Letters: Each person's shrinking 'share'

Sir: Like most economists, Dominic Lawson ("Population growth is no problem", 13 April) cannot get his mind round the fact that the planet is finite. It cannot support an infinite number of people.

Population growth (more births than deaths), currently 80 million a year or 10,000 per hour, will therefore stop at some point; either sooner, by fewer births (humane population control), or later by more deaths (natural population control).

Economists forget that population is the multiplier of all environmental problems, because total impact equals average impact per person times the number of people. Thus total CO2 emissions or water consumption equals the average per person times the number of emitters/consumers.

And economists forget that steady percentage growth is exponential. During the lifetime of Queen Elizabeth I, the global total was about half a billion, and grew by a few million; Elizabeth II has already seen it grow from two billion to 6.5 billion.

Although a higher percentage of humanity is indeed well-fed compared with before the industrial revolution, the number of hungry people is also vastly greater now than then.

Economists cannot tell the difference between natural capital and natural income. Our industrial growth has largely been funded from natural capital, notably depleting fossil fuels, soil, groundwater, forests, minerals, ecosystems, and other ecological service-providers and climate-stabilisers.

At least economists can grasp that nearly half of all Indian children are still malnourished. But expanding food production is already sharply reducing groundwater and increasing erosion, even before the droughts and floods foreseen by the IPCC have kicked in. It would clearly be easier to reduce malnutrition if India did not also have to feed an additional million people every 19 days.

Economists should also be able to spot the link between Chinese economic growth and their one-child policy, since GDP per capita growth equals GDP growth minus population growth.

Finally, economists interested in the various schemes for individual carbon rations etc, should be aware that total natural resources per capita (the basis of all wealth) equals total resources divided by the number of people; so as long as populations grow, each person's "share" shrinks every day.

ROGER MARTIN

WELLS, SOMERSET

The gun culture that rules America

Sir: I subscribe to a mailing list for booksellers, most of whom are in the United States.

Today the list contained many comments about the Virginia Tech killings (report, 17 April), among which were these: "If every student in that building would have been carrying a gun there would be only ONE dead, not thirty-one!!", and, "There is no way in hell that I would ever give up or register my two unregistered and untraceable handguns."

To be fair, other writers deplored the ease and legality of obtaining weapons in the US. But surely the prevailing attitude in America is that of the writers quoted; guns are considered as part of daily life. Hardly surprising then that such massacres occur.

ARLE MILL

ALRESFORD, HAMPSHIRE

Sir: American culture has produced a particular type of macho over-assertive aggressive male who believes that might is always right and that the way to decide a disagreement is to beat down your opponent either verbally or physically.

This type is found in other cultures as well but nowhere is it the national archetype as it is in the United States. The violent aggressive male is the central character in most Hollywood movies. He makes his way in the world by killing with firearms or any other weapon and usually emerges as the hero no matter how much blood is shed.

Even debating with American academic colleagues I was often offended by the way they would settle even complex intellectual disagreements by simply shouting me down. And many Americans have told me they consider non-violent European males, who do not show loud-mouthed assertiveness, to be merely effeminate.

Winning at all costs, even using violence if they have to, is a central American theme. It is not surprising then, given this constant exposure to the approval of male violence in American life and culture that the US has so much violent crime. How could it not have?

This machismo is not limited to individuals. It extends to the US government itself. Its record since the Second World War has been one long sequence of military actions over smaller and weaker nations with colossal loss of life. What is so surprising about the Americans is not that they have so many enemies, but that they have any friends at all.

CHRIS PAYNE

PLESIDY, FRANCE

Taking sides on the abortion debate

Sir: I understand the deep feelings of doctors who refuse to perform abortions (letters, 17 April). I worked with gynaecologists, who performed abortions, from the earliest days and throughout my career as an anaesthetist but always refused to assist them.

It was clear to me that from the moment of fertilisation the adventure of a new human life begins, a human life which is neither that of the father nor the mother, a fact confirmed by modern genetic science.

St Augustine wrote, "We will never reach the point of completely lifting the veil of mystery, but perhaps we will have a clearer comprehension of that bud of life that unfurls into existence like a seed that dreams under the snow, in whose secret there stands that tacit awareness of that which lies beyond".

The human must be respected and treated as a person from the moment of conception; so from that same moment his/her rights as a person must be recognised, among which in the first place is the inviolable right of every innocent human being to life.

Little comment is ever made about the ongoing psychological suffering experienced by many women who undergo abortion. They remember what would have been their baby's birthday and wonder what they would have looked like. I have met many women and some men who grieve continuously following the killing of their baby.

Today we live in a cultural and moral sewer in which the unwanted, the unborn, the handicapped, the sick and the old are at risk of death induced by neglect or by direct action, that is dehydration and over-sedation or, in the case of the unborn, by abortion.

T E J HEALY

EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF ANAESTHESIA, THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER

Sir: There has been a crisis developing in this country since the early 1970s about abortion/termination of pregnancy. Little or nothing has been done to avoid this happening despite warnings from well-motivated senior gynaecological consultants. In that time, I do not believe the Royal College of Gynaecology has collaborated effectively with the medical educational establishments to avoid the present problems.

It would be wrong to blame a small number of doctors who hold strong religious views and who are a minority group. But it is important that they do not get into positions of influence in gynaecology. Some years ago, a professor of gynaecology had a deeply held religious fervour against abortion. This led to an effective ban on abortion within his bailiwick. As a consequence, illegal abortionists flourished. Sadly, I recall many young women, some in their late teens, admitted to hospital after attempted abortion and dying from sepsis, often with gas gangrene in the pelvis.

