Overpopulation

One of the things that I want to do with this blog is to draw attention to issues and causes that I care about. Sometimes, I am going to provide links with shorter pieces of commentary.

The Guardian published a short piece about Paul Ehrlich who wrote The Population Bomb in 1968.

I won’t summarize the work, but I think it is worth commenting that population is one of the hardest topics to discuss. On one page, a person was upset by this article, exclaiming: “Killing more people (haven't we killed enough--145 million+ this past century)--is that really the most creative solution we can come up with?”

Of course, Ehrlich has proposed no such thing. Indeed, overpopulation has the potential to cause massive suffering in such forms as plague, starvation, war for scarce resources, and habitat destruction.

Reducing the population can be achieved through means such as education and empowering women. To be certain, it can create problems - especially economic problems. Many programs such as medicare, social security and even private pensions are dependent on a growing population supporting the well being of the elderly. They cannot be sustained as is if the younger generations are smaller than the older ones.

To be certain, it is a big problem, but it is not an impossible one. If we are willing to discuss it and work to prevent the worst ramifications from becoming reality, we can surely fix the problems.

Surely, it is better to fix the problems now, while we have options, than later - when we don’t.

Acadia National Park - The Beehive

For many who come to America’s National Parks, their first experience with the National Park Service is Acadia National Park. The park, first established as National Monument in 1916, was established as Lafayette National Park in 1919 and renamed Acadia in 1929. The idea for a national park east of the Mississippi came from the landscape architect Charles Elliott. Much of the park’s charm comes from the carriage trails that weave throughout the park. The trails were financed by John D. Rockefeller Jr. and designed by Beatrix Farrand.

I was there early in the season, before most of the roads in park were open to cars. Clearly, the carriage trails were popular with bikers and joggers, and next time I am there, I plan to bring my bike.  But for this trip, I wanted to try my hand at the Beehive. I heard about the trail the last time I was in the park, and it didn’t disappoint.  

The bulk of my hiking is done in Greater Yellowstone, where the volcanic history makes good vertical climbing a rare treat. But on Mt. Desert Island - the coastal Maine Island that is the home of Acadia - strong hard granite is the norm. So, the cliff faces of the beehive can support iron rungs used to go pretty much straight up a 500 foot rock outcrop.

In short, it is a thrilling hike.  But the best part of it is not the adrenaline rushes (although they are pretty amazing), but what is nearby. It is often said that people are either ocean or mountain people, but this trail offers the best of both worlds. The trail head is only a few hundred feet from the ocean. After a long winter of snow and skiing, a warm spring climb in the sea salt air, with waves crashing below was one of the most satisfying hikes I have done in years.

To finish off the hike, I headed south to the summit of Gorham Mountain and enjoyed the views of miles of untrammeled Maine coast.  From the bottom of the mountain, I hiked north along the ocean back to the car.

Why I stand with the 99%

If there is one thing that both the Tea Party and the 99% can agree on is that there is an unjust coupling of wealth and political power in this nation. It seems that the Tea Party wants to eliminate this problem by minimizing government while the 99% wants to eliminate the wealth disparity. (I am skirting around the fact that there is a good amount of diversity in both groups.)

However, the Tea Party has set themselves up as cheerleaders for what the rich and powerful want. They want less regulation, less of a government safety net, fewer government programs. I suspect that much of this comes from sheer magnitude of the injustice of the bank rescue. The rich got bailed out while the rest of us got screwed. Sadly, their solutions sound like the same things that corporations want. Less regulation for the banks is exactly what the corporations and the Tea Party both want. It is the same thing with environmental regulations. It is the same thing with the social safety net. One is left to wonder (I suspect the Koch brothers would have an explanation.)

So then the question must obviously be why we should support the 99%. Let me start by saying that at a very fundamental level, I agree with them. For the first time in this nation's history we have a generation that is going to be poorer, less healthy , and weaker nation than the previous generation inherited. Basics like Social Security and Medicaid are going to be denied to younger people (after having paid them for the older generation).

Furthermore, when I look at nations that do many of the things I want, like increased regulation, better economic safety nets, less wealth inequality, I find that they work well. In terms of per capita income, we aren't at the top by any measure. (Pardon my link to Wikipedia, but it was the only page with convenient listings that I could find.) Nations with much stronger social safety nets than ours are doing it better. Meanwhile, amongst OECD nations, we are at the bottom 5 for social justice as we are for wealth distribution, and we are one of the most polluting countries in the world.

This is compounded by the fact that starting in the 1980s, income stagnated for all but the richest of us. Once we started eliminating government, the rich just started getting richer while everyone else was working harder for more. Even after the collapse in 2008, they kept getting richer. CEO pay is now 343 times what the average worker makes, and that doesn't take capital earnings (which are taxed at a lower rate) into account.

