Jon Cooksey, one of the best problem presenters I know,
     sent our group a letter that said
          our views of our "problem" and "solving behaviors"
          did not include the truths known by
               women,
               poor people, and
               people who live closer to mother earth.
Jon showed me that
     all of us are facing the overpopulation problem with
          only part of the truth.
I realized that if we knew more of the truth
          the problem would appear blacker.
     So I wrote him this letter.

Dear Jon,

You are a brilliant presenter of truths.
     When you are done presenting the truths,
          (on which you focus)
               people know there is a problem.

However,
     They may not know the whole problem.
     They may not know that
          they grasp less then 10% of the problem.
     They may not know how much injury will occur and
          how quickly it will occur.

The listeners to whom you have successfully communicated
     don't think their grocery store will have empty shelves
          during their lifetimes or
          that hungry mobs will be in their neighborhood
               breaking down doors.
     They don't think they will face people,
          who will want to kill them or
               who they will have to kill.
     They don't think that most people,
          who survive a round of conflict,
               won't have enough to eat to stay alive.

Actually, no one knows the dates of these events, but we do know
     the longer we stay on our current path
          the bigger the crash
          the faster it will unfold
          the less we will be able to protect our children.

Your listener does know that
     when these events happen to us "the haves,"
          the events will already have happened to "the have nots."
          Most of the initial poor will have already perished.

However, starting today, as gasoline heads toward 4 dollars a gallon,
          everyone's loaf of bread will double or triple in price.
     The billion people that are living on a dollar or two each day
          will be unable to buy bread in their market, and
          will starve to death.

Your presentation failed to tell the listener that
     his or her daily newscast
          will be filled with stories of starvation and conflict.
Your presentation failed to tell the listener that
     these stories will continue for decades.

O yes, your forgot to include in your truths,
     that, while these billions are starving,
               fighting for food, and fleeing,
          we ("the haves" of the world) will be their chief murderers.
          We will take the food out of their markets and eat it
               or put it in our gas tanks.
          And when they come for it we will kill them.
     Your truths fail to include all the names we can call
          "starving people trying to keep their kids alive."
               They are called,
                    ghetto people.
                    unemployed
                    homeless,
                    temporally workers,
                    illegal immigrants,
                    unruly refugees,
                    revolutionaries, terrorists,
                    insurgents, and
                    rebel armies in exile.

Your truth does not include that
     the listener's heat, light, food, and transport bills
          will first double and
               then triple
          as cheap energy disappears.

Your picture does not include that families will have
     progressively smaller incomes --
          that eventually they will not be able to pay their bills.
               They will become:
                    "starving people trying to keep their kids alive."

Where are these truths in the pictures you and most others are painting?
How does a listener of truth know what truth is missing?
How do they tell the difference between a truth which
     is meaningless and
     a truth which warrants attention?
Where does a person get the truth that
     grabs them by the throat and
     shakes them into consciousness?
Where does the person get the truth that says,
     "The human experiment is going to a place almost no one wants." ?