the way i see it we have two choices … control our own population or let nature control it for us … i don’t think we would like the way nature would do it (disease and violence) but if we try to do it our selves i’m afraid that we will favor traits that may not be ideal for the ultimate survival of the species. china is trying it and they have ended up with more males than females … the result is a lot of rambunctious males that can’t find a mate. i fear that if the west tries it we will discourage traits that include racial characteristics and we will end up a weaker species for it.
Sure, we’ll just repeal any laws that protect the weak, sickly, aged, or indolent; that’ll make us a stronger, more efficient herd. Let’s start with slashing social programs.
If you enlarge this one, start at the top…notice the squiggly lines in the smoke. The rendering of the bridge, the slash lines depicting the city buildings piled on top of each other,all in big city gray…. in detail…Then down to his fanciful traffic on the roads…and then to the warm colors of the deer…
Man, what we need here is a couple of Wiley’s bears to mess with those guys….
There are more deer on the North American continent now than there were when the first Europeans made contact or any time since. Agriculture and suburbia along with restrictions on hunting gave them a better food supply than the forests.
We seem to do a pretty good job of culling ourselves. Ethnic cleansing, war, genocide, famine and disease in the midst of plenty. And then there is my favorite, stupidity.
Get rid of the rich people and within no time at all, there’ll be just as many. Even with Sharia Law declaring that one should not make profit, there are rich Muslims.
Warning signs don’t save the dumbmasses – who don’t bother to read them – they just protect the manufacturers from a few of the law suits resulting from misuse of their products. The problem is, even if a table saw (for example) is covered with warning signs, when a nitwit saws his hand off you’ll still get sued on the theory that it wasn’t properly guarded. It’s all those guards, railings, crush zones and airbags in cars, etc., that keep natural selection from operating on Americans…
I feel that humans on the endangered species list and do not even know it. I think that we may very well go extinct in less than 100 years. The very last human to walk the Earth may have all ready been born.
We thought AIDS was going to do it. Of course, in third-world countries, poverty, hunger and disease continue to “thin the herd”. But I’m afraid that with the practically-vertical population curve, conflict is going to play more and more of a part, and will have more and more effect on those of us in developed countries. Society in general also seems to continue to select for machismo— vis. our fascination with entertainers and sports figures who continually act in ways that go against our purported values, while we tsk-tsk and look the other way.
We are in the middle of an extinction event already, it’s moving up the food chain. When the dust settles either we will have learned a lesson or have become the oil reserve for the next intelligent species.
You said: “…We are going to get it and soon too. It will be all our own fault..”-———————————————-Always this cheerful on a Sunday, or just been to a fire and brimstone sermon?
“We are going to get it and soon too. It will be all our own fault..”
Oh, really? We get thinned? Is that all?!
The decades long negative results from the ever increasing powerful SETI (etc.) seems to indicate every other advanced civilization within our present reach got knocked clear back to non advanced. That appears to me solid proof that more drastic changes happen than merely culled.
Never NEVER forget the mess we see on the top panel is NOT caused by superstition, nor by religion, nor by hypocrisy. It is caused by advanced science and technology.
Brilliant cartoon ! Content aside, the artwork is spectacular. The “city” has a wonderful gothic feeling of doom to it.Add to it, Wiley’s acute and acid wit and you have an award winning statement. Thanks Wiley.
Typical evolutionary tripe! Wildlife/nature is so much more important the people, right?. Would you trade your father/mother/wife/son/daughter/friend for a herd of deer?
Maybe if you think the human population needs to be thinned out, you and your kin/friends should be the first to volunteer for elimination!
Population control is dealt with in a slightly different way than usual in Dan Brown’s novel : Inferno. It is a suspenseful drama with a totally unexpected ending… good reading and food for thought. Great job as usual, Wiley.
I really hate to rain on Chicken Little’s parade here, but most projections of human population have our numbers topping out at somewhere around 9 to 10 billion followed by a gradual reduction to a more aesthetically acceptable level. There are so many links on this subject that I’ll just mention that I Googled “human population projections”
I mention the aesthetics of our population because despite the desirability of open, unpopulated space, the earth is capable of sustaining significantly more people than it now does. I would certainly prefer a world in which the population was closer to what it was when I was born in 1952. The fact is that if I live to be 100 (unlikely, but bear with me) then it just might be at that level again.
