Monday Musician: Brand X Music, The Quest

This is my official first Monday Musician in almost a year!  (Yay…)  To begin with, I thought I would post a short but very interesting instrumental piece.  Hope you enjoy !

SfC

Earth Day Thoughts: Global Climate and Malthusian Scare

Global Warming.  It’s happening, right?  Ever since Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth, everyone has just assumed that global warming is a real thing, and based on many scientists’ stances toward climate change, we need to reduce carbon emissions and try to save the world from some kind of The Day After Tomorrow scenario.

Well, perhaps not.  Here’s a post by a fellow blogger which is entitled “Earth gives us an Earth Day present:  Arctic sea ice is highest for this date in 8 years.” In summary, the author points to recent studies that indicate that the ice in the arctic sea has actually returned to a near-normal level.  So…how does this fit in with global warming?  “Well…it’s global cooling, which is caused by global warming, which is caused by people.”  Does anyone else detect something amiss in this?  Because this is really what some scientists are saying:  that global cooling is the natural result of global warming.  So wait a minute…that sounds oddly like a cycle:  a global warming trend causes ice cap melting, which causes in influx of cooler air into the world’s oceans, which brings about a trend of global cooling, which causes the ice caps to refreeze.

Now personally, I at this point have decided that human activity has little to do with this global climate.  I am not saying that human activity doesn’t affect the climate; for certain, pollution, urban sprawl, and other such human issues cause environmental damage.  What I am saying is that, based on the data we have, the climate really is cyclic, not just in that it’s a cycle itself, but it’s built with cycles on top of cycles on top of cycles, and I highly doubt that after 100 years of our current technologically advanced culture, we will have all of that figured out.

Let us suppose, however, for the sake of argument, that human activity does affect global climate.  So the world gets a little warmer…which means that it gets a little cooler next time around in the cycle, which the next warm cycle counterbalances, and so on until we’re approximately where we’ve started.  Now, legitimately, if enough of a global warming trend occurs that all the ice caps melt and the world is drowned, that would be an…apocalyptic problem.  However, that is not what the data we have is forecasting.

Now, if there’s been two alarmist trends over the last 50 years, it has been the fears of the changing global climate (cooling during the 60′s, warming during the 90′s) and the Malthusian scare:  “The world is overpopulated! There aren’t enough resources for everyone!”  As a result, many modern philosophers have proposed euthanasia, abortion, and other such measures to help control the world’s overwhelming population.

Well, it appears that the Malthusian scare might be a total farce as well.  A recent article called “Sleepless in Shanghai” has stated that the very opposite of a Malthusian scare may soon occur.  Instead of world overpopulation, we may soon be experiencing world underpopulation.  Let me explain: in most developed countries on Earth, the birth rates are falling.  I remember when I was younger, the average children per family in the United States was 2.3.  Recently, I’ve heard that it’s dropped to 2.1.  Now, the Malthusian alarmists will say, “That’s good!  We need fewer people to feed!”  But wait a minute, let’s think about the effects that this is having and is going to have.

First of all, overpopulation is a localized problem.  There’s cities in the United States that have hundreds of people per square mile, and there’s places in the United States that have become wilderness because there’s less than one person per square mile, and that’s just in the United States.  The majority of the world’s population is concentrated in Asia: China and India alone have 3 billion people – over half of the human population on Earth is concentrated in two countries that are no larger than the United States and Canada.

Now, the real concern with the overpopulation debate is the need for resources:  The more people there are, the more resources need to be produced for them to consume.  Well, if people are really concerned with this overpopulation thing, then why aren’t people simply suggesting that we stop sending so much food to the United States and send more of it to Asia?  After all, we’re only 300,000,000 people, while China and India come together to possess about 10 times that number of people, yet the United States alone controls and consumes over half of the resources produced on the planet – in fact, one figure I’ve heard says that’s actually closer to 2 out of 3 global resources are consumed in the United States.  But most people don’t want fewer, scarcer resources in the United States.  They see a problem, but they aren’t willing to change their lifestyle in order to help fix the problem.

So, what about underpopulation? To be honest, I think underpopulation may become a far more real problem than the Malthusian scare.  For example, Social Security in the United States is under a constant threat now from the Baby Boomers.  Why?  Because not enough young people are working to support the older, more numerous generation.  (Interestingly, recent statistics have shown that approximately 50 million people have died in the last 50 years in the United States from abortions.  Now, I don’t care whether you think it’s right or wrong; that’s still 50 million fewer people that are working to support our faltering economy).  That’s just scratching the surface too; imagine how bad the housing market will be when we have too many houses and not enough people to live in them.  Yes, this is a financial disaster in the making.

Oh, and this article also points out that China, infamous for it’s famed one-child policy, is now encouraging their couples to have 2 instead of 1.  Why?  Because they’re having the same problems we are.  Their economic system is threatened.  Perhaps we should take some clues from them.

Now, inevitably, some people would say, “Well, these are all problems for the future.  Why should I care?  I like how things are right now.”  Ah…I hear these words, and the word “selfish” sneaks to the front of my mind.  So, I would say that if you don’t care enough for your children to try to give them the best kind of culture and future they can have, then I would say go ahead and don’t have any children.  Live on your thrones of materialism…and don’t expect me to be very sympathetic when you’re freaking out because the world is falling apart.

Okay, rant complete.

SfC

A New Blog!

