I'm 73 years old,  retired, and had occasionally tutored Brennen Moran,
then a college freshman. He came up with the concept of the
human race itself (explosively reproducing) as a planetary virus. Since I
was once a biochemist doing medical research on the immune globulins,
the blood proteins which fight off disease,
I found his concept intriguing.,
    Viewing the human race itself, when explosively multiplying,
as a planetary macro-virus; opens up a new view of medicine. How
can one cure an infected planet of this Anthropos Virus? From this higher
viewpoint of Planetary Medicine,
let's look at the problem.,
    Some problems appear to be intractable. Wrestled with year
after year,
they remain recurring bones of contention. But these apparently
unsolvable problems are simply the selection of the wrong problem.,
    Consider the battle of the pro-choicers and the pro-lifers
over abortion (the repair of a failed contraception). Behind this battle
is the real problem: the pressures of over population.,
    Let's look at a vast variety of related problems and see what
they have in common.,
    There is the destruction of the ozone layer with global
warming and an increase in the carbon dioxide level. General pollution of
the atmosphere,
lakes, rivers,
and the ocean. Landfills overloaded and difficulties with the
disposal of toxic and other wastes. The lowering of the water table and
deforestation. The wiping out of entire species of life.,
    You may, as I do,
receive vast amounts of mail urging you to save farmland (NO
FARMS,
NO FOOD), our national parks,
various endangered species and the environment. In each case,
we must save these from you and me, the Anthropos Virus.,
    In addition to destroying other species ("People First!"),
we destroy each other. There are now population wars,
such as that of Hitler and his Nazis. He closed all the abortion
clinics in Germany and proclaimed a need for lebensraum (living room) as
a justification for the destruction of 6 million Jews and 20 million
Russians.,
    These population wars were seen in the struggle of Israel to
import 1 million Russian Jews to displace Palestinians. It was seen in
Rwanda (a million dead bodies floating down a river) and in Somalia. It
is currently seen in the momentarily halted ethnic cleansing in
Yugoslvia. As if this enforced pause in the killing will solve the
underlying population pressure.,
    A conscience-stricken Germany has allowed immigration to many
refugees,
with consequent problems.,    In Brazil,
merchants have hired killers to dispose of young nuisances
bothering their businesses.,
    One's attention can be caught up in this whirligig of
problems,
but in each case it's too many people. The lifeboat is getting
crowded.,
    Totally ignoring this underlying population pressure,
was the preaching of an unconditional right to life (for humans)
by the Bush administration. I.e.,
a right to unlimited population growth,
a philosophy easily understood by a cancer cell.,
    In addition,
the policy of the modern Catholic Church among others,
is not only anti-abortion,
but anti-birth control. Yet at one time,
the Church (14th & 15th centuries) had an effective method of
birth control. Large numbers became priests,
nuns,
and brothers; entering institutions with a vow of celibacy,
and thus removing them from the reproductive pool. This policy
in combination with a high death rate from the Black Plague,
smallpox, tuberculosis,
and other diseases provided a measure of population control.,
    Abortion is a relatively inefficient, harsh,
and expensive form of birth control,
but it reduces population growth rates; as does abstinence,
masturbation, homosexuality, controlled petting,
condoms and pills.,    Father Richard Ginder, in his book,
Binding With Briars, Sex and Sin in the Catholic Church,
Prentice-Hall 1975; takes a similar common-sense view. He points
out that a concern for real Christian virtues such as charity,
have been replaced by preoccupations with sexual "sins.",
    The birth control foes also oppose gun control. They may
believe that plenty of guns will solve the problem,
possibly on the playgrounds of America. Consider the lemmings,
whose explosive reproduction is followed by a suicidal march
into the sea.,
    We can let Mother Nature apply her remedies: erratic weather,
starvation,
pestilence and war. The possibility of overwhelming pestilence
has been discussed in The Coming Plague by Laurie Garrett,
and The Forgotten Plague (tuberculosis) by Frank Ryan, M.D.,
    Overcrowding is a factor in the rapid spread of disease,
as is the improper and excessive use of antibiotics,
producing multiplely resistent strains of bacteria.,
    Many teachers do not recognize,
while busy imparting traditional knowledge,
that teaching is a two-way street. Students bring a fresh view
to any subject and can provide quite astonishing insights,
as Brennen did in this case.,
    The importance of this two-way flow has even been encoded
into the Greek Kyrie in the original Latin Mass; although this has been
lost in the English translation. [Note: This is discussed in "Studies in
Literary Archaeology #0,
in the same Issue].,
    THE ANTHROPOS VIRUS (titles cannot be copyrighted) might make
a good science-fiction story about planetary medicine. From Heaven or
Galactic Central Control,
or someplace; a planetary virus has been observed killing off
all other life species and polluting a whole planet.,
    What to do? Like I said,
this might make a good science-fiction story. Want to take a
crack at it?,
X-Status: New

         THE ANTHROPOS VIRUS                    by Frank Gordon USA   I'm
73 years old, retired, and had occasionally tutored Brennen Moran, then a
college freshman. He came up with the concept of the human race itself
(explosively reproducing) as a planetary virus. Since I was once a
biochemist doing medical research on the immune globulins, the blood
proteins which fight off disease, I found his concept intriguing.
Viewing the human race itself, when explosively multiplying, as a
planetary macro-virus; opens up a new view of medicine. How can one cure
an infected planet of this Anthropos Virus? From this higher viewpoint of
Planetary Medicine, let's look at the problem.   Some problems appear to
be intractable. Wrestled with year after year, they remain recurring
bones of contention. But these apparently unsolvable problems are simply
the selection of the wrong problem.   Consider the battle of the
pro-choicers and the pro-lifers over abortion (the repair of a failed
contraception). Behind this battle is the real problem: the pressures of
over population.   Let's look at a vast variety of related problems and
see what they have in common.   There is the destruction of the ozone
layer with global warming and an increase in the carbon dioxide level.
General pollution of the atmosphere, lakes, rivers, and the ocean.
Landfills overloaded and difficulties with the disposal of toxic and
other wastes. The lowering of the water table and deforestation. The
wiping out of entire species of life.   You may, as I do, receive vast
amounts of mail urging you to save farmland (NO FARMS, NO FOOD), our
national parks, various endangered species and the environment. In each
case, we must save these from you and me, the Anthropos Virus.   In
addition to destroying other species ("People First!"), we destroy each
other. There are now population wars, such as that of Hitler and his
Nazis. He closed all the abortion clinics in Germany and proclaimed a
need for lebensraum (living room) as a justification for the destruction
of 6 million Jews and 20 million Russians.   These population wars were
seen in the struggle of Israel to import 1 million Russian Jews to
displace Palestinians. It was seen in Rwanda (a million dead bodies
floating down a river) and in Somalia. It is currently seen in the
momentarily halted ethnic cleansing in Yugoslvia. As if this enforced
pause in the killing will solve the underlying population pressure.   A
conscience-stricken Germany has allowed immigration to many refugees,
with consequent problems.   In Brazil, merchants have hired killers to
dispose of young nuisances bothering their businesses.   One's attention
can be caught up in this whirligig of problems, but in each case it's too
many people. The lifeboat is getting crowded.   Totally ignoring this
underlying population pressure, was the preaching of an unconditional
right to life (for humans) by the Bush administration. I.e., a right to
unlimited population growth, a philosophy easily understood by a cancer
cell.   In addition, the policy of the modern Catholic Church among
others, is not only anti-abortion, but anti-birth control. Yet at one
time, the Church (14th & 15th centuries) had an effective method of birth
control. Large numbers became priests, nuns, and brothers; entering
institutions with a vow of celibacy, and thus removing them from the
reproductive pool. This policy in combination with a high death rate from
the Black Plague, smallpox, tuberculosis, and other diseases provided a
measure of population control.   Abortion is a relatively inefficient,
harsh, and expensive form of birth control, but it reduces population
growth rates; as does abstinence, masturbation, homosexuality, controlled
petting, condoms and pills.   Father Richard Ginder, in his book, Binding
With Briars, Sex and Sin in the Catholic Church, Prentice-Hall 1975;
takes a similar common-sense view. He points out that a concern for real
Christian virtues such as charity, have been replaced by preoccupations
with sexual "sins."   The birth control foes also oppose gun control.
They may believe that plenty of guns will solve the problem, possibly on
the playgrounds of America. Consider the lemmings, whose explosive
reproduction is followed by a suicidal march into the sea.   We can let
Mother Nature apply her remedies: erratic weather, starvation, pestilence
and war. The possibility of overwhelming pestilence has been discussed in
The Coming Plague by Laurie Garrett, and The Forgotten Plague
(tuberculosis) by Frank Ryan, M.D.   Overcrowding is a factor in the
rapid spread of disease, as is the improper and excessive use of
antibiotics, producing multiplely resistent strains of bacteria.   Many
teachers do not recognize, while busy imparting traditional knowledge,
that teaching is a two-way street. Students bring a fresh view to any
subject and can provide quite astonishing insights, as Brennen did in
this case.   The importance of this two-way flow has even been encoded
into the Greek Kyrie in the original Latin Mass; although this has been
lost in the English translation. [Note: This is discussed in "Studies in
Literary Archaeology #0, in the same Issue].   THE ANTHROPOS VIRUS
(titles cannot be copyrighted) might make a good science-fiction story
about planetary medicine. From Heaven or Galactic Central Control, or
someplace; a planetary virus has been observed killing off all other life
species and polluting a whole planet.   What to do? Like I said, this
might make a good science-fiction story. Want to take a crack at it?
                     ***