One example of the abuse by those in power is in health care. To be sure, if you can afford it, you can get top of the line health care in this nation. Even those of us with "adequate" insurance can get some pretty decent health care too. That said, our system is monstrous. It is unimaginable that we, as a civilized nation, will turn to our poorest, least able, and sickest, and just say "fuck you, suffer." Yet that is what we do. Even if you are not sick, but have a pre-existing condition, or don’t do the paper work exactly, good luck getting covered.

That is, of course, small picture. The big picture is whether or not we, as a nation, get our money's worth, and the answer is clearly that we do not. In fact, we spend more than any other nation on health care, and we aren't living the longest, we have people passing away from treatable illnesses, and it is so unjust as to be unconscionable.

In short, our system sucks. That said, Medicare does work. Right now, young people are paying for the current recipients. It is the same thing with Social Security. These are wonderful programs and probably the only social programs that are popular with the American people. That said, I doubt that I will ever see the benefits of either program, so why should I pay for it? It isn't fair that I am paying for a program that I will never see the benefits from. Of course, if people still working stop paying into that system - then everyone will stop getting your benefits. 

Of course, every other industrialized nation has solved this by providing universal coverage. While no country has solved it perfectly, almost every country has done a better job than us. (See my link above) Are we incapable as a nation of providing at least basic health care to everyone? I would answer that we are, but it isn't inherent. The problem is that there are very wealthy and powerful interests getting in the way.

That seems wrong to me. People say it will cost us more in taxes. Right now, my insurance is about $350, which I get through my wife’s job. We are paying $700 a month between the two of us. I would happily pay $500 a month for both of us to get better health care. It doesn’t matter to me if it is taxes or a private company – I am still out the money. Ultimately, I would rather pay less for better product. 

Keep in mind, the reason corporations opposed the public option was because they would not be able to compete.

My friend Cathy making a stand

Enough is enough. I want to live in a country that offers real economic opportunity- one that is compassionate enough to offer people health care and a social safety net. Will some abuse it? Of course. But does that mean that nobody should have one? How many people do you know who are stuck in jobs they hate? In many other countries, that doesn't happen because losing your job is not the end of the world. I want to live in a country where breaking your arm doesn't mean that you are going to be impoverished. I don't want to live a country where you have to take some crappy job because you desperately need to pay those bills. I want to live in a country with compassion, kindness, decency.

In other words, it is time to remove money from politics and regulate corporations. If they really are people, let them live by the same rules as the rest of us. If someone dies because of a corporation’s action, put it in jail. Better yet, put it on death row in Texas. I also want personal freedoms. I feel that the nations that do this best are in those in Scandinavia. I don't want to move there, but I think we could learn from some of their ideas. We are a nation of immigrants, and I think that we have always done well by importing good ideas.

By the way, Scandinavia is not part of the Euro-zone, so they are removed from what is happening in Greece (keep in mind that the Euro is pretty much a conservative idea), and Iceland has recovered nicely, and much more quickly, by following a socialized regiment.

Moreover, government is ours. By every right, we should have an equal say in government. My views, your views, David Koch's views and Michael Moore's views should all be held in equal regard. Money should not be the keys to the kingdom. So, let's get money out of politics, stop saying that corporations are people, and find realistic ways of solving the problems. I think that puts me with those people who are occupying Wall Street. Indeed, it puts 99% of us with them. 

Galapagos: Fernandina

On the sixth day we visited the island of Fernandina. At 700,000 years old it is the youngest of these islands, and its lack of age shows. The area we landed in was quite lush. It was underwater until 1959, when an underground lava flow forced some of the shoreline above water. A Disney crew was filming in the area at the time. The returned to the area one morning to find the beach has been lifted up. Where there had been water, they found exposed ocean floor. They reported that fish were still flopping around and lobsters were crawling around on the ground.

You can still see where the old beach was. It is a bar of black sand separating the lush mangrove and poison apple forest from the forbidding a’a lava fields behind it. A’a lava comes from the Hawaiian word for pain because of its razor sharp edges. On the lava fields, only the hardiest of organisms can survive. Lava cactus is one of the pioneers on this island, finding enough to get by on from the dust and soil that accumulates in the cracks. A few trees have started to make it here, notably the incense tree – which has a delightful smell that can be used to keep the mosquitoes away.

Of course, for sea going animals, the quality of life inland is of little consequence, so the shores of the island are rich with marine iguanas, sea lions, boobys and shore birds. Despite that, life on shore can still be precarious. The volcano here is still very active. Active enough that it wiped out a breed of tortoise that once lived here. When it will erupt again is anyone’s guess.

