How about a Global Roll Call to list the names of all 6 billion PLUS people on Earth? As you know, on May 10, the Earth's population will hit the Mark of the Beast (sic) number of 6,666,666,666 people and it will be 7 billion soon. By 2050, there might be 9 billion people. And by 2100 there might be 12 billion people. And then there will be 15 billion people and 25 billion people. Where does it end? Or can this upswing continue forever?

It's a global roll call.

So I want names. Lots of names. In fact, I want the names of all human beings alive at the present time on planet Earth as part of a public perfomrance art exhibit compiling a commemorative list of all 6 billion going on 7 billion names -- what I am calling a "global roll call" to wake people up about the dangers we are facing in the future regarding global warming.

By compiling the list of all 6 billion plus inhabitants of Earth, we hope "to highlight the fact that the issues of global warmingdo not involve rich nations competing against poor nations, orrightwing pundits against environmental activists, but rather the factthat we are all involved in the future we are creating together, inthis day and age."

Anyone can sign up.

Those who do not wish to be included in the list for reasons of privacy or global warming denialism may opt out by stating so in writing. [ So far only Rush Limbaugh has opted out in writing. ]

=================================================INTERVIEW: Q. & A.

An interview about the Six Billion Names Global Roll Call Project

Q & A:

Question: Why did you start this project in the spring of 2008?Answer: It is becoming increasingly clear that humankind is moving closer and closer to some kind of major calamity scenario in the far distant future, maybe just the distant future, in regards to climate change and global warming. There are lots of stories in the media about global warming, both pro and con, and many scientists are conducting important research on these issues, and there are many blogs around the world tracking the story, too. But it seems that basically it's business as usual for most people, life goes on, the CO2 spigot continues to spew out alarming amounts of CO2 and nothing seems to be able to stop the kind of modern lifetsyles we have created that keep this CO2 spigot churning out "stuff" that just might doom this planet, and the human species. The planet will take of itself, it does not need us, but if the human species dies off due to impacts of global warming and climate change, it will be a sad day indeed.

So I started this project as a novel way of sounding the alarm, once again via the blogosphere and the MSM, if they ever write about this quixotic venture, about global warming. Of course, it will not be easy to compile all the names of all 6.7 billion people, and as of this moment in time, nobody has sent in any names, and I doubt anyone will. But I remain hopeful that the very idea of this project can add something to the global discussion about overpopulation, climate change, the carrying capacity of Earth, and the future of the human species.

I care about the future of the human species. I have compassion for a future I will not be here to see. I don't know why. But something in me is attuned to what is going on, and this project is just one small, minor, perhaps undoable, way for me to participate in the global warming fight.

QUESTION: Do you think many people will respond to your project and send in names?ANSWER: No. But I remain hopeful that the idea will catch people's attention, if not now, then maybe later. It's the idea of this project that matters. As one commentator said on his blog the other day: "I doubt many people will add their names to your list or even send in names of other people. But it is an interesting idea."

QUESTION: Isn't this project a bit quixotic, or even impossible? Why are you doing it? I mean, how can any one website possibly compile and list the names of all 6,732,567,345 people on Earth at the current time? By the time you finish this impossible take, one third of those people will be already dead, one third will be neither here nor there, and there will be another one third who have not even been born yet. This entire idea is absurd. It's basically an impossible task and a complete waste of time. You've set yourself, and those volunteers who are assisting you online, an impossible task.

ANSWER: Nothing is impossible. Time is an illusion. Impossible is nothing. But to answer your question: yes, it does seem like an impossible task. Still, I remain undeterred. The important thing is the journey, not getting to the destination. But if the idea of this project can help generate even one small bit of awareness of the huge problem we are facing in terms of the climate change "battle of the centuries" we are now facing, in the face of the massive amounts of Co2 we comintue to spew out into the atmosphere via our industrial modern lifestyles based on a "slash! burn! consume!" way of life, then I will feel satisfied. I don't expect big results. I expect a very small result. Infinitesmally small. But every step is an important baby step in tackling this problem.

I read a comment by a man in the UK who said this, and it inspirede me to press on with this seemingly impossible, and even laughable, yes, project:

"When America decided to go the moon, we witnessed a nation divert huge resources into achieving that seemingly impossible goal, and they succeeded. The world is faced with climate disaster in the not so distant future, so why are not proportionately huge resources being diverted into developing solutions? Are we incapable of acting pro-actively and collectively?"

QUESTION: Okay, then, if you are aware of how silly this entire project sounds to the average reader online or in a print newspaper, why are doing this? Are you nuts?

ANSWER: Good question. I am pressing on with this project because it has a point to make, just the idea of it, and if that point helps to inspire or motivate other people, especially the younger generation, to work hard to transform the world into a more aware place about just what it is we are doing to the Earth in terms of climate change and global warming, then it will have been worth it and very satisfying to me.

It does not take much of my time to do this. Three minutes a day. I can afford that. I am an optimist and I remain hopeful that humankind will find way out of this mess.

An Earth carrying 6.7 billion people is an Earth with too many people on it, and if the statistics go up to 9 billion as scientists say it will in the next 50 years, and then maybe up to 15 billion by the year 2323, and then maybe 25 billion by the year 2500, what then? We cannot go on this way.

So that is why I am doing this strange and impossible to complete project. It's a novel way of sounding the alarm. It has a symbolic meaning, a PR meaning, a wake up call element to it. And no, I am not nuts. Just concerned. Very very concerned. What's three mintues a day to maintain this blogsite? Nothing. Easy to do.

And if some newspaper picks up the story and sends out an alarm by reporting the news about the Global Roll Call, more people might be made aware of just where it is we are headed. I am not a doomsayer. I am an optimist. I believe in humanity, I believe in humankind, I believe in the future. Color me green.

What do you think of this idea or comment?
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