Teeming

Something I’ve observed over the past few years is just how crowded we’re getting.  I know the population has doubled since I was a kid and I am noticing it in a bunch of small ways.  I can remember long drives from my youth or early in my military career when I would have the road to myself for long stretches of the late night or early morning.  Nowadays that is rare.  I was out at 3am a couple of weeks ago and the roads were semi-busy.  Last week I was driving through some really remote regions and there were houses everywhere instead of the long stretches of uninhabited roads I grew up with.  Those days are gone.  This isn’t a nostalgic rant carping for the good ole days; it’s just that there are a lot more people than there used to be.  A lot of 1970s science fiction movies predicted that society would fail and descend into apocalypse by this time because we wouldn’t have the space or food for the burgeoning population; typical 1970s apocryphitic thinking.  I’m encouraged that we seem to have found a way to feed and house almost everybody despite doubling the requirement.  My mother always cajoled me at the dinner table (I was/am a very picky eater) as I was staring down at the rapidly cooling brussels sprouts that – “There are starving children in India that would love to have that food”.  She was less than impressed with my suggestion we send all brusells sprouts and lima beans to them.  I know there are still areas struggling with hunger but not the extensive famines that permeate my memories from childhood.  I think the end of the cold war had a lot to do with that.  I’ve always hated being crowded but I guess we’re stuck with it.  At least we’re handling it better than anyone predicted.