Would you have better off born as a dolphin? Meir Shalev thinks so. In fact, he even goes so far as to encourage a child become one in order to receive more love and care from many of the world’s citizens. So, exactly how does one become a dolphin? Well, he never actually gives the reader that information in his letter, one in a collection addressed to Baby Six Billion.
Shalev’s letter is one of many quirky letters compiled in a short book distributed by The World Population Foundation titled Letters to the Six Billionth World Citizen. In this compilation, thirteen famous authors from all over the globe penned their salutations, on the occasion of the arrival of the planet’s six billionth inhabitant.
Are You a Man or a Mouse?
Take for example the letter by Mr. Pramoedya Ananta Toer titled The Mouse Experiment. His letter to Baby Six Billion begins by describing a biological experiment involving two mice in a cage. He describes how at first the mice are “loving and caring” but as they repeatedly multiply and produce more offspring, the cage quickly becomes cramped with limited space available for its inhabitants. As the mice multiply and fill up their space, they become increasingly hostile to one another. The experiment ends on an unpleasant note with the mice eating each other.
What conclusion is to be drawn from this story? Mr. Toer seems to be suggesting that mankind is destined for cannibalism! I am not alone in my skepticism of such a thing ever happening to humans who have the ability to find the necessary tools and resources to make their “cage” space more inhabitable.
Eradicating Poverty or the Poor?
One letter stands out, The letter written by Nawal El Saadawi, titled I Always Return Home, begins by lashing out at the damages that population control programs have wreaked upon the planet’s inhabitants. In her letter, she accuses population control programs, whose aim was to eliminate poverty in the developing world, with eradicating the poor instead.
She further attacks the population control mentality by stating that statistics prove that hunger and unemployment, problems that can easily be addressed and corrected, kill more people than any of the wars that have ravaged this planet. El Saadawi also describes in her letter how women in the so-called south are “subjected to drugs and to a range of coercive technologies” which “destroy our health and our lives.” Victims of these programs, she says, are not seen as people in the eyes of the world. And they published this damaging evidence in a pro-population control book? All in all, this is one of the most unlikely letters ever to appear in a pro population control related publication.
Wishes and Wellbeing…
Most of the fourteen letters offer advice or guidelines for the future of baby six billion as he starts his new life here. Some hope he will be born nearby so they can watch him grow and ensure that his needs are provided for. Others encourage him to forget that heaven may exist, and to avoid adopting political or religious extremism. Some hope he will be able to make a difference in this world. Others hope he will blend in with the crowd, become average, and slip away into obscurity. We here at PRI hope that Baby Six Billion will one day live to see a world in which his parents may not be looked upon harshly for giving him the gilt of a baby sister.
