Consumption’s the thing
Your correspondents frequently attribute the problems facing humankind and the planet to overpopulation ( Letters, February 10, January 27). There are, indeed, too many of us and we must breed responsibly, but the good news is population growth has slowed dramatically.
The world population, which doubled from about 1.5 billion in 1900 to 3 billion by the 1960s, and doubled again to 6 billion over the following 30 years, has increased by only about 20% in the 20 years since. The bad news is that we and other countries that manage to stabilise their populations do so by becoming wealthier and in the process lose control of consumption.
As worrying as overpopulation may be, the elephant in the room is consumption. Although China’s levels of car ownership and per capita contribution to climate change are tiny compared with our own and rest of the Western world’s, it is burgeoning, along with its appetite for energy, stuff and exotic experiences.
It is difficult to find any evidence that we or they have any plans to consume less, or that they or any of the other emerging economies do not aspire to consume with the same reckless abandon as we do.
I suspect accumulating material goods, like breeding, may be a hard-wired survival mechanism, but since the demographers tell us we are managing to curb our breeding, perhaps we could begin to focus on seeking more wholesome substitutes for our insatiable and deeply unsatisfying pursuit of things and experiences that add little to the sum total of human happiness or the capacity of the planet to sustain life. Mike Ward (Nelson) LETTER OF THE WEEK
MAKING THE WORLD COOL AGAIN
The focus on individual steps in the climate change story’s action plan sidebar is misplaced (“Hot and bothered”, January 27).
So, while I am driving less often, the Government I elected is allowing the continued search for oil and gas in New Zealand waters. While I am eating less red meat, opencast coal mining continues on the West Coast.
The action plan’s futility stuns me. The Government states intentions and the establishment of another committee when we need action. Yvonne Curtis (Christchurch) The greatest cause of global warming is too many people consuming finite resources. So, how can Green Party MP Marama Davidson be seen as a true green when she has six children? If she is chosen as the party’s co-leader, it will further mark the Greens as a party of hypocritics. Trevor Sennitt (Avonhead, Christchurch) The climate change story prompts a couple of thoughts. Tree planting on erosion-prone hill country, or allowing it to revert to scrub, would have a great deal more benefit than just soaking up excess carbon.
It will improve and protect water supplies, of which there is already an increasing local and global shortage and which will likely be exacerbated by climate change. It will also reduce the effect of heavier rainfall, moderate and maintain water flows in times of drought and reduce sedimentation of riverbeds and consequential flooding in lowlying areas.
One has only to recall the effects of Cyclone Bola and similar recent events to realise that continuing to farm a lot of this type of land is unwise, especially with the likelihood of more frequent extreme events. Allowing it to revert to manuka scrub would also be a boost to the honey industry.
Another worrying effect of a warming climate is from increased demand for air conditioning. This will cause a greater demand for power generation. There is also the associated positive feedback loop from the warm air expelled by the cooling air conditioning.
Flow-on effects and interlinked mechanisms and
consequences are often poorly understood but are of concern and warrant more research. Tony Bevin (Raumati Beach)
WHEN I WERE LAD
Call me a dolt but I missed the point of Leister Monk’s letter (February 10) comparing Jacinda Ardern and Michelle Boag’s experiences of having babies. It did, however, jolt a memory of the Monty Python sketch about the “Four Yorkshiremen”, and inspired this:
“You had caesarean, you were lucky. I had triplets out on t’road while I were doing second job collecting night soil after working 18 hours a day at mill …”
I guess the reader will have to conjure up a Yorkshire accent and be happy that some things do change for the better, even in politics. Paul Kelly (Palmerston North)
HEALTH OF THE NATION
It saddens me that there is even a discussion about the ethics of speaking out about US President Donald Trump’s mental health ( Psychology, January 27).
I have no time for Trump and his policies. But I have been a mental-health nurse for 34 years and understand that to diagnose someone you have
to “be with them”, preferably over a substantial period in several meetings.
Diagnosis based on tweets and public utterances damages the credibility of the profession, which is fragile as it is. It is demeaning to the people we try to help that some professionals even think they can diagnose from a distance. Tim Giles (Hawke’s Bay) Isn’t it time our political leaders had publicly notified annual health check-ups? These should be voluntary, as in the US, where Donald Trump, who is 71, recently got a physical report that showed him able to govern – at least from the neck down.
Presumably Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will be having check-ups over the next six months and into the future, as she has her baby. But she should be subject to annual checks, the results of which
are made public.
