spaying & neutering yourself

there are just too many people in the world. we are using up our natural resources too fast and the parts of the world that could be considered untouched wilderness are getting smaller and smaller. plastic, floating around our oceans, is getting gobbled up by sea critters and blocking their intestines and killing them off. the future of Mother Earth is bleak. i think most of us can agree that we should start doing some things differently to change these effects we're having. however, this being said, i am not one of these idealistic hippis who thinks i alone can save the planet by giving up deoderant and boycotting Starbucks. the majority of people aren't going to change their habits for the better unless there is some advantage or greater convenience that comes with the change. therefore, unless we come up with some good ideas quick, we are (actually the earth is) screwed.

i've heard of this concept of the carbon footprint. i don't know much about it, but it is an interesting concept. i'm sure Al Gore must talk about it in his movie, but i have yet to see that. i do think we each have a responsiblity to do what we can to leave the earth in good condition. but it seems to me that an individual can struggle to change his habits to better serve the earth, while those around him continue their lives of convenience, and he may still have little impact on his own footprint (other than to keep the mom n' pop coffee shops in business). bottom line, we are all, in our great numbers, destroying the earth. probably the biggest impact we could have to slow the earth's destruction is to stem the increase in population that is happening around the world.

this is just one of the many reasons i have decided to not have children - and i am not just saying that. as of Dec 7, 2006 i am sterile. i chose to get a vasectomy. and i hope that others will do the same. what better way to leave less impact on the earth than to not produce more little convenience-addicts running around? everyone asks me "what if you change your mind?" i don't think i will, but there's always adoption. there are homeless, parentless children around the world that will never get adopted, never have the love of family, never have health care, and likely die before reaching adulthood or end up in prison. it is an outrage that even in the United States this is happening. i know, because i have worked for several years in the foster care system.

societal norms and tradition tells us that we should have children and those that do not are somehow breaking the rules. what Bob Barker did for the spaying and neutering of pets was great. we need a Bob Barker for humanity as well. people are sad, as they should be, when unwanted pets get destroyed, but unwanted humans suffer an even worse fate every day around the world and people still ask me "are you sure you don't want to have kids?"

what Madonna and Angelina Jolie are doing by adopting kids from around the world is great. i applaud them and i hope they will be trendsetters in a big way. as for the vasectomy, it wasn't terribly painful. it wasn't nearly as bad as i thought it would be. spaying & neutering yourself is the greatest gift you can give to the world.