do so ASAP? In my view, an International Accord such as this is sorely needed. I do hope I can persuade MAHB to agree.

[William Dowling]

I’ve just joined this Forum, but may I be so bold as to make a constructive suggestion? This is a frustrated and heartfelt plea for MAHB to become a signatory to this document : http://europeanpopulationalliance.org/documents/position_statement.pdf I feel I must stress that everything in Section 1 contains only irrefutable facts. The conclusion is inescapable, and the recommendations are perfectly logical and reasonable in the light of the foregoing. The only thing causing all our environmental woes on this planet is too many of us humans, and of those far too many are consuming far too much. More of us can only make matters  worse. If only every organisation behind running environmental forums,  every environmentally concerned think tank,  every environmentally concerned NGO and every “green” political party in the world, and maybe even some “green” inclined businesses  were to sign up in support  of a  Joint Position Statement on Population and the Environment,  such as this  – Perhaps it would then be seen, by the powers that be that run this world and by many more members of the public,  that we are “all singing from the same hymn sheet” – and loudly, in unison, and  in a powerful, clear, concise and unequivocal fashion? Then – we might actually really start to get  things done about the state of our planet; instead of just chiefly talking amogst ourselves and banging on our own particular drums about what needs to be done! If MAHB cannot  sign up to this,  please tell me why not ? What is wrong with it? And, If MAHB  can come up with a better “Joint Position Statement on the Environment”,  an “Accord” that every purportedly environmentally concerned or “green” body can be persuaded sign up to – please can it do so ASAP? In my view, an International Accord such as this is sorely needed. I do hope I can persuade MAHB to agree.

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