Wolf, Wolf...

I hear on the Today programme that in X years the population will be Y million, food prices will have risen by Z per cent, and unless we address global warming we will all perish.

Oddly enough Charlie and I watched 2001 A Space Odyssey the other day. That made me pull the book off the shelf. It was written in 1968, and by 2001 it predicted not only easy frequent space travel (including interplanetary) but guess what: food shortages, unsustainable world populations, 38 Nuclear Nations and the Chinese selling nuclear capability to any other nation...

And so it has been as long as I can remember.

I have a theory that these cries of 'Wolf, Wolf' serve a number of purposes. Governments find a frightened populace easier to govern, academics can get their research funded, journalists have ready-made stories, and so on.

What worries me is when a real wolf comes along and a numbed and disillusioned public (including me) simply ignore the ritual warnings...