A Modest Proposal

Alistair Chase WW- Brown 10/20/11

At almost seven billion people living on this planet, the world has to come up with a solution to stop over population. Without an intervention, the condition that we live in will drop severely, to the point where most everyone will starve. Earths resources will be drained, and our planet will no longer be inhabitable. At the current rate of 200 people being born every minute, and only 100 dying, the Earth will indeed become too populated. Putting a cap on the amount of children a couple is allowed to have, will not be a sufficient means to postpone our inevitable demise. All nations agree that something must be done. The rate at which we can develop new eco-friendly technology, cannot keep up with the declining state of our environment. This, alongside the growing pace at which our population is increasing, is contributing to the speedy decline of our planet. I cannot emphasize how much a radical decision must be made to counter act the environmental doomsday. Time is off the essence, which is why I have called for such drastic measures.

At one billion, three hundred million, China is the most populated country on Earth. At its current growth rate, it also makes it the most damaging to the environment, and to every other person on the globe. This is why China is the most logical and sensible choice for decimation. America alone does not have the power to achieve this. However, if combine with Russia, we could potentially solve Earths problem. A simultaneous attack on China would bring our population back to sustainable numbers. Using our immense, decaying nuclear stockpile, America would be able to render China uninhabitable.

If we wanted to destroy every inch of China, it would take approximately 15,000 nuclear weapons. Every single one of these would have to yield a blast of at least 100 megatons. With this amount of power, the United States, and Russia would be able to extremely reduce the population of the planet. Now, not every weapon deployed would promise such a large blast, which brings be to my next proposal. To keep many people from surviving the blast, there must be a safety net put in place. If we were to surround the boarder with radiation, anyone who attempted to escape would be killed. This must be a very careful, and precise attack. It must be far enough inside the boarder, to keep radiation from spreading into worrisome countries. Depending on how long the radiation lasts; China will unfortunately yield uninhabitable for many years. Despite the loss in land, this is an acceptable loss for the challenge that we will have overcome. The Earths population will drop back down to six billion, which is a relatively safe number until we develop a more sustainable method of life. There will be, however, economic fallout due to the large reliance on Chinese exports. As a major producer in the global economy, the loss of China will produce a massive impact on the global economy. The goods that are imported from there will have to be replaced with items made in other countries. The U.S. should prepare for this loss by massively increasing the amount of factories in America. If there is sufficient growth in Americas exports, it is my belief that we can take advantage of this loss. We, as a country will be able to reclaim our position as the most powerful country by becoming relied on for our exports. This will allow the world to fix problems that we have previously made during expansion. America should become responsible for ensuring that humans do not destroy what is left of our environment. If there is a centralized production of necessities in the United States, we can ensure that production can be made as eco-friendly as possible. Thus reversing the effects of todays harmful free market. This new influx

of exports will create tens of thousands of new jobs in the U.S.; the majority being jobs that were once outsourced. The economic and environmental benefits of reduction in the worlds population are endless for America, as well as for the rest of the world. America will provide stability to the world with its new found economic growth. The tragedies that will have occurred will not be remembered as such, but will be seen as heroic acts that saved billions, at the cost of only a few.