ABSTRACT
People concerned about humanity, equity, and peace the world over are learning that the overdrain of resources and the degradation of people are part of a single, all-encompassing, accelerating crisis. Population limitation should begin in the affluent countries, where numbers multiplied by desire cost the Earth most; to halve the numbers and double the desire will get nowhere. The threat to the Earth of mindless growth is real, despite the editors who deny it, the in-house scientists who allege that all is well, or the political and corporate and labor leaders who have decided that the environment annoys them and must not interfere with their careers. Few of the traditional conservation organizations are much concerned about that severest environmental threat—nuclear proliferation; most of them ignore the inflation, unemployment, and inequity produced by environmental abuse. The environmental movement can command but a fraction of what industry and government spend on environmental disruption.
