Bit of a stretch there Brook. The context and spirit negates it imo. Could the intent be communicated better - sure.
Although,
The Population Bomb is a 1968 book written by Stanford University Professor Paul R. Ehrlich and his wife, Anne Ehrlich.[1][2] It predicted worldwide famine in the 1970s and 1980s due to overpopulation, as well as other major societal upheavals, and advocated immediate action to limit population growth. Fears of a "population explosion" existed in the 1950s and 1960s, but the book and its author brought the idea to an even wider audience.[3][4][5]
The book has been criticized since its publication for its alarmist tone, and in recent decades for its inaccurate predictions. The Ehrlichs stand by the book despite its flaws, stating in 2009 that "perhaps the most serious flaw in The Bomb was that it was much too optimistic about the future" and believe that it achieved their goals because "it alerted people to the importance of environmental issues and brought human numbers into the debate on the human future."[2]
Ehrlich floats the idea of adding "temporary sterilants" to the water supply or staple foods. However, he rejects the idea as unpractical due to "criminal inadequacy of biomedical research in this area."[9] He suggests a tax scheme in which additional children would add to a family's tax burden at increasing rates for more children, as well as luxury taxes on childcare goods. He suggests incentives for men who agree to permanent sterilization before they have two children, as well as a variety of other monetary incentives. He proposes a powerful Department of Population and Environment which "should be set up with the power to take whatever steps are necessary to establish a reasonable population size in the United States and to put an end to the steady deterioration of our environment."[10] The department should support research into population control, such as better contraceptives, mass sterilizing agents, and prenatal sex discernment (because families often continue to have children until a male is born. Ehrlich suggested that if they could choose a male child this would reduce the birthrate). Legislation should be enacted guaranteeing the right to an abortion, and sex education should be expanded.
After explaining the domestic policies the US should pursue, he discusses foreign policy. He advocates a system of "triage," such as that suggested by William and Paul Paddock in Famine 1975!. Under this system countries would be divided into categories based on their abilities to feed themselves going forward. Countries with sufficient programmes in place to limit population growth, and the ability to become self-sufficient in the future would continue to receive food aid. Countries, for example India, which were "so far behind in the population-food game that there is no hope that our food aid will see them through to self-sufficiency" would have their food aid eliminated. Ehrlich argued that this was the only realistic strategy in the long-term. Ehrlich applauds the Paddocks' "courage and foresight" in proposing such a solution.[11] Ehrlich further discusses the need to set up public education programs and agricultural development schemes in developing countries. He argues that the scheme would likely have to be implemented outside the framework of the United Nations due to the necessity selecting the targeted regions and countries, and suggests that within countries certain regions should be prioritized to the extent that cooperative separatist movements should be encouraged if they are an improvement over the existing authority. He mentions his support for government mandated sterilization of Indian males with three or more children.[12]
In the rest of the book Ehrlich discusses things which readers can do to help. This is focused primarily on changing public opinion to create pressure on politicians to enact the policies he suggests, which he believed were not politically possible in 1968. At the end of the book he discusses the possibility that his forecasts may be wrong, which he felt he must acknowledge as a scientist. However, he believes that regardless of coming catastrophes, his prescriptions would only benefit humanity, and would be the right course of action in any case.[13]
The book sold over two million copies, raised the general awareness of population and environmental issues, and influenced 1960s and 1970s public policy.[2] For the 14 years prior the book's appearance, the world population had been growing at accelerating rates, but immediately after the book's publication, the world population growth rate coincidentally began a continuing downward trend, from its 1968 peak of 2.09% to 1.09% in 2018.[14] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Population_Bomb
Anyhow, that's all interesting and shit but one really needs to employ the methodology of going to the author for the meaning (not quite a literature review but whatever, these peeps were a secretive bunch of RCs):
In June 1979, a man using the pseudonym Robert C. Christian approached the Elberton Granite Finishing Company on behalf of "a small group of loyal Americans", and commissioned the structure. Christian explained that the stones would function as a compass, calendar, and clock, and should be capable of "withstanding catastrophic events".[1] The man reportedly used the pseudonym as a reference to his Christian religion.[7] Christian said he wanted a granite monument built that could rival the British Neolithic monument Stonehenge, which he drew inspiration from after visiting them.[3][8] However, he noted that while impressive, Stonehenge had no message to communicate.[8]
Joe Fendley of Elberton Granite assumed that Christian was "a nut" and attempted to discourage him by providing a price quote for the commission which was several times higher than any project the company had previously taken, explaining that the guidestones would require additional tools and consultants. To Fendley's surprise, Christian accepted the quote.[1] When arranging payment, Christian said that he represented a group which had been planning the guidestones for 20 years and which wanted to remain anonymous.[1]
Christian delivered a scale model of the guidestones and ten pages of specifications.[1] The 5-acre (2-hectare)[1] site was apparently purchased by Christian on October 1, 1979,[9][10][non-primary source needed] from farm owner Wayne Mullenix.[1] Mullenix and his children were given lifetime cattle grazing rights on the guidestones site.[1]
Fendley believed that the monument would become a tourist attraction for the region.[3] On March 22, 1980, the monument was unveiled by congressman Doug Barnard before an audience between 200 and 300 people.[8] Christian later transferred ownership of the land and the guidestones to Elbert County.[1] As of 2022, there reportedly were 20,000 annual visitors.[11]
The inscriptions are reportedly according to the organizers to guide humanity to conserve nature after a nuclear war, which the creators thought was an imminent threat.[7][8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_Guidestones So, that 500,000 number is to not fuck up again.
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