survival of the fittest. Right? How can this possibly apply to our mission? We’re here to protect the world’s population aren’t we?”
Dr. Goodfellow looked around the room and paused before he replied. He enjoyed moments like these. It reminded him of his days as a student at Harvard when a professor was about to share a profound thought with his slow-to-understand undergraduate students. I could have done that , he thought to himself. He allowed himself a slight smile.
“It’s really quite straightforward,” he said at last, “left alone, nature will perform selective culling when a population group becomes too large. This is good, not only for that particular population group, but for all groups in general. In our case we would determine if a particular group became too large for its own welfare, for example, the group I was just talking about. Now, let’s suppose some sort of natural calamity were to strike this group. It might be a disease, or it could be an earthquake, volcanic eruption or some other disaster. It might even be a manmade disaster such as warfare in a neighboring area that spills over into this population center. If the circumstances were appropriate our culling program would be enabled.”
“How would that work in practice?” Dave Thomas, a member of a different First Strike group asked. “I must have missed that meeting. I thought all the previous meetings were just hypothetical discussions.”
“Hypothetical, Dave? Oh, no…not at all, not at all. You see, in the simplest terms, we would really do nothing. It’s a passive culling program you see. We simply let the disaster take its course. Our explanation to the world would be that our limited budget prevents our taking effective action. Then, as the natural culling action continues, the population of the affected group is reduced and the world population returns to a normal balance. It’s a very natural process and it has worked very well in the past.”
“It has?” Jim asked, “Where?”
“Well,” Dr. Goodfellow replied, “I don’t think it would be appropriate to be too specific in this meeting. Let us just say that it has worked well before in both Asia and Africa. You’ll have to use your own judgment to determine the specific countries.”
Jim thought about this for a few moments before he slowly nodded his head. “I see. “So, if this culling thing is to happen again in Southeastern Asia how does it happen?”
Dr. Goodfellow laughed for a moment. “My goodness, Jim. I don’t know. We have to watch and see what develops. There are always threats to populations coming along. We just need to carefully monitor this area and see what happens. We will still step in to help out with the smaller disasters but when the right one comes along…well, we’ll let nature take its course. That’s all. Sometimes, the natural way is the best way to protect the Earth’s population as a whole. Don’t you agree?
Jim could only look at Dr. Goodfellow for a long moment. “Then what about all the medical reports we send in from the Strike teams? What is the point?”
“Jim, that data is vital, absolutely vital. That’s how we will determine our response. That’s the only way we can perform our mission of protecting the population of the world, the entire world, which includes us, by the way.”
Before Jim could reply there was a knock on the door and then a secretary interrupted. “I’m sorry to bother you, sir. We’ve just had an urgent message from the Bangkok Health Services Department. They say there is an extraordinary emergency developing there. They are asking for
Dr. Goodfellow looked around the room and paused before he replied. He enjoyed moments like these. It reminded him of his days as a student at Harvard when a professor was about to share a profound thought with his slow-to-understand undergraduate students. I could have done that , he thought to himself. He allowed himself a slight smile.
“It’s really quite straightforward,” he said at last, “left alone, nature will perform selective culling when a population group becomes too large. This is good, not only for that particular population group, but for all groups in general. In our case we would determine if a particular group became too large for its own welfare, for example, the group I was just talking about. Now, let’s suppose some sort of natural calamity were to strike this group. It might be a disease, or it could be an earthquake, volcanic eruption or some other disaster. It might even be a manmade disaster such as warfare in a neighboring area that spills over into this population center. If the circumstances were appropriate our culling program would be enabled.”
“How would that work in practice?” Dave Thomas, a member of a different First Strike group asked. “I must have missed that meeting. I thought all the previous meetings were just hypothetical discussions.”
“Hypothetical, Dave? Oh, no…not at all, not at all. You see, in the simplest terms, we would really do nothing. It’s a passive culling program you see. We simply let the disaster take its course. Our explanation to the world would be that our limited budget prevents our taking effective action. Then, as the natural culling action continues, the population of the affected group is reduced and the world population returns to a normal balance. It’s a very natural process and it has worked very well in the past.”
“It has?” Jim asked, “Where?”
“Well,” Dr. Goodfellow replied, “I don’t think it would be appropriate to be too specific in this meeting. Let us just say that it has worked well before in both Asia and Africa. You’ll have to use your own judgment to determine the specific countries.”
Jim thought about this for a few moments before he slowly nodded his head. “I see. “So, if this culling thing is to happen again in Southeastern Asia how does it happen?”
Dr. Goodfellow laughed for a moment. “My goodness, Jim. I don’t know. We have to watch and see what develops. There are always threats to populations coming along. We just need to carefully monitor this area and see what happens. We will still step in to help out with the smaller disasters but when the right one comes along…well, we’ll let nature take its course. That’s all. Sometimes, the natural way is the best way to protect the Earth’s population as a whole. Don’t you agree?
Jim could only look at Dr. Goodfellow for a long moment. “Then what about all the medical reports we send in from the Strike teams? What is the point?”
“Jim, that data is vital, absolutely vital. That’s how we will determine our response. That’s the only way we can perform our mission of protecting the population of the world, the entire world, which includes us, by the way.”
Before Jim could reply there was a knock on the door and then a secretary interrupted. “I’m sorry to bother you, sir. We’ve just had an urgent message from the Bangkok Health Services Department. They say there is an extraordinary emergency developing there. They are asking for
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