Category | Op Ed

KAB speaker calls for population control

Published on April 7, 2009 by Justin Hayes

For those outraged readers who feel they are subsidizing right-wing propaganda in the op/ed section of the Sentinel (an opinion with which I disagree), it is necessary to shed equal criticism on other organizations of campus. On March 31, the Kennesaw Activities Board, as part of their Chautauqua Lecture Series, had environmentalist and founding member of Greenpeace, the Sea Shepard Society and the Sierra Club, Paul Watson, as a guest speaker for our fellow students and faculty.

KAB feels “this type of speaker will intrigue students and administrative personnel to come out and hear a wide variety of philosophies and perspectives, ultimately engaging our students in rich and meaningful dialogue.” The problem arises when the perspective of this particular speaker involves controlling the population in the name of saving the planet.

Unfortunately, I was not able to hear the actual speech of Mr. Paul Watson, nor was I able to get access to the particular subject matter. Still, it wouldn’t matter if Joseph Stalin gave a speech about the importance of human rights – it’s still Stalin. Based on the radical ranting of Mr. Watson, I am sure he would not mind a Great Purge or two.

In an editorial written by Mr. Watson on the Sea Shepard Society Web site, he compares humanity to an invasive virus. Watson believes that humans are so harmful to our “host” that he dehumanizes our very existence, equating it to an epidemic. He continues to say, “I was once severely criticized for describing human beings as being the ‘AIDS of the Earth.’ I make no apologies for that statement.”

Watson goes on to propose other solutions to our environmental crisis: “No human community should be larger than 20,000 people and separated from other communities by wilderness areas. We need vast areas of the planet where humans do not live at all and where other species are free to evolve without human interference. We need to radically and intelligently reduce human populations to fewer than one billion.”

These proposals sound pleasant and idealistic until he suggests population reduction. As I mentioned in an earlier column this semester, there are many mainstream environmentalists who do not see saving the environment and population control as mutually exclusive. Of course, one could easily write off these claims until they take a look at the legislative measures that Watson’s Sierra Club supports.

In a 2007 document, the San Francisco-based Sierra Club, a prominent environmental organization, describes specific federal legislation that it promotes. Surprisingly, none of the legislation deals with the environment. Instead, each bill has another common theme: population control issues. These include: the Global Democracy Promotion Act (HR 619), The Prevention First Act (S 21/HR 819), Focus On Family Health Worldwide Act (HR 1225) and the Global Poverty Act (HR 1302). Each bill outlines strategies to control populations by promoting increased contraceptive use domestically and abroad, which some environmentalists view as strategies to achieve “sustainable” populations.

Mr. Watson has even been called a terrorist for some previous convictions that, combined, might justify the claim. In 1992, in Reine, Norway, the Sea Shepard Society attempted to sink the vessel Nybrænna, used for fishing and whaling. This is a vital sector of that community’s economy and the way many members make their living, yet Watson felt more concerned about the rights of whales. Although he was accused of two similar incidents of attempted boat ramming in Canada and Costa Rica, they were dismissed as “set-ups” crafted by fishing interests. Coincidence?

The actual terrorist claim came in 2008, when Canadian Premier Danny Williams called Watson “a vile, disgusting excuse for a human being” for insensitive remarks about the deaths of four Quebec sealers. Watson called the deaths a tragedy, but said, “The slaughter of hundreds of thousands of seal pups is an even greater tragedy.” What does Mr. Watson have against humans?

I appreciate having different viewpoints heard, as long as those views are within a reasonable range of sanity. Paul Watson is clearly a radical with unreasonable ideas and impractical means of achieving his goals. We all pay for KAB and should demand some level of accountability in regards to events. I would advise the members of KAB to conduct more research when they select guest speakers who will “intrigue” students.