JOHN LENNON, GLOBAL WARMING SKEPTIC?

Before there was climate disruption — before there was climate change — before there was global warming — and even before there was global cooling, there was overpopulation. This was the late 1960s, early 1970s version of apocalypse pitched by pseudo-scientists with socialistic beliefs. The Sins Of Man would doom the world to starve to death. Unlike the current series of weather-related apocalyptic sciences we have, overpopulation included all Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse — Conquest, War, Famine, and Death.

Not everyone bought into that overpopulation hysteria. In an appearance on the Dick Cavett Show on September 11, 1971, John Lennon was asked about overpopulation. Yoko Ono answered, well, yea, it is a problem. Then came this exchange at 40 seconds into the answer:

John Lennon: “I think it’s a bit of a joke the way people have made this overpopulation thing into kind of a myth. I don’t really believe it, you know. I think that whatever happens will balance itself out and work itself out. It’s all right for us living to say, ‘Well, there’s enough of us so we won’t have any more, don’t let anyone else live.’ I don’t believe in that. I think we have enough food and money to feed everybody, and I think the natural balance, even though all people will be able to last longer. There’s enough room for us and some of us will go to the moon and live.”

Dick Cavett: “You mean you thing there’s enough for human existence?”

John Lennon: “Yea, I don’t believe in overpopulation. I think that’s kind of a myth the government has sort of thrown out to keep your mind off Vietnam, Ireland and all the important subjects.”

Dick Cavett: “Oh, I think you’re wrong about that.”

John Lennon: “Oh, I don’t care.”

Laughter.

Now most conservatives could not care less what John Lennon would think. But his skepticism on overpopulation — and he disagreed with Yoko Ono publicly on that point as the video clip showed — leads me to suspect that John Lennon might have doubts about Whatever They Call Global Warming These Days.

And of course, the Yale-educated Dick Cavett proved to be 100% wrong.