by Terry Morgan
look for a better life. It is not their fault. Some of them are good friends. It is not fair."
The older man immediately saw another subject for a lengthy explanation. But he could not help himself.
"You speak of fairness again? You speak of things being made fair when thousands are already dying? I do not just sit here behind these walls waiting to be released, you know. I watch world events. Like huge flocks of migrating birds and herds of wild animals we all know that many thousands of humans still die as they move en masse in search of fresh feeding sites. It is natural. Like rats in a cage they fought within their own communities for the basic necessities of food, water, jobs, security and shelter, but there are no winners in sectarian conflict and no winners when resources run out. Millions are forced to move away, to migrate, because they see no other option. Migration and untimely death is what, under natural conditions, keeps populations in check so that the species ultimately survives. But out of dewy eyed pity - of exactly the sort you'd offer the dying deer - there is short-term human interference to reduce suffering and ensure greater fairness. The result? A biological imbalance. And that imbalance then has two long term outcomes: The suffering spreads and the pity rapidly expires."
It was enough for now.
Fairness and pity were just words, words like happiness, hardship and suffering. Words about which he had already written and said too much.
"So should I now fight those who have arrived?" his grandson asked. "Those who survived such long journeys? It seems so wrong, so sad, so inhuman. It is why I am upset."
"Then analyse the problem scientifically. Put the problem as an easily understood question with a simple yes or no answer. Do you feel it is necessary to deal with the many problems caused by overcrowding and scarcity of basic necessities - food, water, fuel, jobs, money and space?"
The young man stood, thinking. "Something needs to be done. I do not know what."
"That is not good enough. Do you feel it is necessary to deal with this problem caused by overpopulation? Yes or no?"
"I'm not sure."
The old man looked exasperated.
"Dilemma is another classic human weakness. You are thinking too much. You are trying to see all sides because you hate to think you might cause what you see as suffering. And now you are unable to decide. You would prefer to put it aside, to hide away because you are too afraid to face up to the reality and make a difficult decision. Do you now see the weakness of political leaders? For once in your life, try to behave like the animal you are. What does your instinct tell you? Do you feel it is necessary to deal with these problems? Yes or no?"
"I think we probably ought to deal with it."
"Oh dear me. Let me hear your answer. Say it aloud. Do you feel it is necessary to deal with the many obvious problems now being caused by world overpopulation - namely the shortages of food, water, fuel, jobs, money and living space? Yes or no?"
"Yes, grandfather, yes." He was almost crying. "But I do not know how."
"And there we are back to the dilemma once more. You are now faced with the same question that our world leaders have faced for a hundred years or more. But they failed to make a decision. And now it is you who has to decide for them. Again, it is exactly as I forecast all those years ago. You and millions of others now have to deal with the biggest problem facing the human race - the problem that was forecast to happen but was brushed under the carpet, out of sight and out of mind."
"So are you saying I must fight?"
"If that is the only thing left to do, then yes, but it is a sad day and I will not give any more advice on this matter. I made my position very clear thirty years ago. Read my books. Understand what I said. The answer was there. I do not retract a single word that I said or wrote. Why am I here behind these walls? It was because I refused to brush things under carpets? I acted when others didn't. It was because I wanted leaders to face up to the plain fact that the world was already overpopulated to the point of being unsustainable. I demanded action that I knew would be unpopular. I used the state of emergency that existed at that time as a test, but it merely showed them up as weak, incapable and unfit for the offices they held. They were too afraid to take the only action that made sense. Do you know what action I advocated?"
The younger man was staring at his grandfather, all signs of distress gone. Instead his look was almost accusatory. The pause was because he could hardly bring himself to say it.
"Of course I know, grandfather........you advocated stopping all humanitarian aid."
His grandfather raised an eyebrow as if he been expecting the accusation.
"No," he said, "I did not advocate the stopping of all aid. I advocated the stopping of certain types of aid. Read what I actually said and why. Do not read what others said about me."
"But they said you were advocating a cull of human beings."
"Yes, that is what was said, but a cull means deliberately killing to reduce numbers. That is not what I recommended."
"It is similar, grandfather. What you recommended was tantamount to a cull."
"OK, let us analyse the situation at the time. Why, for instance, on that one occasion that caused so much international concern, did they want to send such huge amounts of aid?"
"Because there were massive food and water shortages in Africa and parts of Asia."
"Yes. Caused by what?"
"Hundreds of thousands of refugees."
"Refugees escaping from what?"
The younger man was struggling. "Civil war........ethnic fighting......sectarian violence.....poor harvests in Africa.......not enough water."
"So is civil war not culling? Is ethnic fighting, sectarian violence and brutal execution of fellow human beings not culling? Is the tapping of precious water reserves by multinational corporations not potentially lethal for those whose lives depend on it? Is the worldwide demand for fuel and subsequent clearing of land to grow fuel crops not likely to cause problems for production of basic food crops and so likely to be a cause of starvation?"
"Yes but............."
"Do you know how I described the constant giving of aid?"
"It was what you called a bottomless pit.........it was the never ending reliance on charity. You said there were no signs that self sufficiency would ever be addressed by recipients because of the constant destruction of fertile land areas by both themselves and foreign investors. You said that it would only increase already widespread corruption and that if help aid continued to be given the situation would only become worse."
"And do you remember any of the supporting facts that I presented?"
"Yes, grandfather. I have read them many times. They were so clear to me."
"They may have been clear once but now say them aloud so they become real again. Hear yourself speak the words."
His grandson swallowed hard and took a deep breath.
"You said that, whatever help was given, food demand would soon double, that freshwater supply was fixed by nature and would be insufficient to meet future demand. You said that there was not enough suitable land for agricultural expansion and that bio-fuel demand would use this land up anyway. You said that supplying sufficient water and energy even in developed countries would become difficult due to soaring costs, that non renewable resources like metals and fossil fuels would gradually fail to keep pace with increasing demand. You said so many things, grandfather, that have now become true."
The old man stopped walking, sat down on the damp grass and put his head in his hands. When he eventually looked up, his grandson was sat close alongside him, staring at him. "Now tell me what I also said to explain why, in my opinion, it was time to call a halt to certain types of humanitarian aid."
"You said that the aid would, one day, be seen not as being humanitarian but as a big mistake that would cause deep suffering to future generations. You actually used the words suffering."
"Go on."
"You explained that the donor countries themselves wou
ld experience increasing problems - financial difficulties, social problems, poverty, unemployment and unaffordable demands for education and healthcare and care for the elderly. Demand would continue to exceed supply and it was all totally unsustainable."
The younger man took another deep breath.
"You pointed out so many reasons, grandfather and you were right but..........." He paused again, looked away. The older man noticed the uncertainty.
"Go ahead. Never be afraid to say what is on your mind. You were saying 'but'. But what?"
"Those were the things you said, grandfather, but there was that other thing, the thing that you did that made you a criminal in the eyes of the law."
"That other thing?"
"The main reason you are in prison, grandfather. For that you became someone whose views were now unacceptable. Someone once said that you had no place in civilised society."
The old man had been staring, unblinking, at his grandson. He now shook his head.
"I disagreed, of course, and I remember replying to that Christian bishop that he might like to consider whether he himself felt he had a place in a modern, civilised society. Surely, I said, it is a sign of an advanced civilization to be able to anticipate human disaster before it happens and to act accordingly."
"Some also said you had no place in a compassionate society."
"And in saying that they may have been getting closer to the truth. I agree that maybe I have no place in a society that sees hardship as