As mentioned in my previous blog, I have been planning on creating a blog where I will talk almost exclusively on matters of faith, Christianity, and that sort of topics.  Well, I have created it:  The Faith Journey of a Christian Man.  Head on over some time!  I’ll post a link to it on my blogroll.

Hope you enjoy!

SfC

A Respite, and Possible New Blogs

Well, I had my Medieval Philosophy test yesterday.  Though I don’t have the grade back yet, I’m strongly confident that I got an A on it.  After that test, I have a week or so where I have a chance to catch my breath and get ready for the end of the semester.  Today is also the day that we workshop one of my stories in my Creative Writing class and one of my classmates said that she really enjoyed it and had a lot of comments, so I’m looking forward to that.

I found a link to an advice page for bloggers the other day that suggested that, when you are running a blog, you should keep to a central idea or theme within the context of the blog.  The problem with having a variety of themes and ideas all within a blog is that people will be more likely not to read your blog because the focus isn’t something they are interested in.  Now, when I first realized that WordPress allowed its subscribers to create multiple blogs, I thought that sounded ridiculous; why would anyone create a second blog when they have one already?  Why couldn’t they just have multiple discussions on multiple ideas within the context of a single blog?  Now, while I do still think that having multiple blogs is a little goofy, I also acknowledge that it would help me in the organization of my thoughts if I had separate blogs.

I have been thinking and hoping for some time that I would like to start a blog that I create where I can talk specifically and exclusively of my religious thoughts, probably calling it something like “The Faith Journey of a Christian Man,” because though I do talk of religion and my faith definitely has a presence in the posts I make on The Faithful Mind, I have at times wanted to make a post on an explicitly religious topic that would feel out-of-place on this blog.  In addition to this, one of the main reasons why I started this blog was to show how intellectual honesty and religious conviction can exist harmoniously, and I still believe that completely.  I think the solution is simply that I will continue to discuss a somewhat larger variety of topics on this blog and my religious convictions will still have an active role, but I do want to start a blog at some point where I can explore those convictions more deeply, including the questions and conflicts that I face in the spiritual realm.

In addition, as I have stated since the day I started this blog, I have been writing a book series entitled Kenushi Ryu.  Perhaps it would be better to create a blog who’s deliberate purpose is to provide updates and bounce ideas in direct relation toKenushi Ryu.  In addition, I’ve been working with a wiki in one of my classes this semester and realized how practical it would be to create a wiki where I put the notes and ideas that I conceive for my book.  So, that is another possibility for another blog that I’m considering: a place where I talk exclusively about Kenushi Ryu, and perhaps even build it like a wiki.

Anyway, these are some of my thoughts about my blog.  If I do create another blog, then I will post a link on this one.  If you have any thoughts/ideas/suggestions/snide comments, please share .

SfC

P.S.  Another note.  I am considering restarting my Monday Musician sequence.  I will need to find a source of more classical music, though I do think that if I do, I will also throw in some modern instrumental music in the regular running of the Monday Musician:  soundtracks from movies, instrumental pieces in general that catch my attention, etc.

Light at the End of the Tunnel (?)

After a rather rough week – both in my studies and in my personal life, there appears to be hope in sight.  I have a medieval philosophy test tomorrow morning, after which I have no major assignments for the rest of the week (hurrah!).  Thursday of next week, I have a paper due, and the Wednesday of the next week is the last day of class; I will have a project and two papers due on that day and a major paper due the next day.  After that, all I have left are finals…and then after that, I believe that I have a couple of weeks off before summer school starts.

One of these assignments will be a paper for the aforementioned Medieval Philosophy class; just today, I elected to do my paper (10 pages long) on St. Anselm’s Ontological argument for the existence of God.  As part of this, my professor gave me some references to books where the authors discuss the ontological argument and argue for it or against it.  Hopefully, I will find plenty of time in the next couple of manic weeks to really think on and distill all of these thoughts.

Well, back to studying.

SfC

Thoughts Abound While Life Proceeds

I suppose that the first thing I should give is an update on how life is going.  Classwork for this semester is wrapping up pretty well; the majority of my classes for the semester are going well, and I’m learning in them as well.  My classes mostly consist of literature – Early American Literature, Renaissance Literature, and Studies in Writing, a literary theory class.  In addition to these classes, I have a Creative Writing class and a Medieval Philosophy class, which may be the most interesting of classes that I have.  We’ve spent the semester studying Augustine, John Scotus Eriugena, Peter Abelard, and other philosophers from the Middle Ages, which I had no prior exposure with.  I suppose that’s why I find that class the most interesting.  My Creative Writing class is also pretty interesting in that I have used it as an opportunity to write stories set in the world of Kenushi Ryu and learn more about it.

For once, I have a little comfort in that I have plans for the future.  I’m going to take Spanish classes over the summer to satisfy my foreign language requirements for my major.  For this Fall semester, I’m taking an internship in publishing through the Missouri Review and also going to apply for a job at the college’s library.  Also, I’ve met most of my requirements for my English major and now I just need credits to graduate (for the most part), so I’m looking at taking some kind of minor.  So, that is how my schooling is going.

Oh yes, and as a final note, for my Studies in Writing class, I am going to use my blog here (as well as other electronic material) to create a project about myself.  Honestly, I’m not sure what that will look like, I’m getting some ideas and stuff.  Anyway, that’s how things are going for me.  To be honest, what I’ve really been wanting to do lately is to write some posts where I just discuss things (like I did with my posts on Free Will, Music in the West, etc.).  I don’t know when, but I’m hoping that I will find some time to do something along those lines.

SfC