Things I disagreed with at the Population 2050 comference
So the conference ended up being pretty fantastic. However there were a handful of things that I didn't agree with. Here they are, paraphrased.
1. "The best way to conserve the environment is for everyone to have smaller families."
- Nola Stewart, Sustainable Population Australia
Nola Stewart wasn't actually invited to speak at the conference, however there was a copy of a "paper" that she had written left on all of our desks when we came in on Monday morning. The paper was a series of arguments for why having smaller families is the environmentally responsible thing to do, accompanied by cute cartoon illustrations.
Well I like most of the argument, but I don't agree with it 100%. As Nola Stewart herself mentioned within her own paper, the main problem is the way we consume resources, not the total number of people in the world. There are millions more people in developing countries and countries with emerging economies but they consume way less. I think her argument that we just need to have less kids is not nuanced enough. The real answer is for people to stop feeling like they "need" to consume everything. I'm sure if larger families decided to live more sustainably, they would be using the same resources or less than a smaller family with one or two children living a "normal" Western lifestyle. I think the biggest problem is the way we use resrouces, not how many people there are.
2. "Baby boomers are pretty much the most awesome people in the universe."
- A speaker from a particular recruitment agency that recruits mature workers (name withheld!)
No. No they are not. You yourself are a baby boomer and you are disproving your own theory by taking away the prize for being the most arrogant speaker of the conference. Please move away from the lectern now before I smother you to death in a flood of Gen Y apathy. Thnx.
3. "I am a conservative politician. You are a room full of educated policy makers and researchers. You would definitely prefer for me to spend the next 40 minites bagging out the government rather than outlining my own party's policies."
- Scott Morrison, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship
No. Please stop talking because you are boring.
4. "The Australian Conservation Fund endorses eugenics and genocide. If you agree with anything they say then YOU HAVE BEEN BRAINWASHED BY PRINCE PHILIP! HE IS YOUR LEADER"
- A rabid conspiracy theorist that crashed the conference to tell us that we were all being brainwashed.
That was a very weird. He was escorted out by security. I don't think that the ACF actually endorses that kind of stuff. Because they would be in heaps of trouble if they actually did. Although...
...maybe Prince Philip is stepping in and protecting them so that they can secretly convey his evil messages and then be part of his new world order!!
Maybe.
A serious rundown of events at the conference is coming soon. Or eventually. You know, when I get around to actually writing up my own thoughts :)
1. "The best way to conserve the environment is for everyone to have smaller families."
- Nola Stewart, Sustainable Population Australia
Nola Stewart wasn't actually invited to speak at the conference, however there was a copy of a "paper" that she had written left on all of our desks when we came in on Monday morning. The paper was a series of arguments for why having smaller families is the environmentally responsible thing to do, accompanied by cute cartoon illustrations.
Well I like most of the argument, but I don't agree with it 100%. As Nola Stewart herself mentioned within her own paper, the main problem is the way we consume resources, not the total number of people in the world. There are millions more people in developing countries and countries with emerging economies but they consume way less. I think her argument that we just need to have less kids is not nuanced enough. The real answer is for people to stop feeling like they "need" to consume everything. I'm sure if larger families decided to live more sustainably, they would be using the same resources or less than a smaller family with one or two children living a "normal" Western lifestyle. I think the biggest problem is the way we use resrouces, not how many people there are.
2. "Baby boomers are pretty much the most awesome people in the universe."
- A speaker from a particular recruitment agency that recruits mature workers (name withheld!)
No. No they are not. You yourself are a baby boomer and you are disproving your own theory by taking away the prize for being the most arrogant speaker of the conference. Please move away from the lectern now before I smother you to death in a flood of Gen Y apathy. Thnx.
3. "I am a conservative politician. You are a room full of educated policy makers and researchers. You would definitely prefer for me to spend the next 40 minites bagging out the government rather than outlining my own party's policies."
- Scott Morrison, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship
No. Please stop talking because you are boring.
4. "The Australian Conservation Fund endorses eugenics and genocide. If you agree with anything they say then YOU HAVE BEEN BRAINWASHED BY PRINCE PHILIP! HE IS YOUR LEADER"
- A rabid conspiracy theorist that crashed the conference to tell us that we were all being brainwashed.
That was a very weird. He was escorted out by security. I don't think that the ACF actually endorses that kind of stuff. Because they would be in heaps of trouble if they actually did. Although...
...maybe Prince Philip is stepping in and protecting them so that they can secretly convey his evil messages and then be part of his new world order!!
Maybe.
A serious rundown of events at the conference is coming soon. Or eventually. You know, when I get around to actually writing up my own thoughts :)