But we can be certain it will. Fernandina is still growing, as is Isabella, the largest of the Galapagos Islands. Soon, at least by geological standards, they will be carried away from the hot spot and begin to erode back into the sea as they make the eastward journey towards Peru. Already, they are starting to be replaced. While Fernandina might well be a baby island, its replacement is already starting to gestate. Two miles off her western shore, Scientists have already discovered a new volcano starting to climb towards the surface.

Galapagos: Galapagos Underwater

Roughly 20% of the fishes in the waters around the Galapagos are endemic, meaning they can be found nowhere else. By Galapagos standards the waters are absolutely cosmopolitan, even if that number is fantastically high by the standards of most ecosystems.

Enter the waters here, and you are overwhelmed with snappers, parrot fish, sergeant majors, and star fish. Today, while snorkeling off the coast of Isabella, we met an astonishing number of creatures. Within 30 seconds of entering the water, I was greeted by the first spectacular sighting of the day – a shark. In our tellings of the story, the shark has grown to be well over 50 feet. However, it was probably about 6 feet – a white tip shark. The hammerheads have proven to be less cooperative.

About one minute and several dozen brightly colored fish after the shark swam off, a pacific green sea turtle swam into view. These endemic sea turtles are nesting at the moment, so they wait close to shore for night to come. When it does, they haul themselves up past the high tide mark and bury their eggs in the soft sand, leaving tracks that look suspiciously like truck tires. They are amazing creatures, and quite common on these islands. Already a number of my travel partners have grown bored of them. I haven't.

Later, I feel a tugging at my flippers. Malcolm, an English traveler who used to work for the Saudi royal family, point at a bunch of Galapagos penguins. They slowly approached, apparently curious about what they were seeing in their normally human free waters. After investigating for a bit, they must have decided that I was nothing of interest, and disappeared into the ocean.

This was followed by a Galapagos sea lion, an endemic species closely related to the California sea lion. They are entirely tame here. At one point, I was walking along the beach, looking at the sea when Maru, a girl with my group, pushed my chest to make me stop walking. I was about to trip over a sea lion that was walking past. The sea lion was nonplussed – it simply looked up at me, barked at me, and kept moving.

After that came a flightless cormorant. Cormorants here have lost the ability to fly. They still sun their wings, but for no apparent purpose. The wings that they have left are little more than stubs. Out of water they are awkward looking creatures, stumbling about on the rocks and getting into shouting matches with blue footed boobies like drunks on binge. Moving about the underwater rocks like mercury, searching for food hidden in the crevices, they possess a grace under water that that is utter lacking on land.

In 1998, the waters surrounding the islands were declared a marine reserve, and is protected under both Ecuadoran and international law. Despite these protections, and genuine enforcement efforts, these waters remain under siege. Poaching continues, with long lines and nets drowning countless numbers of birds, turtles and sea lions. The damage done to reefs and other underwater habitats is difficult to quantify, as is the economic damage done to people who try to support themselves sustainably on these islands. (Including the many local fishermen who play by the rules.)

Not every snorkel trip has been that eventful. Sometimes the water is murky, sometimes there is just nothing there. This isn't an aquarium, but, at least for the time being, this is one of the best places to experience some of the best underwater wildlife viewing this world has to offer.

Galapagos: Lonesome George

Today was a trip to town. We took in a bit of shopping and a spin through the Charles Darwin Research Center. The center's most famous inhabitant is Lonesome George. Poor George is the last of his kind, or at least the last of his kind known. There is a $20,000 reward out for female saddleback tortoises from the island of Pinta.

He actually isn't so lonesome. He shares his pen with two female saddlebacks from a different island. They are a different species, but scientists think that they might be closely enough related that they could be able to produce offspring.

Mostly this has gone nowhere. For twelve years, George only appears to have tried to mate with one of the females one time. He ended up falling asleep on top of the poor thing and the mating was unsuccessful. He is estimated to be about 90 years old, fairly young for a giant tortoise, but still give the guy a break. He got something done – the female laid eggs, but none of them were fertilized.

A Belgian volunteer “with lovely soft hands” (as described by Juan, our guide) managed to collect some sperm from George. It turns out that the last of his kind is not producing viable semen. And there is, so I am told, plans in the works to introduce saddlebacks from a different island to Pinta. The different species play similar ecological roles on the different islands. Their diets are roughly the same, and they play an important role in seed distribution for plants. Finches also rely on them as a source for food. The two species have a mutualistic relationship, where the finches east the pests off of the turtles. It is hoped that a similar enough tortoise will fill the same ecological niche.

