Boiling Frogs

Robert Emmons deserves thanks for his well-written comments on the current housing crisis (“The Housing Symptom,” Feb. 21). The elephant in the room is population growth, but it seems to be political suicide to mention it in the debate on accommodating growth.

By simply noting the obvious, population control advocates are instantly marginalized and labeled as unrealistic and impractical. The truth is that unchecked population growth is unsustainable and directly related to most of our global and local ills.

I agree that such growth is a choice, not an inevitable fact of life. We as a community, a nation and global citizens must make the changes needed to curb population growth or we will all suffer dire consequences.

The main thing that scientist and author Paul Ehrlich got wrong in his 1968 book Population Bomb is the timing of our demise. The eventuality of his predictions is becoming obvious to anyone paying attention.

In the meantime, we carry on as usual, and are encouraged to support policies that will degrade the quality of life in our neighborhoods. I feel a bit like a frog whose watery world is slowly getting warmer.

Where will it end? Will we do anything to stop the madness?

Tom Happy

Eugene