Behind every problem that we face in modern life is the one problem almost no one wants to talk about. Everything you hear or read talks about the benefits of growth and how we need more of it. But behind that face of growth is the real problem of just too many people using too much of everything. This trend of population growth will ultimately make living a real hell on earth.

Here are the basic numbers since the year I was born.

In 1947 Dawson County had a population of 3,700. It now has 22,300. That is a 500 percent increase.

In 1947 Georgia had about 3.4 million people and it is now about 9.7 million, a growth of 185 percent.

In 1947 the population of the USA was about 144 million. It is about 310 million now. That is 115 percent increase.

The whole world had about 2.5 billion people in 1947 and now it is about 7 billion which is an increase of 180 percent.

The increase in population of people is killing off the wildlife. Water is polluted, the air is filled with all kinds of chemicals, and we are running out of good farm land to feed the new numbers. The pressure of population is leading to more and more war. These problems are much less here than in other parts of the world but they are here too.

The next time you sit in traffic, imagine what it would be like if the population in our county was say 10,000 instead of 22,300.

So I vote that we do not need government policy to encourage population growth in our county, in our state, or in our country. If anything we need policies that will reduce population growth to at least zero.

When you think about it, about the only instruction given by the Lord that we really followed was, "go forth and multiply."

We really liked that one and have more than obeyed.

The other instructions, not so much.

We humans are also told to be "good stewards."

If scripture is true, bad things are going to happen to bad stewards.

The increasing population in the world is a kiss of death, misery and destruction. The modern voices that preach it as gospel are the voices of foolishness.

Gary Pichon

Marble Hill