Re: Maybe One, NK!, and greetings

[http://dummy.us.eu.org/robert (robert)]

 > From: "Les U. Knight" <http://www.vhemt.org/~les>
 > Date: Sat  Jul 25,  2:55pm
 >
 > Hello Robert,
 > 
 > Good to hear from you again. Been a while. I hope your move has been a good
 > one. Boston seems very different from San Francisco, but maybe they have a
 > mbridge?

I actually live in the  district in Boston -- nothing like
Berkeley or Cambridge.  (Probably not even Portland!  I went to The
Evergreen State College in Olympia, and in my estimation, the west coast
in general is much better than the east coast.  ('Though, I did grow up
here (Sudbury, MA).  Ugh.))  I suspect my girlfriend/fiance will move back
to the west coast in a few years after we've made our fortune.

 > >Anyway, the ZPG Chapter here is lame -- they just care about immigration,
 > >not birth control.
 > 
 > Yeah, I used to get their newsletter. The editor wrote a that what they
 > were seeking was an average two-child family and that some might have more,
 > some less. I wrote a letter-to-the-editor with a VHEMT perspective, and he
 > responded in the same issue. It was a pretty good exchange.

You mean, the Boston chapter of ZPG's Newsletter?  I would like to find that.
Maybe I'll look on their web site.

Anyway, after giving my donation to the chapter, they claim that the new
up-and-coming leader of the chapter will be more in line with the mainstream
ZPG beliefs (which are more attractive to me).

 > >So, I'm starting a No Kidding! chapter here in Boston.
 > 
 > Good for you. There's definitely a difference between ZPG and NK! Both are
 > needed. VHEMT is yet another necessary niche. Some over-lap of course.

Right.  But the childfree should have support, especially in these times
of the "echo boom".  There's a lot of pressure out there, I think.  I
mean, I feel I have to do my bit -- either I do the political or the
personal.  Since this ZPG chapter has the wrong focus (in my opinion),
I'll have to fall back on other outlets.  Also, when we (my girlfriend and
I) were in the Bay Area, this woman (Anita Bettencourt) organized
Childfree Network events and it seemed like a great idea -- think of it as
a VHEMT Support Group...

 > >Have you seen the book "Maybe One"?
 > 
 > Funny about synchronisity: a friend is staying here from South Africa and
 > she brought home the book yesterday, along with the latest New Republic
 > which has a book review as its cover story. A pink, blue-eyed, cherubic
 > infant dances under "Is One of These Enough?" I haven't had a chance to
 > read the whole review yet. She also picked up the publisher's press
 > release, which has quotes from Bill. Pretty watered down suff, in my
 > opinion. "... it truly isn't my business what you choose to do." He favors
 > reducing in-migration but is opposed to government coercion regarding
 > family size. Something doesn't add up here.

"Coercion" is a funny term.  Is eliminating of the tax deduction of dependents
coercion or not?

 > >My girlfriend and I wrote to Bill McKibben commending him on his book and
 > >he wrote back saying that he met you and really liked VHEMT. (He said that
 > >he didn't do it right, that maybe he'll write "Maybe None" in his next
 > >life. Actually, you should write such a book!)<
 > 
 > You're right. That's the only way I'll ever get on Larry King Live, too.
 > There are enough topics surrounding VHEMT to fill a book, I just need a
 > large block time to devote to research.
 > 
 > Say, you would be a good spokesperson for VHEMT. You have a different
 > perspective -- well, each of us does. The more who respond to the request
 > below, the larger The Movement will appear. He said he didn't want it to
 > seem like one person and a website. ;-)
 > 
 > I'm updating your address in case there's ever a mailing, and will visit
 > your website soon. I'll be updating the VHEMT site soon and will include a
 > link to yours.

You should link to 

http://dummy.us.eu.org/robert

This is my personal web site.
 > 
 > Here's the request:

Yes, I'll respond.

 > >>My name is Jonathan Rauch and I'm a writer based in Washington, now
 > beginning work on an article for The Economist, the British weekly
 > newsmagazine, about the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement. The article
 > will appear in the annual Christmas issue, which specializes in articles on
 > unusual and thought-provoking subjects. We think readers will find
 > voluntary human extinction to be just such a subject: initally peculiar
 > but, on further reflection, raising questions that many Economist readers
 > would otherwise never think to ask (Why _should_ there be a next
 > generation? Why allow nature to choose the time of our departure for us?
 > Are humans justified in rating their value above other species?).
 > 
 > I would like to know more about both the idea and the people who support
 > it. Les Knight has been kind enough to grant me an interview, and to post
 > this message. I'd be grateful to anyone who would email me at
 > http://www.brook.edu/~jrauch and say a paragraph or two about why you do (or don't)
 > support the idea of voluntary human extinction, how you volunteer or
 > contribute, how you came to the idea, etc.
 > 
 > Moreover, if you'd be willing to be interviewed by telephone, please tell
 > me that as well. I'd like to talk to a varied selection.
 > 
 > Many thanks,
 > 
 > Jon Rauch<<
 > 
 > Your opportunity to be quoted in an international magazine. Though it's for
 > the Christmas issue, I suspect he'll write it up and be done with it soon.
 > 
 > Les
 > 
 > Les U. Knight, Editor
 > These EXIT Times
 > box 86646
 > Portland OR 97286-0646
 > Phone: 503-788-6379
 > Fax: 503-977-0980
 > Web site:  http://www.vhemt.org