However, not all hope is lost for George. The bounty is still out on a potential mate. It is hoped that once he is meets a female of his own kind, his sperm might be revitalized. And after all these years, it is still a possibility. A male from the Isabella, the main island, seems to be wild cross between a Pinta tortoise and the local tortoises found near Wolf Volcano. A brief study has found that 8 of 27 tortoises around that volcano have genetic traits suggesting that there are Pinta tortoises on the island.

Given the long life spans of giant tortoises, it is also possible that one of them is still alive in a private collection or zoo.

Even if a mate can’t be found, George might not be the last of his kind. Genetic tests on a tortoise named Tony at a zoo in Prague suggest that he might also be from Pinta. So, maybe, Lonesome George can finally have a friend he wouldn’t want to fall asleep on top of.

Travel notes: That afternoon we headed up to a private ranch with a healthy population of wild tortoises. We began the trip with a short jaunt down a lava tube, which are basically caves caused by lava flows rather than running water. Normally there is an abundance of wildlife in these caves, including bats and owls, but today there were none.

We ended up seeing numerous tortoises and learning about the moister, high elevation areas of these islands. It was fascinating. Afterwards, we gathered at the rancher's home, where we had coffee with rum and relaxed in the shade (the island was incredibly hot and humid.). After a while, Juan brought out his guitar and started singing. Another group of Ecuadorian tourists came up and joined us. Their guide tried his hand at singing as well, He had a wonderful tenor voice and bBefore long, everyone was singing and dancing and clapping.

It was incredible. I have been told that the American National Park Service used to require rangers to lead sing-alongs. Last summer we had a discussion about how few rangers could successfully pull that off. In fact, we all wanted to meet the ranger who could. Who would have suspected that it would turn out to be Juan?

Galapagos: Flamingos of the Everglades

Today we watched flamingos. They are the same kind that live in the Caribbean and Florida, they haven’t been here long enough to evolve into a new species. They aren't the strongest of fliers and were probably carried over to these islands by a strong storm several thousand years ago. They were lucky enough to find some brackish waters and thrived.

Because they are relatively recent arrivals to these shores, they still have some of their fear of people, so quietness is a must. However, they aren't that afraid. We were able to get within a few dozen feet of them while they preened and groomed themselves, occasionally sticking their heads in the water for a snack of the shrimp that thrive in these waters.

I've only seen flamingos once before, in Florida, with my dad. We were staying in the Everglades, and we had asked the ranger where we could see them. The answer involved a long boardwalk through a mangrove swamp full of mosquitoes. We made the trek, and despite covering ourselves with both clothing and repellent, we were both pretty well chewed up. We arrived at the end of the trail only to see nothing. No flamingos, not much of anything to be honest. We waited about 15 minutes, the mosquito bites turning into welts, before two finally flew over head. Close enough to be identified, but not so close that we could get any good pictures.

My father was happy enough with that – simply smiling and saying “we know they're here.”

Today was different. I know they are there because there were dozens of them on the lake. Several of them were almost within touching distance, three babies were visible, and we could hear their calls – honking like Canada geese. My group stood still and silent on the edge of the brackish lagoon. Roughly three of them preened themselves. They were so close that we could hear them ruffle their feather and splash their heads around in the water as they ate or gathered water to clean themselves with. Each pink feather was clearly visible. Silence seemed the only appropriate response. In part, this is because the birds are more easily spooked than other animals on the islands. However, it was more than that. It was like some innate part of us that understands when stillness and silence is the only proper response.

Somehow though, none of them were as satisfying as those two quietly passing over a mosquito plagued swamp in the south of Florida.

Travel notes:

Later in the day, we went to post office cove, where an 18th century whaling captain placed a barrel where people could put mail and hope that it would be delivered. Today the tradition survives. I had no postcards with me, but I did pick up a few for delivery when I return to the states.

After that, we crossed the island in bare feet, where we watched sea turtles waiting for night time to come ashore at night and lay their eggs. They were remarkably close to the shore.

The crew of the ship also took a break from providing us with luxury service and played a soccer match with the crew of another vessel. We stayed and watched – it was great fun, especially given that half the field was covered by the rising tide by the end of the match. (Literally, half the field – no exaggeration.)

After that, it was time for a bit of snorkeling. (Another reminder of my father, who loved nothing more than being in the ocean.) We went to devil's head, a place famous for hammerheads. No sharks today, alas, but lots of beautiful fishes, starfish and corals.

Tonight we are off to one of the towns. I forget exactly which one, but it will be an opportunity to do a bit of shopping and enjoy a beer at the bar.