Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Thought for the day

So, Canada's global warming strategy (unofficially, of course) basically amounts to the following:
For every single Canadian whose life is inconvenienced in even the slightest way to combat global warming, at least one other person on Earth will have to die. This is the minimum we are willing to inflict on the poor for their callous demand that we stop killing them.
The math is very simple. Canada is a small country, only 30 million people, but the population of people at risk is orders of magnitude larger -- the several billion people in Asia who are fed because of disappearing glaciers are just one example. So if even a small percentage (2% of 3 billion is 60 million) of the at-risk population actually kicks it because we refuse to give up SUVs and exurban mansions, it's possible that it could be worse.

(Please, don't write in telling me that Canada's emissions are too small to matter. If a pair of gunmen both shoot a hostage, they aren't each charged with half a murder. Human lives are indivisible, and we're gladly playing along with this game.)

So the question is: how do we live with ourselves?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

(Please, don't write in telling me that Canada's emissions are too small to matter. If a pair of gunmen both shoot a hostage, they aren't each charged with half a murder. Human lives are indivisible, and we're gladly playing along with this game.)

Sorry, I gotta quibble that one. If two people shoot the same individual, one with a shotgun to the head (the US) the other with a BB gun to the leg (Canada) the one with the BB Gun ain't part of the murder per se.

That being said, we are aiding and abetting, so we are guilty for that, but it IS a matter of degree.