Overpopulation
The following scene appears near the beginning of the novel, Cougar Flight. It is set on a sheer wall of the Grand Canyon. The Colorado River is so far down that it looks like a thin ribbon as it courses through its rocky riverbed at the bottom of the canyon:
Barbara descended and traversed the canyon wall to arrive at carefully chosen handholds and footholds near the cougar cub. Its mother crouched on the ledge above with raised hackles, flattened ears, and a snarl that clearly said attack. But it would abandon its cub and fall to its death if it leaped, and Barbara did not believe it would do that.
She stayed still, looked steadily at the big cat’s golden eyes, and purred: something she had taught herself when she was eight years old. When she felt the time was right, she swept down and caught the cougar cub under its chest with her right hand while holding on with her left. Lifting the cub over her head, she stood up while stepping close to the cougar. It snatched the cub from Barbara’s hand, wheeled, and vanished behind boulders, leaving saliva where its fangs had grazed her thumb and forefinger.
Because of this rescue, a reception is held in Barbara’s honor to raise money for the Wildlife Fund. The setting is Beverly Hills, and many of the people attending are producers and senior executives in the movie industry:
After dinner, Michael stepped up to the podium. “On behalf of the Wildlife Fund, welcome. A few weeks ago, you saw a beautiful young woman climb into the Grand Canyon and rescue a cougar cub. Her wits and her courage were the only equipment she had and the only equipment she needed. Tonight you have discovered that she is as charming as she is brave. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor to introduce Ms. Barbara Anderson.”
The screen behind Barbara showed the Wildlife Fund logo and her name. The capacity audience applauded as she walked to the podium.
She smiled at Michael, and then looked at the audience. “Oh, wow, Michael. So that’s how you got your Academy Awards!”
Michael and the audience laughed.
The screen changed to a picture taken the instant before the cougar snatched the cub from Barbara’s hand with the Grand Canyon in the background. Many in the audience gasped, which puzzled Barbara. She turned to look back at the screen. “Oh, that,” she said.
She turned back to the audience. “I love animals. When I was a kid, I liked to pretend I was a cat. Mom didn’t much like all the meowing and purring and yowling at all hours of the day and night. . . . But what she really hated was stepping barefoot on my wet hairballs.”
The audience laughed.
Barbara continued. “It became a game for me to try to catch her unaware, but at least I didn’t put them on the carpet.”
The audience laughed again.
“Everyone here tonight is making an extra effort to try to help preserve wildlife. On behalf of those who cannot speak for themselves, I thank you.
“You all know that the creatures sharing our planet are in grave danger. Species are being exterminated at a breathtaking rate. Increasing numbers of people use an increasing amount of the resources that wildlife needs to survive. We will miss tigers and cheetahs, and we will miss other species of plants and animals that cease to exist forever. Without what they give us, more people will die prematurely.”
She paused as the audience murmured assent. Starting with the most recent, the screen behind her began to scroll a list of species with the word EXTINCT in red beside each one.
“Our planet’s sustainable resources are already inadequate to meet the needs of our snowballing population. Preventable deaths—the unspeakable horror of starvation, dehydration, preventable disease, wars over diminishing resources, and genocide—increase relentlessly as we multiply exponentially.”
The still scrolling list of extinct species continued on the left side of the screen. A picture of a wide-eyed and severely malnourished child appeared on the right.
“Overpopulation is an overarching cause of the destruction of wildlife and the delicate ecosystem of our planet. We are too many. We cannot protect wildlife and reduce damage to our environment unless we reduce our numbers. If we fail to do that, the consequences will be a catastrophe for wildlife and our environment, and a catastrophe for us.
“One way to reduce our numbers is to do everything we can to see that all women can say no to pregnancy. Where women have gained the right to say no without consequences, the birthrate has dropped. This is not just a women’s issue, and it is not just a civil rights issue. Justice for women is both a survival issue for wildlife and a survival issue for us.
“We must make everybody aware that overpopulation is the greatest threat we face, and that women’s rights are an essential part of the solution. Many here, in this room, have very powerful tools to reach people: in major theaters, on TV, and in small communities gathered around screens in faraway places. You have genius, you have money, and you have power. From the bottom of my heart, I beg you, please help reduce overpopulation. Please help save us all.”
Barbara bowed her head and slowly walked back to her seat as the audience came to its feet in a standing ovation.
Barbara’s speech is fiction, but what she talks about is real:
“Our planet’s sustainable resources are already inadequate to meet the needs of our snowballing population. Preventable deaths—the unspeakable horror of starvation, dehydration, preventable disease, wars over diminishing resources, and genocide—increase relentlessly as we multiply exponentially.”
What can be done? By promoting literacy, S.T.E.L.L.A.A. is giving people an essential tool: a tool that women can use to gain control their lives and reduce overpopulation; a tool that can reduce preventable deaths; a tool to eliminate poverty. All we have to do is look around to see the benefits of literacy in the western world. Literacy can do for others what it has done for us.
Cougar Flight can make readers aware of overpopulation and help create political will to do something about it. After the speech described above, the story continues with Barbara and David on an adventure that will take them 503 years into the future; they want to build a home in a time when their children can grow up without the threat of an overpopulation and environmental catastrophe. Then in a dramatic context, it presents a controversial solution to overpopulation. Readers may love the solution or hate it, but either way, it can be the beginning of the political will to do something.
Cougar Flight is about hope. It can capture a wide audience by the heart, and someday it might make a difference.
S.T.E.L.L.A.A. is about promoting literacy to give real people a tool they must have to raise themselves from poverty, to give them hope now. To do that, S.T.E.L.L.A.A. needs our support now.
