A New Malthus

‘FEW who have watched Susan Hampshire in Monarch Of The Glen would argue that she is uniquely placed to talk about the problems facing the planet today.

Susan Hampshire, just minutes before burying herself in a time capsule

So it’s right and proper that Hello! has asked Susan to pen a short comment about life on plant Earth and her pet problem: population growth.

When she first confronted the issue ten years back and sought to make a difference to the people living in overpopulated areas, she oversaw the development of two environment time capsules, which she buried at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the University of Liverpool’s New Botanic Garden.

Within these two messages to the future were letters of apology for the state of the planet in 2044 and artefacts from today – ”both bad, such as a petrol cap, and good, such as packet of contraceptive pills”.

Although, that could be a ”good” Dutch petrol cap and not one of those gas-guzzling American ones.

But, the chair is with Susan…

”Like so many other I am worried about the increase in our numbers,” says she. So Susan has come up with a novel idea – everyone should murder the person to their immediate left.

This will see the population reduced by roughly half, although the cull will be most keenly felt among readers of Hello!.

Remember, every bit makes a difference…’

Posted: 11th, December 2003 | In: Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink