In what is yet another example of how violent and misanthropic sentiment in the mainstream media is perfectly acceptable in the name of saving the earth, Dr Susan Blackmore has told the BBC that there are “too many people” and that she hopes most of them will die soon for the sake of the planet.

As writer and commentator on human rights issues Brendan O’Neill of Spiked reported in the First Post:

On 5 November, the upmarket Nightwaves on BBC Radio 3 aired a discussion about overpopulation between Dr Susan Blackmore (a neuroscientist) and Professor John Gray (of the London School of Economics). Dr Blackmore said the “fundamental problem” facing the planet today is that “there are too many people“. Professor Gray agreed. Then Dr Blackmore declared: “For the planet’s sake, I hope we have bird flu or some other thing that will reduce the population, because otherwise we’re doomed.” The First Post. Malthusian Snobs Pray For Cure To Overpopulation.

Describing Susan Blackmore as a neuroscientist is a very generous way to describe her. Her website’s CV lists her Ph.D. as being parapsychology, not neuroscience. Quite why the BBC thought someone whose specialty is the ‘study’ of the paranormal was qualified to speak on population and global warming is a question they have yet to answer.

So how many people does Dr Blackmore think should die in this hoped-for viral apocalypse?

In her Guardian newspaper column of 2006 she spelled out what she thought constituted an acceptable number of people when she addressed the subject of global warming:

“In all probability billions of people are going to die in the next few decades . . . The carrying capacity of the earth is possibly a billion or two; it’s certainly far lower than the current plague of humans. The Guardian. Survival of the Selfish.

So, five or six billion deaths should do the trick, then.

Dr Blackmore observed that Britain seemed likely to survive the worst of the effects of global warming thanks to its geographical location, but worried that “The world will be awash with eco-refugees, desperate to get to anywhere with land and fresh water. What do we do?”. Clearly, a “plague of humans” from those less-fortunate foreign climes struggling to get into the country is a troubling prospect for Dr Blackmore.

She then lists four approaches to the impending catastrophe. The first is that Britain seal its borders and watches the rest of the world die. “We will have to be steadfast about it” she warns readers. The second option would be to try and save everyone, but she dismisses this by saying that the outcome is likely to be conflict over resources in which everyone would die anyway, so what’s the point? The third option is to put the planet first and “let as many people die as possible”.

The fourth option, which Dr Blackmore seems to prefer, is to try and preserve civilization by helping to save certain selected members of the population (come on – you knew this was what she was leading up to, didn’t you?). In this scenario only certain people could be saved from the apocalypse to inherit the brace new world:

Finally, we might decide that civilisation itself is worth preserving. In that case we have to work out what to save and which people would be needed in a drastically reduced population – weighing the value of scientists and musicians against that of politicians, for example. The Guardian. Survival of the Selfish.

Of course, the necessity of people who can waffle on about parapsychology, global warming and overpopulation in liberal media outlets will presumably be taken as read. Dr Blackmore stated that none of these options were particularly palatable, but we had to face the facts and make tough decisions in the light of global warming. Well quite. Noblesse oblige and all that, Dr Blackmore. Our sympathies on having to make such tough decisions for the rest of us.

This is, of course, a classic example of the hypocrisy of media outlets like the BBC and The Guardian who condemn militaristic language as offensive and even dangerous, but give people who seem to want billions to die horribly a platform with which to share their hopes. Needless to say, nothing will happen to Dr Blackmore following her comments that she hopes there will be a plague or virus soon that will kill billions to bring the population down to her stated acceptable level of around one to two billion.