Clearly, there are many problems concerning abortion. Demand for the service is high. The service forms part of the remit of consultant-based gynaecology. The next generation of gynaecologists needs to be much better educated. The Royal College of Gynaecology and undergraduate medical institutions need to address the problem and move on - now.

ROBERT BOOTH MD FRCS

LONDON SW19

Smoking ban may begin a better era

Sir: When first reading of the smoking ban, as a smoker, I began to consider the implications of the ban on my life, initially imagining no good could possibly come of it. But my opinions have changed. It is about time we stopped being so selfish.

I believe the ban will mark the beginning of an era of much-needed communication being rebuilt. I stayed in a hotel in London in which I was not allowed to smoke. I met some amazing people while standing outside The old and the young, men and women, are forced to speak.

Now, in an age of email and SMS, a small group of people can learn to communicate again.

EMILY INGHAM

LEEDS, WEST YORKSHIRE

At last, a task force to fight fake drugs

Sir: Saeed Shah's excellent article, "Drug giants accused of ignoring fake medicines that kill millions" (13 April), rightly points to failures by the pharmaceutical industry to save customers from fake drugs, reported in the documentary, The Malaria Parasites.

The documentary also discovered World Health Organisation failures to act against the racket and to warn about the threat to anti-malaria drugs. The WHO and the pharmaceutical industry have, at last, set up the first global task force to fight the racket.

This still leaves pressing questions about the neglect which left millions of innocent victims to suffer and die from fake drugs for more than 25 years.

And it appears political and commercial secrecy still exists. Two years ago, the WHO's doctors in the Far East made a DVD called Dealers in Death, narrated by BBC reporter Rageh Omar, calling for action to stop the fake drug racket and to make available more life-saving information. The international launch of the Dealers in Death DVD has so far been prevented.

Next month, Malaria Awareness Week (14 till 21 May) highlights the dangers of the disease. Sponsored by UK drug giant GlaxoSmithKline, it features media figures John Craven and Rageh Omar.

A call for increased public warnings about fake drugs discoveries would be welcome to help save people from this terrible racket.

ROBERT COCKBURN

PRODUCER, 'THE MALARIA PARASITES', SLOUGH

Display call charge warning on mobiles

Sir: Your leading article (13 April) states that "there is no reason why the full cost [of roaming] should not be incurred by the person making the call".

There is every reason why not: if I call a UK mobile number, I expect to pay for a call to a UK mobile number and not have a nasty shock because the person I call is enjoying a foreign holiday.

In the same way, if I post a letter to someone who has moved, I expect to pay for the stamp and not to receive a bill for their forwarding charges too.

Some years ago, when I worked for a telecoms company, the principle was that the number dialled would let the caller know what the charge for the call would be.

If that becomes impossible when the recipient could be roaming, what next? Might we then see a system where a freephone number could be redirected to a premium number with the caller paying?

DAVID GOULD

ANDOVER, HAMPSHIRE

No brainwashing

Sir: Showing Al Gore's film The Inconvenient Truth to schoolchildren is hardly brainwashing (letter, 16 April). Perhaps your correspondent has not seen the film? Informative and thought-provoking, it should stimulate intelligent debate in the classroom. But it is considerably longer than the attention span of most youngsters, so perhaps Mr Tipp does not have too much to worry about after all.

CELIA SAVAGE

CRANLEIGH, SURREY

Plea for victim

Sir: Alan Johnston was a friend of the Palestinian people (report, 17 April). His kidnapping not only taints and tarnishes the peoples' legitimate struggle to secure justice and freedom but is also a proof of the stagnated efforts of Britain to play an honourable role in instituting political reforms and reviving the peace process. It is also an indicative of President Mahmoud Abbas's inability to impose law and order and protect citizens. One can only hope that Alan is safe and well and the rumours surrounding his slaughter by lunatic fringes are flawed.

DR MUNJED FARID AL QUTOB

LONDON SW5

Pray for change

Sir: The new £20 notes have at last reached this part of the provinces. I certainly do not want to reopen the correspondence about removing a musician in favour of an economist. But it does seem to me that the disappearance of Elgar also marks the disappearance of the only Roman Catholic to have featured on British currency since the time of James II, who lost his throne in 1688.

A C BOLGER

STOKE-ON-TRENT

Forget miracles

Sir: Joan Herbert (letter, 13 April) condemns a denial of the Resurrection as a dismissal of 2,000 years of Christian history and faith. But that history is limited and contradictory. Many Christian scholars do not believe the Resurrection and Ascension happened as described in the New Testaments, and some do not believe in them at all. You don't have to believe in miracles to believe in Jesus.

DAVID WOODS

HULL

What democracy?

Sir: What part of "democracy" is it that the so called politicians in Westminster do not understand? Before 1707, Scotland had its own parliament. Now they have it back. Before 1707, England had its own parliament and we want it back. So much for the freedom and democracy Tony Blair and his disciples preach to the world. They should give freedom and democracy back to England.

JIM GASH

SLEAFORD, LINCOLNSHIRE

They're barking

Sir: Your letters page shows many towns have ambiguous notices. There's nothing like that in Tunbridge Wells. Our notices are clear and specific: one at the entrance to the Corn Exchange shopping area warns starkly "Guide Dogs Only". So, none of your riff-raff such as poodles, or people.

J A SCHOLES

TUNBRIDGE WELLS