Here’s one article that gives some facts: http://newint.org/features/2010/01/01/keynote-population/
The author notes, in part:
“…. This makes for a global average of around 2.5 children per woman.
In 76 countries the fertility rate has actually sunk below replacement level – which is set at around 2.1. This means that the current population is not reproducing itself. It’s most noticeable in Europe but there are examples from every continent, including Africa.1 [footnote]
In developing countries the average fertility rate fell by half, from six to three children, between 1950 and 2000. But in many countries of sub-Saharan and western Africa, women are still having five or more children on average.
In terms of the big global numbers, what happens in India and China, the two most populous countries, has the greatest impact. India today has a fertility rate of 2.7 (down from 3.5 in 1997) and is expected to hit replacement level in 2027. China’s drop from 5 or 6 per woman before 1970 to around 1.5 today, looks likely to persist. ‘The accumulated evidence suggests that lifting the one child policy would not lead to a resurgence of uncontrollable population growth,’ say researchers from the region. China, they say, ‘would benefit from learning from its neighbours, Korea and Japan, how difficult it is to induce people to increase childbearing once fertility has fallen to a very low level.’2 As a consequence, China’s population should start shrinking by 2023.
According to the United Nations, 21 countries already had a declining population in the period 2000-2005."
I find these numbers cause for cautious optimism. It doesn’t support the fear-mongering of a Dan Brown (Inferno), nor does it do much for the unfortunate deer in Wiley’s cartoon. But the sky, as it happens, is not in nearly as much danger of falling as you might otherwise think.
Just FYI. There’s more white tail deer in N America now than when the pilgrims landed. Every year millions of hunters go out and have a great time. Not just hunting but bonding and spending a whole bunch of $$.
Well then… I guess this puts the whole ‘peace’ movement into a new light… Instead of peacefully co-existing, let’s make war on everyone who looks different, or speaks differently, or believes differently. Total war then, that ought to cull the herd down some.
or…we could work together and spread out into the whole universe. Lots of room there… just saying.
You can tell Wiley, and a majority of the commenters here, live in densely populated areas like the East and Left coast. Here in fly-over country it doesn’t look like the cartoon, and yes, the herds do need thinning.
jnik23260 over 11 years ago
Will Batman save them in time?
jnik23260 over 11 years ago
Is that Gotham City Park?
chireef over 11 years ago
the way i see it we have two choices … control our own population or let nature control it for us … i don’t think we would like the way nature would do it (disease and violence) but if we try to do it our selves i’m afraid that we will favor traits that may not be ideal for the ultimate survival of the species. china is trying it and they have ended up with more males than females … the result is a lot of rambunctious males that can’t find a mate. i fear that if the west tries it we will discourage traits that include racial characteristics and we will end up a weaker species for it.
Superfrog over 11 years ago
Doe!
Caddy57 over 11 years ago
The "thinning " of the herd has already happened ….we are no longer the fattest nation on Earth!
BenderSastre over 11 years ago
Sure, we’ll just repeal any laws that protect the weak, sickly, aged, or indolent; that’ll make us a stronger, more efficient herd. Let’s start with slashing social programs.
Please note my extreme sarcasm
edclectic over 11 years ago
The herd mentality…
Varnes over 11 years ago
If you enlarge this one, start at the top…notice the squiggly lines in the smoke. The rendering of the bridge, the slash lines depicting the city buildings piled on top of each other,all in big city gray…. in detail…Then down to his fanciful traffic on the roads…and then to the warm colors of the deer…
Man, what we need here is a couple of Wiley’s bears to mess with those guys….
thirdguy over 11 years ago
If the water level keeps rising, all it will take is a tsunami or two, and a lot of cities will be starting over from scratch.
Olddog1 over 11 years ago
There are more deer on the North American continent now than there were when the first Europeans made contact or any time since. Agriculture and suburbia along with restrictions on hunting gave them a better food supply than the forests.
