POPULATION AND SURVIVAL

Productive power of mankind immeasurable

By RICHARD LANE

“We have assumed the role of the rob-
ber barons of all time. We have decided
that we are the chosen people to steal all
we can get of our planet’s gradually
stored and limited resources. To hell with
the future generation and to hell with our
fellow human beings today! We'll fly
high now — hopefully they’ ll Pay later.’’

Dr. Paul R. Ehriick, professor of biology,
Stanford University

Is Dr. Ehrlich correct? What are the
real causes of the problem? Can we sur-
vive? What are the solutions?

The founder and president of the Club
of Rome (‘‘a small, international organ-
ization of political figures, businessmen
and scientists, acting in a private capaci-
ty, concerned with mankind’s future
development”’), Dr. Aurilio Peccei, an
Italian industrialist, wrote: “I do not
think that the present neocapitalist struc-
ture and philosophy are capable of re-
sponding to the needs of our time’’.

“No, it is not growth as such, whichis ~

responsible for the present perils of soci-
ety, nor is it technology which still re-
mains the most powerful agent of man-
kind in its fight for universal provision of
its basic needs. Rather, it is man’s lack of
wisdom in directing and managing
growth and technology.”

_Dr. Barry Commoner (professor of
biology at Washington University in St.
Louis) is more explicit in his estimation

_ of why there is a ‘lack of wisdom’’. In
his interesting book on environment,
“The Closing Circle’’, he writes:

“Modern technology which is pri-
vately owned cannot long survive if it
destroys the social good on which it
depends — the ecosphere. Hence an’
economic system which is funda-
mentally based on private transactions
rather than social ones is no longer
appropriate and increasingly ineffective
in managing this vital social good. The
system is therefore in need of change.”’

Overseas empires

It must be further stated that today the
USA and other imperialist countries
have, in order to protect their overseas
commercial empires and to maintain a

flow of needed resources from the so-
called Third World, supported dictators
and army groups in numerous countries
under the cloak of anti-communism.
They have prevented land reform and
other political changes which would
allow self-development in these areas.
They have protected, supported and
financed export-oriented agricultural
operations under the leadership of their
multi-national agribusinesses, which
further sap and weaken any possible
self-development in these countries.

“ Any discussion of population must take into account new scientific discoveries. Even

based Gulf and Western, and little goes
to the Dominican peasants who end up
poorer and poorer.

Bumper crops, poverty .

The “‘nonsensical”? system in which
hunger and poverty of the majority co-
exists with wealth and plenty of a few, is
best illustrated in today’s happenings in
U.S. agriculture.

“Unprecedented bounty, serious wor-
ries about survival; this is the paradox
confronting ... U.S. farmers ... three

today we are just beginning to apply science for the betterment of mankind.

Two Caribbean countries, Cuba and
the Dominican Republic illustrate what is
happening and what could be happening.
Both countries produce sugar as their
main crop. Both countries rely on agri-

cultural exports (mainly sugar) for

foreign exchange. Both must import
grain for their people. Yet in the Domini-
cal Republic 75% of the people are
undernourished while in Cuba there is
no malnutrition. ‘ :
Why? In Cuba, an independent
socialist country, foreign exchange be-
longs to the people and is used in the
country’s development program. Job-
creating projects such as_ building
schools, and living quarters, construct-
ing factories for home appliances and
machinery are initiated with the foreign
exchange. In the Dominican Republic, a
dependent economic colony of the USA,
most of the foreign exchange goes to for-

eign private corporations, such as U.S.-

straight years of bumper crops have
created enormous surpluses and pushed
prices for the major crops lower than
they have been in at least a decade ...
the year’s (1982) expected harvest of
corn and soya beans will be the largest in
history and yet U.S. farm income will be
the smallest in real dollars since depres-
sion-ravaged 1933... (already)... in

_ 1980, 37,000 U.S. farmers had to leave

their land ...’’ (Time, Oct. 4, 1982)
Why there is hope

Writing in 1971, Boris Urlanis, a-

Soviet demographer, predicted that in
the decade of the 70s the birth rate would
reach its peak all over the world. As early
as the 1980s this growth would begin to
go down. By the next century, he con-
cluded, the world population will balance
the birth rate against the death rate.

In the Aug. 4, 1979 issue of Science
News, a headline reads: ‘‘World Popula-

tion Decline Documented’’. The report
says: ‘‘Last year (1978) Harvard Univer-
sity’s Centre for Population Studies re-
ported that the world’s population
growth rate had begun to decline. Now

(Aug. 1979), similar findings are reported

by the World Fertility Survey...
population growth is declining at a
dramatic rate in many developing
countries.”’

E.K. Federov. (1980),
meteorologist and geophysicist, in con-
trast to the pessimistic views of most
Western ‘‘experts’’ and especially ‘‘in
contrast to the Malthusians (he believes)
that the potential for satisfying ... hu-
manity’s basic requirements has always
grown and will continue to grow at a

' more rapid rate than that of population

growth.”’

