Dear Friend,
“Meanwhile, his men were bridging the Hellespont from Asia to Europe. But no sooner had the strait been bridged than a great storm swept down, breaking and scattering everything. When Xerxes heard of this, he was very angry and commanded that the Hellespont be whipped with three hundred lashes …”
– Herodotus
This is not the column I planned to present. I’m writing this in the immediate aftermath of Trump’s victory. Given his highly erratic — not to mention bizarre and mean-spirited — nature, there is no way to predict exactly what will transpire once he is back in the Oval Office. It will certainly be very bad news for the priorities we care about deeply. No doubt he will reimpose the odious Global Gag Rule and take other actions that will severely damage the reproductive health programs that empower women and are vitally needed to meet the challenges posed by overpopulation.
Trump, whose mammoth self-regard knows no limits, will almost certainly choose to ignore any and all facts that do not fit his chaotic agenda. In his own strange way, he may, like Xerxes some 25 centuries ago, seek to visit punishment on the planet itself by canceling efforts to address climate change, among other things.
In the United Kingdom, there is a long-standing political sideshow called the Monster Raving Loony Party. One of its candidates called for repealing the Law of Gravity. At times, political pomposity needs to be deflated through humor. But there is nothing funny about electing despotic demagogues to high office.
The presidency is the most powerful office on Earth. But there are things that no president can do. Presidents cannot repeal the laws of physics. Presidents cannot control chemical reactions. Presidents cannot prevent natural disasters or shift the direction of hurricanes with a Sharpie.
Presidents also cannot alter arithmetic. Every year, we add some 70 million people to our already overcrowded planet. Every year, we deplete and destroy irreplaceable natural resources. Every year, we come closer to all manner of tipping points. Nature always bats last.
The most important lesson I learned during my 20 years in politics was to keep at it. Win or lose, the work still needs to be done. And that is exactly what we will continue to do at Population Connection. Somebody needs to keep raising the alarm about the impacts of overpopulation. And if we don’t do it, no one will.
Electoral victories often provide a false sense of comfort, while defeats are a test of character — a way to determine whether commitment to a mission is truly steadfast.
We will persevere.
