Thanos, Shaw, Ehrlich, and the Right to Life

Marvel Studios reenergized the portrayal of comic book characters in motion pictures when it launched a series of movies beginning with “Iron Man” in 2008. A key villain in this series of movies was a character called Thanos.

This near immortal anti-hero was a warlord who believed that all of the suffering in the Universe was caused by the existence of too many beings.  His solution was to travel from planet to planet killing half of the population.  Ultimately, he created a weapon to kill half of all living things in the cosmos with the snap of his fingers.

All of earth’s mightiest heroes battled Thanos to stop him.  This makes for an interesting story line for those who enjoy superhero action movies.

The Flaw in Thanos’s Premise

Although this is a tale of fiction, it is worthwhile to analyze Thanos’ premise.  Thanos  believed that shortages were created by too many people.

By applying a small amount of logic this premise crumbles.  The universe has vast amounts of resources.  Too many people do not cause shortages.  Shortages are caused by the inability to turn resources into what people need.

If people are starving, the solution is not to kill half of the farmers.  If people need homes, the solution is not to kill half the carpenters.  However, this is exactly how Thanos approached the problem.

Of course scarcity exists for some resources.  People, however, find alternatives.

Fortunately, this story is just fiction.  As Christians, we understand that God created all people in His image.  However, many people do not see others in this way.  Many highly educated (dare I say experts) view people as expendable and in other cases as parasites.

George Bernard Shaw’s Desire to Murder

Take playwright and activist George Bernard Shaw.  He sounds much like Thanos in the following quote.

“I object to all punishment whatsoever.  I do not want to punish anybody.  But there are an extraordinary number of people whom I want to kill.  Not in any unkind or personal spirit, but it must be evident to all of you.  You must all know half a dozen people, at least, who are no use in this world.  Who are more trouble than they are worth.  And I think it would be a good thing to make everybody come before a properly appointed board, just as he might come before the income tax commissioner, and, say, every five years, or every seven years, just put him there, and say: “Sir, or madam, now will you be kind enough to justify your existence?  If you can’t justify your existence, if you’re not pulling your weight, if you are not producing as much as you consume, or a little more, then clearly we cannot use the organization of our society for the purpose of keeping you alive because your life does not benefit us and can’t be of very much use to you.”

People are just a Commodity

Shaw reduces people to a commodity to fuel society.  He basically disregards the inherent worth of people and even states that life “…can’t be of very much use to you…” unless you are doing something he believes benefits society.  He sounds as though he thinks he is being compassionate.

His statement begs a major question.  Who exactly would make up this “properly appointed board”? What criterion would the board members use to determine if someone was producing or consuming?

Would such a board condemn a disabled veteran who served numerous tours of duty for not producing?  Or would the board condemn an elderly person who toiled away for decades and saved for his retirement because he is also no longer a producer?

Shaw lived to be 94.  I wonder how his “properly appointed board” would have judged him.

Ehrlich’s Bomb of a Prediction

Stanford University professor Paul R. Ehrlich predicted in his 1968 book “The Population Bomb” that hundreds of millions would die due to starvation because the world would not be able to support the growth of the populace.

His predictions were comically off mark.  Not only has the world population grown from 3 billion in 1960 to 8 billion today, the average daily caloric intake has increased.  Despite reality disproving this premise, Ehrlich stated in 2009 that “perhaps the most serious flaw in The Bomb was that it was much too optimistic about the future.”

Ehrlich was not so bold as to want to murder people outright just for being as Shaw said, “…no use in this world.”  He advocated for contraceptives, a right to abortion, gradated increasing taxes based on family size, incentives for permanent sterilization, and even introducing temporary sterilant into the food & water supply.

Do any of these proposals sound familiar?  Young people today are voluntarily accepting permanent sterilizations through marketing and social incentives promulgated in government schools.

Peter Uetz Agrees!

Other intellectuals continue to preach similar ideologies.  Peter Uetz of Virginia Commonwealth University has written about the need, to not just reduce the growth in population, but the need to reduce the current population.

Compassion for others (they will just be poor and miserable) or non-human morality (save the earth from climate change) are used to justify these proposals.  Less humans is the goal.  Eagle eggs (unborn birds) today have more protections than unborn human children in their mother’s womb.

When looking at the solutions offered by the experts over the last century concerning population, all of the recommendations are things other people need to do.  Jordan Peterson responded to an individual who expressed concern about overpopulation by stating “You’re free to leave at any point.”  That solution, however, is always rejected.  Hypocritically, expert solutions are for thee but not for me.

God’s Spirit of Creation

The origin of the population control movement goes back over 100 years. Many now adhere to this pessimistic notion.  A simple search of the internet will reveal numerous articles accepting this flawed theory as though it were a proven fact.

Sharing the truth is an important part of stopping the population control movement.  We as Catholics can help spread the truth that people are not cattle in the machine gears of society.  Each person is a unique individual with an immortal soul created in God image.

Since God created us in His image, we also have the desire to create.  Humans are innovators.

Sometimes our innovations are purely for art and entertainment.  Look at the treasures contained in our places of worship.  It is not a requirement to build grand basilicas or cathedrals for celebrating the Eucharist.  However, humans created never before seen architecture and artwork.

Other times our innovations are purely out of necessity.  Farming is an excellent example.  How else could the world population grown from 3 billion in 1960 to 8 billion today while simultaneously reducing the number of people undernourished.

Even with these innovations and reality showing that the world can support more people, Ehrlich and others cling to their false believes that their predictions are “…much too optimistic about the future.”

No one really knows how many people have lived on earth.  Nevertheless, people were not born to toil for some collective society or to comply with the whims of some self-appointed experts.  Each person exists with the mission to save his or her soul from the sins of their time.  God creates each person with many pathways to redemption and an opportunity for eternal life.