I have recently finished reading Inferno by Dan Brown. It was inspired by Dante's The Divine Comedy, of which I have not yet read. I have to say this book was great, as Dan Brown's book always are, but also caused me some anxiety. I really enjoy books that evoke a strong reaction, most often emotional. The reasoning behind my anxiety had to do with the fact that the overpopulation issue was viewed head-on. I am well aware of the overpopulation of our earth and that our precious resources are slowly running out. This is not new news. However, the light in which this issue was painted was a little bit anxiety ridden. Dan Brown's characters referenced the World Health Organization (WHO), of which I am very familiar with due to my profession as a nurse, and the growing awareness of overpopulation. It was projected that by 2050 we will have reached a population of approximately 9 billion. It was also pointed out that to sustain our natural resources, thereby avoiding extinction, we need to be at a population of about 4 billion. We are currently at approximately 7 billion people. Now I realize this book is fiction but I was still intrigued and decided to take a look at the WHO website and see what I could find. These claims were in fact warranted. The numbers are not exact but close.
The thoughts that this notion sparked centered around some issues that annoy me on a general basis. One of which is the fact that some people have children, in what seems to be by the droves, and do not have the means to support them. How do we justify this? Well by allowing these people to be supported by the welfare system. This system was never intended to last for as long as it did. It was supposed to be a temporary patch for the time of the depression. As an emergency department nurse I happen to see the abuse of this system on a very regular basis. One thing that comes to mind is the child limitations that have been implemented in China. I understand that many find this notion to be of a dictatorship of sorts. "We are in the land of the free and no one will tell me how many children I can or will have" sort of attitude; of which I once was guilty of portraying. When speaking with those from China it has been admitted that while this law does cause some disappointment, when a sibling for their only child would be nice on occasion, it was also pointed out that this has decreased the numbers that starve and/or are sold into child slavery to ensure that they will then at least be fed. When put like that I find it hard to argue.
While I am not suggesting we have to implement this law into the United States I think that such a notion might need to be considered with regards to those who are in need of the welfare system. Why bring children into a world that you cannot afford? That you have to rely on a government (who happens to be facing their own financial hardships) to provide for your family perhaps requires a limitation. I have a large amount of taxes that are removed from my paycheck each time I am paid. A substantial amount of this money is allotted to the program that these people rely on. I, however, will wait a very long time, if ever, to have children due to the fact that financially I am not stable enough for such a feat. I just wonder how this cannot be a thought process that some have at all.
The answer to this problem was portrayed in such an extreme in the book that I sat back and said "whoa!" After much reflection there was a small part of me that thought, would that be such a bad idea? Another part of me thought that of course it is a bad idea, that some will have drawn the short straw and did not deserve it. I do, however, feel we need to come up with some sort of a plan for this growing issue; one that does not require such an extreme that was presented by Dan Brown. I think that if we are truly wanting to be free to make these decisions we need to take an active part in this process. We need to sit back and think about what we are doing to our world, our resources, our children. If we do not wish to have such stipulations implemented on us, such as the limited child law, perhaps we should do something now. Plus, do we, as a species, really want to be responsible for the extinction of our future generations?
Anyway, as usual Dan Brown did an amazing job of weaving a tale that I just could not put down. The descriptions of the places visited were thorough and caused me to add Florence, Italy to my bucket list. I anxiously await the next Robert Langdon novel.
Enjoy!
