Opinion and Commentary By Donna Westfall – December 23, 2024
If you go on Google and input, “What is the first death on earth?” The answer is: the first human to die, according to the Bible, was Abel, the son of Adam and Eve.
If you know anything about our area, then you are probably aware that the Tolowa Dee-ni’ tribe has been around for the last 8,000 to 12,000 years based on archaeological evidence and centered in the Smith River area. There’s a tribe of people that has been on earth even longer than the Tolowa Dee-ni’ and that’s Aboriginal Australians. DNA studies date that culture back as far as 80,000 years.
Let’s turn our attention around to some of the numbers involved around recorded deaths on earth.
There’s diseases – in answer to the #1 cause of death in the world is listed as ischaemic heart disease and according to 2021 data accounts for 71.5% of all deaths or about 9 million deaths globally.
But then there’s this:
WARS:
One account: From 1900 to the present: An estimated 187 million people have died as a result of war. That’s 124 years or roughly 1.5 million per year.
FAMINE:
Here’s one statistic: 9 million people die from hunger-related causes each year, many of them children under the age of 5.
Deaths from famines in the 20th century According to Wikipedia, an estimated 70 to 120 million people died from famines in the 20th century.
HUMAN SACRIFICE:
Aztecs, (10,000 to 250,000 per year), Inca’s, Vikings, among others along with the Roman Republic which outlawed human sacrifice in 97 BC.
Can abortion be tantamount to human sacrifice? Seems so when the child comes out fully formed and then is allowed to die.
Deaths due to abortion since Roe v Wade from 1973 – 63 million in the USA. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) 73 million abortions are performed each year worldwide or 200,000 per day.
The Catholic Church claims that Abortion is a moral evil along with human life is sacred from conception to natural death and unborn children have a “right to life.”
DRUGS:
Fentanyl deaths. December 20, 2024, Claire Rush wrote an article published in Washington Times.com about deaths due to fentanyl among the homeless in the Portland, Oregon area. In 2017 there was 1 death. In 2023; 223 deaths. Also methamphetamine deaths contributed to 81% of 2023 homeless overdose deaths.
In reading International Awareness Overdose Day: Opioids account for two-thirds (69 per cent) of drug overdose deaths. For the countries with the largest population based on 2024 numbers and taking into account 234 countries:
1) India with over 1.51 Billion population, drug usage has skyrocketed to 292 million in 2022 a 20% increase over the last decade.
2.) China with over 1.419 Billion population and then;
3.) USA with over 345,427,000 MILLION population has the largest amount of deaths due to drug overdoses at more than 100,000 dying every year.
The WHO states that for 2024 there are 0.6 million deaths attributable to psychoactive drug use.
There are now over 8 billion people on earth.
Looking at the numbers of the first two countries, hardly a comparison when India and China are in the billions. One might think it would be wise for America to want to increase their population. However, unwise to do so by taking in every unvetted Tom, Dick and Harry from illegal immigrants.
MAJOR EPIDEMICS AND PANDEMICS:
COVID: 7 million to 35 million people have died so far from the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak as of April 13, 2024
The Aids/HIV Pandemic killed 43 million from 1981 to present.
Looking back, the Spanish Flu 1918-1920 actually had it’s first case in the state of Kansas. Within two years, nearly one-third of the worlds population was affected (500 million) and death estimates ranged from 17 million to 50 million.
Further back, the Bubonic plague killed 25 million to 50 million in the seven years starting in 1346 to 1353.
NATURAL DISASTERS:
Avalanche, earthquakes, floods, wild fires, tsunami’s, etc. In 2023 there were about 95,000 deaths worldwide due to natural disasters. The deadliest being an earthquake in Syria and Turkey – killing 60,000 people. Every year 40,000 to 50,000 people die as a result of a natural disaster.
A single disaster can wipe out millions as happened in China in 1931. Excessive rains in conjunction with snow melt caused the Yangtze River to flood. Approximately 4 million people died.
HUMAN DISASTERS – TERRORIST ATTACKS:
On Thursday, December 19, 2024, the death of ISIS leader Abu Yusif was confirmed by our US military due to an airstrike in Syria.
In 2023, there were 8,352 deaths from terrorist attacks worldwide, down from 10,882 in 2015.
One way to avoid becoming a statistic due to traveling:
If you want to avoid becoming a statistic then there are travel advisories as of December 6, 2024. The following 20 countries face security challenges or strained diplomatic relations with the U.S. In these countries, the U.S. government has limited ability to assist American citizens. Please check the U.S. State Department site for more information on these countries.
 | Afghanistan |  | Belarus |
 | Burkina Faso |  | Burma (Myanmar) |
 | Central African Republic |  | Haiti |
 | Iran |  | Iraq |
 | Libya |  | Mali |
 | North Korea |  | Russia |
 | Somalia |  | South Sudan |
 | Sudan |  | Syria |
 | Ukraine |  | Venezuela |
 | Yemen |  | Lebanon |
Last thoughts. Overpopulation. How many people can our earth comfortably accommodate? The University of Chicago writes that in theory we could feed over 10 billion people with some modification to how we raise food.
Comparing India to the US, America has roughly 3 times the land mass of India. China’s land mass is about 2% larger than the US. We could stand to have about 1.6 BILLION population.
What are the odds that 1.) nuclear war will decimate human life within the next decade, or 2) someone like Elon Musk will create a way to colonize Mars in the same time period?
