Father Tharp on Overpopulation

MUST remember this next time someone starts prating to me about overpopulation:

On the issue of overpopulation and starvation, I know an equally viable and more profitable way to bring that to a close. The world governments can set a mandatory death date of 60.5 years. On that day, the government agency will euthanize you for no charge in the presence of all your loved ones. Think of all the money we would save on medical care for you. Then after your loved ones leave, we will send your corpse to a rendering plant where it will be turned into a savory paste.

Actually, this used to be accomplished naturally, before the anti-smoking push and the advances in medicine and palliative care. Smokers would pay into society's coffers all through their working years, and then perish of cancer right as they approached their retirement years, never to draw a penny of their pension. But now fewer people smoke, and those that do live longer if they get sick. So perhaps a more expedient solution -- dare I say a modest solution -- to "overpopulation" is to subsidize cigarettes and ration health care for chronic illnesses. (That seems to be Russia's plan, anyway.)

Just think -- quitting those anti-smoking ads would free up additional funds for other public health projects, like persecuting the obese. This plan would also help to address the problem of urban sprawl, as it would make it more profitable to farm tobacco instead of selling the land to developers.