Bill Nye Saves the World Series Debunked Part 13 of 13: Season 1, Episode 13 - Earth's People Problem

By: Shawn Alli
Posted: May 31, 2017 (on http://www.shawnalli.com/)

*Disclosure: I am a climate denier, albeit a more rational one.

*Disclosure: I am NOT funded by any oil, natural gas or coal corporations. I am NOT funded by any private interest groups (NGOs, foundations or political entities).

Nye finally addresses what atheists and environmentalists desire so much, population control. Not even two minutes into it, Nye says that too many people are using the world's finite resources that it's causing us to freak out.

Actually, it's only causing atheists, liberals, and climate change believers to freak out. Why? Because they think that there's a problem with the supply of resources on the Earth. In reality, there's no problem. Please see:

Oil, The 4th Renewable Resource
Leonardo DiCaprio's Before the Flood Completely Debunked
Years of Living Dangerously Series Debunked, Season 1
Years of Living Dangerously Series Debunked, Season 2
Climate Change Cult Disconnect
The CO2 Climate Change Cult Series

Nye uses sponges to represent people on the conveyer belt of life, which gets dumped into a finite amount of water. This is why analogies don't work in objective science. Yes, the sponges absorb water. But unlike sponges, humans can replant and transform unfertile land to fertile. [1] [2] We're not "stretching" our resources. We're creating them.

Nye says that we need to do more with less. That's the same garbage that environmentalists have been selling for almost 50 years (even prior to the global warming/climate change movement).

Nye is correct when he says that old people are outnumbering young people. He asks who's going to take care of them. Currently, the burden usually falls on the government/retirement homes. But I'm sure that in the future it will be robot nannies. Hopefully, the robots don't develop consciousness and try to kill these old people who will be highly dependent on them.

Nye mentions his mother (recruited by the US Navy for code breaking) because she's brilliant in mathematics. But he's forgetting that prior to WWII, scientists claim that women have inferior intelligence and can never measure up to a man. The fact that Nye doesn't mention this isn't accidental. It's intentional. Why? Because he doesn't want you to doubt science. Sadly, most science today (aside from chemistry and physics) is ideological (see A Broken Peer-Reviewed Process in Philosophy Reborn Part III: Science).

Nye wants more women in the workplace in order to have fewer kids at home. Wow. At least he has the balls to come out and say it. In reality, women can do both.

Emily Calandrelli (a member of Nye's team) goes to India to investigate overpopulation. Yes, India's 1.3 billion population is a problem. But if they spread out to Canada, Russia, and China, it won't be a problem (given the correct political, economic, and technological climate of course).

But Calandrelli says that there's a direct link between overpopulation and lack of education and jobs for women. Umm...what? That's one of the dumbest things I've ever heard. Overpopulation doesn't cause a lack of education or jobs for women. Sexist ideologies cause a lack of education and jobs. Thinking otherwise is powerfully stupid and ideological.

India tech giant Infosys deserves kudos for 1/3 of their workforce being women. It would be nice for it to be half, but in India (a sexist society) 1/3 is decent. And yes, the fact that the US government doesn't have paid maternity is quite problematic. If Trump is smart, he can stick it to the Democrats by creating a bill for paid maternity leave. In May 2017 he proposes it in the 2018 budget. [3]

Nye convenes his panel: Dr. Rachel Snow (UN Population Fund), Dr. Travis Rieder (an ethicist...whatever that means), and Dr. Nerys Benfield (director of family planning and a professor of medicine). I like how family planning (which sounds positive) means fewer kids today. Hilarious.

Dr. Snow says that we need excellent health care, education, and family planning to reduce the population. Yes, that's pretty much what I'd expect from a UN official. Indoctrination, toxic drugs for sterility, and the conversation to convince you that it's good for you. Well done.

Dr. Rieder says that reducing population can have a mitigating effect on climate change. I was wondering who was going to say it. Human exhalation is screwing up the Earth. We need a carbon tax on humans in the developed world. He doesn't say this of course, but I'm sure that he wants the UN to implement an overpopulation tax on countries that aren't practicing "family planning."

Rieder says that Nigerian families with 7 kids aren't the problem because they aren't emitting much carbon relative to American lifestyles. But the main reason why large Nigerian families aren't emitting a lot of carbon is because they don't experience a true industrial revolution. As I mention in the past, developing countries have value to those in power and to environmentalists (see Part 1 of 9: Season 1, Part 1 – Dry Season).

By keeping the poor in a state of poverty, there's no harm to the environment via carbon dioxide. People in power are happy. Environmentalists are happy. The only ones who lose are the poor.

Nye asks if we should penalize families for having more kids in the developed world. Rieder says that we should consider it. What he really wants to say is yes. He doesn't say it because of the potential hate mail/trolling he'll get. But Snow disagrees. She says that people should have as many kids as they want. Benfield is against such a policy because it will usually be aimed at visible minorities (which is true).

Snow says that when women have more education they're healthier. Not really. There are women with PhDs that make terrible choices (be it lifestyle choices or staying in abusive relationships).

Whereas many women in the past (with just a high school education) have more common sense in taking care of their family. Contrary to what you may believe, education and health aren't synonymous. There are poor and uneducated people that live long lives. And there are rich and highly educated people who develop cancer, chronic diseases, or die young.

Nye asks whether there's a perfect number for the world's population. Snow says that we shouldn't be worried about the numbers. She says that we should be striving to create justice for all. And I would second that opinion.

Joanna Hausmann (a member of Nye's team) goes out into the field and talks to couples about male contraception. And I must admit, her video is the highlight of the episode. Hausmann would do well in stand-up comedy.

Hausmann talks about Vasagel (a gel that's injected into a man's penis and blocks sperm). Yah...that's not happening for most men. Pulling out with a condom should suffice.

And no, I don't necessarily advocate women going on birth control due to the potential negative risks. If I do, I have to advocate for men doing the same in order to represent equal treatment. And there's no way that I'm going on birth control with those risks. Hence, women shouldn't have to take those risks either.

References:

[1] Margolis, Jonathan. Growing food in the desert: is this the solution to the world’s food crises? Guardian. November 24, 2012.

[2] Klein, Alice. First farm to grow veg in a desert using only sun and seawater. New Scientist. October 6, 2016.

[3] Lussenhop, Jessica. Will Trump bring paid maternity leave to the US? BBC News. May 25, 2017.