In response to Don Curtis’ recent letter “Is overpopulation driving migration?” Short answer? No. Climate change is.
Long answer: The areas that Curtis pointed out (Middle East, Africa, South and Central America) contain vast amounts of people, sure. However, poor areas in the world are likely to be hit with the worst effects of climate change. The issues outlined in his letter involve the greed of corporations. The Amazon being destroyed is not the fault of all humans in South America; it is the choice of a corporation. The richest billionaires of the world, which are approximately 6.5 percent of the population, are responsible for approximately half of the carbon emissions that are damaging the environments these immigrants are coming from. If we are able to reverse the catastrophic effects of climate change, it benefits us all no matter where we live in the world. And besides, global population growth is actually dropping.
They are people who are driven out by totalitarian governments, by lack of resources in their communities, by people who wish them harm. To cite the rising covid-19 deaths in these high population areas fails to also note that richer countries are not breaking their patents on the vaccine so that the global community may access this lifesaving information. We ask “If we’re providing so much aid, why do they still have problems?” Maternal, infant and child deaths have been cut in half. Global life expectancy has increased. Poverty has been diminished. Countless lives have been saved from diseases like smallpox and HIV/AIDs. Sending aid to other countries is mutually beneficial because we create and keep allies.
On a final note, the United States of America is heralded as a wonderful place to live. Refugees deserve safety and if they choose this country to be their haven, I think that should be a point of pride for us all. Labelling populations of vulnerable people as monoliths of the Middle East, Africa and Central and South America is not the full picture; these are human beings, our global neighbors, and potentially our future friends and loved ones.
Bek Brucker
Everett
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
