A news report today says that "Global lust for air travel returns". http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2186987.stm.  There's also a report on the haze produced by Asia and how it can damage the globe.  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2182783.stm.  I refer also to my last discussion point, which referred to the need to destroy more land in Britain to build new runways to cope with the increase in air travel.

It is clear that humans are capable of destroying the very planet that sustains them.  The evidence also suggests that, given total freedom, the human population as a whole may choose to do this.  I ask the question: is the future survival of the species such an important issue that humans should not be given total freedom if that freedom may threaten human survival?

If we have a young person who is not sound of mind and would be liable to destroy himself if given half a chance, do we let the person exercise his free will to destroy himself?  Of course not.  We restrict his freedom to the extent necessary to prevent him actually destroying himself.

In this new age of man it may be that we can no longer allow people and nations to have total freedom.  I suggest that we need to extend the power of the United Nations to enable it to guarantee the future survival of the species.  The environmental reports being produced by the UN science teams is an encouraging start to identifying the problems that threaten our survival.  The challenge now is to find some way to give it the political power to enforce change wherever it is agreed by the international community that change is necessary.  It is an enormous task, but one that I feel is absolutely essential if we are to ensure our own survival.