Richard Nace Premium Member over 11 years ago
We seem to do a pretty good job of culling ourselves. Ethnic cleansing, war, genocide, famine and disease in the midst of plenty. And then there is my favorite, stupidity.
loudmouthbass over 11 years ago
quit saving the dumbmasses
http://www.safetysign.com/images/catlog/product/large/E1500.png
HabaneroBuck over 11 years ago
Is Wiley suggesting that we need to thin the human herd first? Say, down to 500 million a la the Georgia Guidestones?
pcolli over 11 years ago
Get rid of the rich people and within no time at all, there’ll be just as many. Even with Sharia Law declaring that one should not make profit, there are rich Muslims.
pc368dude over 11 years ago
More, sheer artistic genius. Wiley makes my day … every day.
fins59 over 11 years ago
When will that start? People in general seem to be getting less and less intelligent, just look at TLC and “Big Brother”.
markmoss1 over 11 years ago
@loudmouthbass
Warning signs don’t save the dumbmasses – who don’t bother to read them – they just protect the manufacturers from a few of the law suits resulting from misuse of their products. The problem is, even if a table saw (for example) is covered with warning signs, when a nitwit saws his hand off you’ll still get sued on the theory that it wasn’t properly guarded. It’s all those guards, railings, crush zones and airbags in cars, etc., that keep natural selection from operating on Americans…
puddlesplatt over 11 years ago
I have invented a device that whom ever has a cell phone near his ear, will become barren for ever and that goes for the little seeds! bingo…!
CasualObserver over 11 years ago
Perhaps a few of you would volunteer?
rnapiera over 11 years ago
Perhaps you should lead by example.
fixer1967 over 11 years ago
I feel that humans on the endangered species list and do not even know it. I think that we may very well go extinct in less than 100 years. The very last human to walk the Earth may have all ready been born.
sbchamp over 11 years ago
Captain Trips approves…Wait for it
woodwork over 11 years ago
read Psalm 37:10,11 and Daniel 2:44
Tuner38 over 11 years ago
Our fault for seeking survival?
lisapaloma13 over 11 years ago
We thought AIDS was going to do it. Of course, in third-world countries, poverty, hunger and disease continue to “thin the herd”. But I’m afraid that with the practically-vertical population curve, conflict is going to play more and more of a part, and will have more and more effect on those of us in developed countries. Society in general also seems to continue to select for machismo— vis. our fascination with entertainers and sports figures who continually act in ways that go against our purported values, while we tsk-tsk and look the other way.
catzilla23 over 11 years ago
We are in the middle of an extinction event already, it’s moving up the food chain. When the dust settles either we will have learned a lesson or have become the oil reserve for the next intelligent species.
katzenbooks45 over 11 years ago
Paging Thomas Malthus…
Wiley creator over 11 years ago
You know this cartoon isn’t about deer, right?
dabugger over 11 years ago
The end as we knew it; whose condo will replace them?
Can't Sleep over 11 years ago
You said: “…We are going to get it and soon too. It will be all our own fault..”-———————————————-Always this cheerful on a Sunday, or just been to a fire and brimstone sermon?
Seiko over 11 years ago
“We are going to get it and soon too. It will be all our own fault..”
Oh, really? We get thinned? Is that all?!
The decades long negative results from the ever increasing powerful SETI (etc.) seems to indicate every other advanced civilization within our present reach got knocked clear back to non advanced. That appears to me solid proof that more drastic changes happen than merely culled.
Seiko over 11 years ago
Never NEVER forget the mess we see on the top panel is NOT caused by superstition, nor by religion, nor by hypocrisy. It is caused by advanced science and technology.
susan.e.a.c over 11 years ago
We already have many utilitarians working to ‘cull’ humanity…by killing anyone not like them. Hitler liked that plan.
jimgamer over 11 years ago
A deers point of view !!!!!!
Linguist over 11 years ago
Brilliant cartoon ! Content aside, the artwork is spectacular. The “city” has a wonderful gothic feeling of doom to it.Add to it, Wiley’s acute and acid wit and you have an award winning statement. Thanks Wiley.
milania over 11 years ago
I agree with the deer! Leave them alond. They were here first! Let’s thin the human herds; the deer make far better neighbors!
The Old Wolf over 11 years ago
Ooh, the “Wump World”…
dmatt over 11 years ago
Nothing non sequitur about this — dead on!