Winston Peters, who will be Acting Prime Minister for six weeks when Ardern gives birth, could set the ball rolling to reassure us that at age 73, when he is in charge, he is fit and able to lead.
The turmoil the country was thrown into on Prime Minister Norman Kirk’s sudden death in August 1974 shouldn’t be allowed to be repeated. Janet Weir (Melrose, Wellington)
SOUNDS OF THE CARIBBEAN
James Belfield is right that Mista Savona has mixed up a fine cross-cultural Ja-Cuba brew ( Books & Culture, February 3). But Savona is not the only one to have done this.
I recommend readers check out Ska Cubano’s fine CDs, such as 2005’s Ay Caramba! They were a hit at Womad in New Plymouth in 2009. Steve Benson (Lower Hutt)
WAITANGI WAY TO GO
Congratulations to all the people who have used their foresight, compassion, intelligence and open-mindedness to make Waitangi Day a truly wonderful day to celebrate, and to enable our nation to move forward positively and peacefully. Clare Dudley (Tuateawa)
TEACHER RECRUITMENT
In 1958, after serving eight years in the Royal New Zealand Navy and completing a teaching diploma, I was appointed to a position at an Auckland co-ed college.
As there was a teacher shortage, there were recruitment efforts in the UK, and graduates with arts degrees, but no teaching qualifications, were offered two-year contracts with airfares to New Zealand and assistance with accommodation.
As they lacked teaching experience, they were to “train on the job” and were sent to classrooms to observe teachers. As one chosen to assist, I was expected to inculcate the Principles and Practices of Teaching. Their salaries were £1000 a year; mine was £615.
The Government did not consider that by improving the
extremely niggardly teaching salaries, it may have solved the problem locally. Bryan Johnson (Omokoroa)
CITIZEN WILLIAMS
In commenting on desirable electoral-system reforms, Mike Williams ( Politics, January 27) suggests that voting eligibility should be based on citizenship, not permanent residency.
Potentially, this action would be even more important than tweaking MMP itself. Encouraging citizenship has great benefit in making a coherent and proud society. David Reid (Cockle Bay, Auckland)
WINE, WOMEN AND WORK
Michael Cooper ( Wine, January 6) describes a New Zealand wine industry with which an increasing number of young women are familiar.
Our daughter, a Lincoln University oenology graduate of 2013, was in a class that was 50:50 male and female. All the young men have wine-industry jobs, but to my knowledge not one of the young women. This is despite the fact that young female graduates have travelled at their own cost to Australia, France, the US and throughout New Zealand to gain a wide variety of winemaking experiences.
After seven New Zealand and international vintages, our daughter was interviewed for an assistant winemaking role at a reputable Marlborough winery and asked if she could bake for morning teas. During one vintage experience, the highly qualified, experienced young women were asked to collect the coffee cups, time sheets and tidy the office area, whereas the young men, many with no qualifications, were given roles with responsibility.
Although it is reassuring to know that female winemakers can succeed in New Zealand, these younger women need to see a sea change in attitude in the industry before their creativity, passion, expertise and enthusiasm are lost forever. Angela Heke (Karori, Wellington)
GENDER BLENDER
If what we increasingly hear in cafes and shops is anything to go by – that is, patrons and customers being universally referred to as “guys” by the staff – might we be forgiven for thinking gender equality has largely been sorted?
And I do wonder if this has been helped by it sometimes being quite challenging, at first glance, anyway, to distinguish the girls from the guise. Garry Whincop (Napier)
POETRY CORNER
I receive the Listener every week./It is a Christmas present from a friend./I must say I devour it – not literally, of course/From beginning to end.//The two pages I turn to first/Are not articles, I have to
confess./The first one is entitled Wordsworth. Readers submit humorous verses. Yes.//I have been tempted to contribute/ But this is the problem I face/ The winner is never the one I would select./Sadly that’s always the case.//The other page is “Caption Competition”./The same thing happens with that./The winning caption, according to me/Is never the one they choose. Drat!// Take last week, for example, the one I chose/I actually laughed out loud./Whereas the one they chose – not even a smile./ Who picks? Male, female, an amorphous crowd?//I do know, without a shadow of doubt/ That if I entered either/I can certainly guarantee/That I would win neither!//Hang on, in this week’s magazine,/My pick won!/So maybe I would have a chance/When all’s said and done.
Sheila Charles (Pine Hill, Dunedin)