** _.. What we have in mind is the fact
that humanity systematically develops
essentially new possibilities for satisfy-
ing its needs.”’

The final word must go to Engels, who,
140 years ago, had already laid bare
Malthus’ falsehoods:

“*... in the last analysis private prop-

_ erty has turned man into a commodity,

whose production and consumption also
depend only on demand; that the system
of competition has thereby slaughtered,
and is still slaughtering today millions of
people ... this impels us to do away with
this degradation of humanity by doing
away with private property, competition
and conflicting interests.

" “* .,. the productive power at the dis-
posal of mankind is immeasurable. The
productivity of the land can be infinitely
increased by the application of capital,
labor and science.”’

— Frederick Engels, (1844) — Outlines of |

a Critique of Political Economy.
Richard Lane is the pseudonym of a working
Scientist.
Bibliography (all paper backs)
Barry Commoner (1971) The Closing Circle,
Bantam Books.
Evgeni K. Fedorov (1980) Man and Nature, Prog-
ress Publishers, Moscow.
Frances Moore Lappe and Joseph Collins (1979)
World Hunger: Ten Myths, Institute for Food and

Development Policy. ‘

D.H. Meadows, D.L. Meadows, J. Randers, W.W.
Behrens (1972) The Limits of Growth, Signet
Book — New American Library.
Ronald L. Meek, editor (1954) Marx and Engels,
Malthus Selections, New World Paperback
NW-30, International Publishers.

(Second of Two Parts)

Soviet

SESS su ee a ce sericea nce tne ie ce
Across Canada

TORONTO — On Jan. 7, the
Ontario Government took over
the more than $2-billion in assets
of Seaway Trust Co., Crown
Trust Co., and Greymac Trust
Co. On the same day the federal
government took control of
Seaway Mortgage Corp., and
Greymac Mortgage Corp.

Back in November the three
made headlines with a deal
which bounced 10,931 rental
units from ownership to owner-
ship while tenants looked on
agog, under threat of huge in-
creases. According to the pro-
vince’s Commerical Relations
Minister Robert Elgie: Cadillac

Fairview Corp. sold the apart-
ments and townhouse units to
Greymac: Credit Corp. for
$270-million. Greymac im-
mediately sold to Kilderkin In-
vestments Ltd., for about
$312-million. Kilderken then at

. once sold to a series of myster-

ious numbered companies for a
reported $500-million.

In its take-over action the On-
tarioGovernmentusedammend-
ments to the Loan and Trust
Act, approved Dec. 21, believ-
ing that, amongi other things
“there exists a practice of or
state of affairs within the corp-
oration that is or may be pre-
judicial to the public interest or
to the interests of the corp-
oration’s depositors, creditors
or shareholders.

Most recent word comes from
Leonard Rosenberg, holidaying
in Florida, owner of Crown and
Greymac that he’d like to sell if

the profit’s right.
Unemployment

rates soar
OTTAWA — Canada’s offi-

cial unemployment figures re-

leased Jan. 7 show 1,494,000
jobless, or a record 12.8% of the
labor force. That was 51.4%
higher than a year ago. Official
figures, admittedly fail to take
into account other hundreds of
thousands who do not qualify
for unemployment insurance,
who have given up looking for
work, or who are under-
employed. The figures include
24% unemployment among men
15 to 24, 17.3% for women of
those ages, 10.1% for women 25
and older, and 10.2% for men of
those ages.

The U.S. jobless rate hit a
42-year high of 10.8% in De-

cember — about 12 million out
of work, and 4.2 million of them
have become unemployed since
July 1981. In addition some 6.4
million are on part time, and
about 1.8 million discouraged
have dropped out of the labor
force.

Railways blame
Crow rate

MONTREAL — Between
them the two coast-to-coast
railways, Canadian National
(CN) and Canadian Pacific (CP),
eliminated 7,000 jobs in 1982 and
furloughed an additional 6,000
workers for 10 weeks. CN is also.
planning to lay off 900 shopcraft
workers on May 1 for an in-
definite period. CN cites the re-
cession. A CP official threatens
more layoffs unless the railway
gets its way and the Crowsnest
Pass rate on grain is boosted. The
cuts to come result from CP re-
fusing to do track and bridge re-
pair work.

Globe and Mail, Jan. 11/83

Housing starts
for December
continue ris

‘By ALLAN ROBINSON

Which paper do you read? Two
Toronto papers give quite dif-
ferent views of the housing situa-
tion in the same day’s papers.
Both texts report Canada Hous-
ing and Mortgage Corporation
figures of 178,000 starts in 1981,
125,000 in 1982, and an estimate
of 150,000 for 1983. There were
slight increases in the last
months of 1982 but overall, starts
were down 27% from 1981, the
lowest since 1960 when there
were 125,577 homes buiit.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE— JANUARY 21, 1983—Page8