I agree with Dr. Mehta (Salon May 26) that physicians have a role in raising consciousness to reverse the effects that human arrogance/ignorance has had on the Earth. I feel, however, that he is part of a trend within the Green movement that goes to a misanthropic extreme. Within his argument, language and ideas are used that likens the human race to, for example, a rabbit population that needs to be culled. Insidiously related to this is the notion that, like rabbits, humans are totally subject to instinctual drives. If we, as physicians, perpetuate this cynical view of humans as automatons, we will continue to hand over fertility-reducing technology exclusively and abandon the biopsychosocio-spiritual model that views human beings as more than matter.
Footnotes
-
Competing interests: None declared.
For the full letter, go to: www.cmaj.ca/cgi/eletters/180/11/1176#137192