'Millions' of people believe that humans should die out to save the planet
Topics: Environment, Science, World News
Tom Wood
Featured Image Credit: LADbible/Alamy
Topics: Environment, Science, World News
‘Millions’ of people around the globe are choosing not to procreate and to allow the human race to slowly die out, according to the man behind the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement.
The idea isn’t a new one, but it’s definitely one that requires a bit of mental gymnastics to get into.
Let’s face it, the problem with the world at the minute is us.
We’re causing the climate change that is putting the safety of the entire planet at risk, we’re consuming all of the resources for all species on the planet, all whilst making their lives even more tough.
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With that in mind, is the best thing for the planet for humans to agree to die out for the good of the planet?
Les Knight, a representative of the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement (VHEMT) certainly thinks enough is enough.
The movement is based upon the idea that humans should band together and simply stop procreating, meaning that the population of the planet slowly decreases until there are no humans at all left.
On the movement’s official website, there are questions posed such as ‘isn’t this what Hitler wanted?’ – it isn’t – and ‘are you really serious? – they are.
Obviously, Knight recognises that it’s not a realistic aim, but every time someone chooses not to introduce another person onto the planet is a small victory.
Speaking to UNILAD, he explained: “If you look around and see what is going on and follow a train of logic, guided by compassion, you’ll eventually see that if humans were not here on the planet, things would be a whole lot better.
“Then you go – how are we going to do that?
“Mass murder is immediately out, so phasing out.
“The biosphere would definitely be better off without homo sapiens; one species is causing the extinction of millions.
“We’re actually causing the sixth mass extinction.
“Any alien coming down and hovering would immediately say ‘well, we’ve got to get rid of that one species’ and I hope they would be humane about it.”
Knight – whilst rejecting the suggestion that he is the figurehead for this movement – has been preaching this missive for 50 years now, and believes that the world is slowly starting to catch on.
“It’s not an organisation with members and everything, but I’d say there’s a few million, just based on extrapolating from the number of people who have contacted me,” he continued.
“Which is a pretty insignificant part of eight billion, which we’ll hit on November 15 [according to the United Nations].”
Still, for the movement, it’s a start.
Knight believes that the fundamental idea that births are good is what needs to be challenged.
Of course, much of the criticism the movement receives stems from a fundamental misreading of the word ‘voluntary’ in the name.
He said: “The first thing people think of because of cultural conditioning is ‘you must want to kill people’.
“That’s because the idea that we can lower the population by not procreating just doesn’t pop into people’s heads.
“They have to think about it a while.
“A lot of times people say ‘why don’t you just kill yourself if you don’t think we should be here?’
“It’s a cause to live for, not to die for.
“There’s huge difference between continuing to live and bringing a whole new person with potentially 80 years ahead of them into existence."
Knight added: “Many people are arriving at the conclusion that their lives are not so good and it isn’t looking like it’s going to improve any time soon, so it’s unconscionable to bring somebody into it right now.
“As soon as you talk about there being too many people on the planet you’re accused of eco-fascism.
“[People think] population growth is greatest in poorer countries, so you must be talking about lowering the population of poor people.
“Boom – racism, eugenics.
“Let’s back up a bit – the environmental impact of procreating in wealthier countries is much greater.”
Despite some strong opposition, Knight argues that the movement is growing and continuing to reach new people around the globe.
He said: “More and more people are amenable to the idea that we should have fewer children.
“There are two things – one is the effect a new person has on the environment, the second is the impact that environment will have on the new person.
“By reducing the number of people at the dinner table, we will be better able to provide for everyone.
“The idea is to take care of everyone who is here, and we can better do that without creating more of us.
“The unofficial motto of the movement is ‘may we live long and die out’."
Naturally, humans will continue to procreate and have children.
It’s practically nailed on.
However, that hasn’t stopped Knight driving his message one, despite knowing he’s broadly on a hiding to nothing.
“What I’ve been doing for 50 years is dreaming, and the reason I’ve been able to do it for 50 years is that I knew from the start I would never succeed,” he said.
“My life’s work is to bring about the extinction of homo sapiens through voluntary means, but I’m not gonna do that, so have fun with it as you go!
“Talking with people, they say ‘oh we can’t go extinct because…’
“You say ‘yes, why is it?’
“'We’re the greatest thing ever to happen to planet earth’ they say.
“We’re the only species that has evolved to the point of voluntarily going extinct, or which needs to."
To be fair, whether or not you’ll be rushing out to join the movement, we may not have a choice anymore.
The alternative could be involuntary extinction, and it may be coming quicker than you think.