CarbonUnitDale over 11 years ago
Typical evolutionary tripe! Wildlife/nature is so much more important the people, right?. Would you trade your father/mother/wife/son/daughter/friend for a herd of deer?
Maybe if you think the human population needs to be thinned out, you and your kin/friends should be the first to volunteer for elimination!
Robert C. Premium Member over 11 years ago
You seem to have taken the opposite meaning of @chireef’s post. Please re-read and re-think.
EDinWAState over 11 years ago
Population control is dealt with in a slightly different way than usual in Dan Brown’s novel : Inferno. It is a suspenseful drama with a totally unexpected ending… good reading and food for thought. Great job as usual, Wiley.
ShadowBeast Premium Member over 11 years ago
Sure we can, once our resources are used up, there’s no place to go except down.
tedsini over 11 years ago
I really hate to rain on Chicken Little’s parade here, but most projections of human population have our numbers topping out at somewhere around 9 to 10 billion followed by a gradual reduction to a more aesthetically acceptable level. There are so many links on this subject that I’ll just mention that I Googled “human population projections”
I mention the aesthetics of our population because despite the desirability of open, unpopulated space, the earth is capable of sustaining significantly more people than it now does. I would certainly prefer a world in which the population was closer to what it was when I was born in 1952. The fact is that if I live to be 100 (unlikely, but bear with me) then it just might be at that level again.
Here’s one article that gives some facts: http://newint.org/features/2010/01/01/keynote-population/
The author notes, in part:
“…. This makes for a global average of around 2.5 children per woman.
In 76 countries the fertility rate has actually sunk below replacement level – which is set at around 2.1. This means that the current population is not reproducing itself. It’s most noticeable in Europe but there are examples from every continent, including Africa.1 [footnote]
In developing countries the average fertility rate fell by half, from six to three children, between 1950 and 2000. But in many countries of sub-Saharan and western Africa, women are still having five or more children on average.
In terms of the big global numbers, what happens in India and China, the two most populous countries, has the greatest impact. India today has a fertility rate of 2.7 (down from 3.5 in 1997) and is expected to hit replacement level in 2027. China’s drop from 5 or 6 per woman before 1970 to around 1.5 today, looks likely to persist. ‘The accumulated evidence suggests that lifting the one child policy would not lead to a resurgence of uncontrollable population growth,’ say researchers from the region. China, they say, ‘would benefit from learning from its neighbours, Korea and Japan, how difficult it is to induce people to increase childbearing once fertility has fallen to a very low level.’2 As a consequence, China’s population should start shrinking by 2023.
According to the United Nations, 21 countries already had a declining population in the period 2000-2005."
I find these numbers cause for cautious optimism. It doesn’t support the fear-mongering of a Dan Brown (Inferno), nor does it do much for the unfortunate deer in Wiley’s cartoon. But the sky, as it happens, is not in nearly as much danger of falling as you might otherwise think.
The Life I Draw Upon over 11 years ago
Excellent point
boudecea over 11 years ago
As always, so true, so true.
Dr.silly over 11 years ago
@tedsini
I envy the amount of time you apparently have on your hands to deliver such a long scientific report on a cartoon forum.
klunker rider over 11 years ago
Welcome to New Jersey
rgcviper over 11 years ago
Impressive artwork.
JJ in Everett WA over 11 years ago
Just FYI. There’s more white tail deer in N America now than when the pilgrims landed. Every year millions of hunters go out and have a great time. Not just hunting but bonding and spending a whole bunch of $$.
Dr_Fogg over 11 years ago
They cull 3 or 4 a day here in Indy. And I don’t mean deer.
wrwallaceii over 11 years ago
Well then… I guess this puts the whole ‘peace’ movement into a new light… Instead of peacefully co-existing, let’s make war on everyone who looks different, or speaks differently, or believes differently. Total war then, that ought to cull the herd down some.
or…we could work together and spread out into the whole universe. Lots of room there… just saying.
Squirrelchaser over 11 years ago
You can tell Wiley, and a majority of the commenters here, live in densely populated areas like the East and Left coast. Here in fly-over country it doesn’t look like the cartoon, and yes, the herds do need thinning.
Nelly55 over 11 years ago
brilliant artistry Wiley!
Alex Hallatt creator about 11 years ago
The human cull is coming.