Schools of Public Health and Global, you know, Health shit

[CountDeMoney]

OK, so I was contemplating the nature of graduate schools of public health who are dedicated to solving health crises overseas, particularly in developing countries.  So many granola-and-Birkenstock hairy pitters trying to save the world, one distended belly with flies on the eyelids at a time.

Now, we all know that the Third World is at the epicenter of so many global health crises--AIDS, starvation, pre-natal care, Malaria, etc.--but aren't those very issues the driving forces behind the Earth attempting to repair itself from this pestilence called Humanity?  Why are we trying to solve so many issues in the very same countries that are at the center of the biggest global health crisis:  over-population?

If that's the case, why are we trying to stop these things then?  Isn't that counter to the nature of Nature?

[Neil]

Come now.  Feel-good hippie types don't have the moral courage to do any real good.  Otherwise, we'd see some Army of the Twelve Monkeys shit going down.

That said, the world would be a better place if everyone south of the Rio Grade, east of the Elbe, south of the Mediterranean and not living on the islands of Australia, New Zealand or Japan would die.  If neccessary, I'd even be willing to sacrifice continental Europe and the southern United States.

[Faeelin]

Now, we all know that the Third World is at the epicenter of so many global health crises--AIDS, starvation, pre-natal care, Malaria, etc.--but aren't those very issues the driving forces behind the Earth attempting to repair itself from this pestilence called Humanity?  Why are we trying to solve so many issues in the very same countries that are at the center of the biggest global health crisis:  over-population?

If that's the case, why are we trying to stop these things then?  Isn't that counter to the nature of Nature?

A lot of those programs do support birth control to lower population levels, and in any case Third Worlders use far fewer resources than most of us do.

[alfred russel]

The original Malthus would agree with you.

[CountDeMoney]

and in any case Third Worlders use far fewer resources than most of us do.

ORLY?

But, this is about global health, not global conservation.

[Razgovory]

Come now.  Feel-good hippie types don't have the moral courage to do any real good.  Otherwise, we'd see some Army of the Twelve Monkeys shit going down.

That said, the world would be a better place if everyone south of the Rio Grade, east of the Elbe, south of the Mediterranean and not living on the islands of Australia, New Zealand or Japan would die.  If neccessary, I'd even be willing to sacrifice continental Europe and the southern United States.

Really you should sacrifice Japan before Europe or parts of the US.

[chipwich]

Malthusianism is a lie get it through your head.

[Tamas]

I have been long saying: occassional aid packages are only conserving the horrible situation in Africa. Give them reasonable help (teach them to fish), or leave them alone so they get it over quicker.

[Caliga]

Seedy, I used to work for the Harvard School of Public Health, and believe it or not we used to (and they still might, for all I know) hold symposia devoted to that very topic.  IIRC the general consensus was that, while population control was considered vital in the Third World, it was equally important to mitigate the suffering of those who already had been born.  Alot of the pharmas funded initiatives in places like Botswana that were half devoted to epidemiological relief, and half devoted to birth control initiatives.

[The Brain]

This thread is racist.

[CountDeMoney]

while population control was considered vital in the Third World, it was equally important to mitigate the suffering of those who already had been born.

I disagree with that premise.

[Tamas]

while population control was considered vital in the Third World, it was equally important to mitigate the suffering of those who already had been born.

I disagree with that premise.

your avatar suits this thread 

[Caliga]

I disagree with that premise.

You probably would not have been a popular fellow with the people at the Harvard AIDS Institute. 

[Neil]

Really you should sacrifice Japan before Europe or parts of the US.

They're more civilized than the Mexicans and blacks that live in the South, and they're far more useful than the inhabitants of continental Europe.