I am mad, seething mad, at the amount of rubbish that fellow was allowed to say on-air. I know for a fact that a lot of people listen to this radio station, and that a lot of them will believe the most ridiculous things I have ever heard on radio in my life.
Claim #1
There is NO population boom.
According to the website Ibiblio, the current world population is 6.9 billion people. Compare those stats with 5 years ago, 10 years ago, and 20 years ago, and it's painfully obvious that there is a population boom.
Claim #2
The entire world can fit in Texas.
This is quite a howler. The former senator Mr. X claims that with a population density of 8000 persons per square kilometer, the world can fit within Texas (thus begging the question of is overpopulation then, really is a problem?). To help understand how foolish the claims of this former senator was, let's do some simple mathematics. Texas has a land area of 696,000 square kilometers. The world has 6.9 billion people. Assuming that 100% of Texas is habitable land, we would come up with a population density of 9913 persons per square kilometer. He claims that this is possible because "8000 persons per square kilometer is half of the population density of Manila". Of course, it's certainly probable, but really, (and I can attest to this), the quality of life was disregarded by Mr. X aka the fact-machine. He fails to regard that people just cannot use every available land on this planet to live on; the land must be habitable, offer a certain quality of life, and of course, convenient for survival. The Sahara desert is a lot of land, but you don't imagine seeing a Saharan metropolis do you?
Claim #3
The first-world countries are selfish.
He claims that the "millions of dollars spent by first-world countries to treat their AIDS sufferers" should be "sent to third-world countries instead, like the Philippines, to help feed people". He also claims that those people will not get AIDS if they "were God-fearing in the first place".
Mr. X, sexual intercourse is not the only way to get AIDS. Quite frankly, why in hell should first-world countries help feed the poor of third-world countries by not taking care of their own citizens first? This is the real world, not some philanthropic dream of yours. Mr. X has also failed to consider that the third-world countries that are suffering are not tackling domestic corruption problems, which bleed the aid money given by first-world countries in the billions of dollars.
Claim #4
God is not dumb.
I agree with this one completely BUT the way Mr. X gave an example was utter foolishness. He claims that studies on overpopulation are done by "Western atheists" who do not believe in God, and assumes God is so dumb as to "create a world that can be overpopulated". This is even beyond stupidity. God may have created the world, but people choose to procreate, people choose to have children irresponsibly, and people choose to pack themselves in dense urban areas. I hate it when a guy shoots his own foot; he accuses others of being non-believers when he lives in a country (my motherland, the Philippines) where AIDS is at an all-time high, teenage pregnancy is a common occurrence, drug abuse is everywhere, an experienced sex industry, and crime levels that are just appalling. You hypocrite. The pot has certainly called the kettle black in this case.
Moral of the story: Do not always believe what you hear in radio (and we should never do) and when in doubt, the Internet has tons of reliable and accurate resources to inform ourselves of what really is happening in the world. Knowledge is more than power; it gives our lives substance.
So go out there, and read up on something, and learn! :)
Jay~
