At this festive season of the year, Mr. Scrooge,” said the gentleman, taking up a pen, “it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the Poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. Many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts, sir.”
“Are there no prisons?” asked Scrooge.
“Plenty of prisons,” said the gentleman, laying down the pen again.
“And the Union workhouses?” demanded Scrooge. “Are they still in operation?”
“They are. Still,” returned the gentleman, “I wish I could say they were not.”
“The Treadmill and the Poor Law are in full vigour, then?” said Scrooge.
“Both very busy, sir.”
“Oh! I was afraid, from what you said at first, that something had occurred to stop them in their useful course,” said Scrooge. “I’m very glad to hear it.”
“Under the impression that they scarcely furnish Christian cheer of mind or body to the multitude,” returned the gentleman, “a few of us are endeavouring to raise a fund to buy the Poor some meat and drink, and means of warmth. We choose this time, because it is a time, of all others, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices. What shall I put you down for?”
“Nothing!” Scrooge replied.
“You wish to be anonymous?”
“I wish to be left alone,” said Scrooge. “Since you ask me what I wish, gentlemen, that is my answer. I don’t make merry myself at Christmas and I can’t afford to make idle people merry. I help to support the establishments I have mentioned — they cost enough; and those who are badly off must go there.”
“Many can’t go there; and many would rather die.”
“If they would rather die,” said Scrooge, “they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.
Besides — excuse me — I don’t know that.”
“But you might know it,” observed the gentleman.
“It’s not my business,” Scrooge returned. “It’s enough for a man to understand his own business, and not to interfere with other people’s. Mine occupies me constantly. Good afternoon, gentlemen!”
“If it isn't controlled voluntarily, it will be controlled INVOLUNTARILY...”
“Human Population Growth is The single most serious long-term threat to survival. We're in for a major disaster if it isn't curbed...
We have NO OPTION. If it isn't controlled voluntarily, it will be controlled INVOLUNTARILY by an increase in DISEASE, starvation and war.”
― Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
“If I were reincarnated I would wish to be returned to earth as a KILLER VIRUS to LOWER human population levels.”
― Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
“I just wonder what it would be like to be reincarnated in an animal whose species had been so reduced in numbers than it was in danger of extinction.
What would be its feelings toward the human species whose population explosion had denied it somewhere to exist...
I must confess that I am tempted to ASK for reincarnation as a PARTICULARLY DEADLY VIRUS.”
― Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
in his Foreward to: If I Were an Animal; United Kingdom, Robin Clark Ltd., 1986.)
Partial transcript with interviewer :
Interviewer: "What do you see as the BIGGEST problem in conservation?
Philip: [without hesitation] Well, the GROWING HUMAN POPULATION.
[Because,] From where we are, there's nothing else."
Interviewer: And do you have views about what should be DONE about that?"
Philip : ...can’t you •guess•...?
Interviewer : •Duh•!!
Philip:
"Well, I think it might be described as
VOLUNTARY FAMILY LIMITATION."
At this festive season of the year, Mr. Scrooge,” said the gentleman, taking up a pen, “it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the Poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. Many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts, sir.”
“Are there no prisons?” asked Scrooge.
“Plenty of prisons,” said the gentleman, laying down the pen again.
“And the Union workhouses?” demanded Scrooge. “Are they still in operation?”
“They are. Still,” returned the gentleman, “I wish I could say they were not.”
“The Treadmill and the Poor Law are in full vigour, then?” said Scrooge.
“Both very busy, sir.”
“Oh! I was afraid, from what you said at first, that something had occurred to stop them in their useful course,” said Scrooge. “I’m very glad to hear it.”
“Under the impression that they scarcely furnish Christian cheer of mind or body to the multitude,” returned the gentleman, “a few of us are endeavouring to raise a fund to buy the Poor some meat and drink, and means of warmth. We choose this time, because it is a time, of all others, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices. What shall I put you down for?”
“Nothing!” Scrooge replied.
“You wish to be anonymous?”
“I wish to be left alone,” said Scrooge. “Since you ask me what I wish, gentlemen, that is my answer. I don’t make merry myself at Christmas and I can’t afford to make idle people merry. I help to support the establishments I have mentioned — they cost enough; and those who are badly off must go there.”
“Many can’t go there; and many would rather die.”
“If they would rather die,” said Scrooge, “they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population. Besides—excuse me—I don’t know that.”
“But you might know it,” observed the gentleman.
“It’s not my business,” Scrooge returned. “It’s enough for a man to understand his own business, and not to interfere with other people’s. Mine occupies me constantly. Good afternoon, gentlemen!”
“If it isn't controlled voluntarily, it will be controlled INVOLUNTARILY...”
“Human Population Growth is The single most serious long-term threat to survival. We're in for a major disaster if it isn't curbed...
We have NO OPTION. If it isn't controlled voluntarily, it will be controlled INVOLUNTARILY by an increase in DISEASE, starvation and war.”
― Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
“If I were reincarnated I would wish to be returned to earth as a KILLER VIRUS to LOWER human population levels.”
― Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
“I just wonder what it would be like to be reincarnated in an animal whose species had been so reduced in numbers than it was in danger of extinction.
What would be its feelings toward the human species whose population explosion had denied it somewhere to exist...
I must confess that I am tempted to ASK for reincarnation as a PARTICULARLY DEADLY VIRUS.”
― Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
in his Foreward to: If I Were an Animal; United Kingdom, Robin Clark Ltd., 1986.)
Partial transcript with interviewer :
Interviewer: "What do you see as the BIGGEST problem in conservation?
Philip: [without hesitation] Well, the GROWING HUMAN POPULATION.
[Because,] From where we are, there's nothing else."
Interviewer: And do you have views about what should be DONE about that?"
Philip : ...can’t you •guess•...?
Interviewer : •Duh•!!
Philip: "Well, I think it might be described as VOLUNTARY FAMILY LIMITATION."
Cut to Thanos' mother-ship, Sanctuary II, which dwarfs the massive ring-ships the Black Order have been using. Gamora sits near the throne deep inside the ship. Thanos walks up, bringing a cup of food and holds it out to her.]
Thanos: I thought you might be hungry.
[Gamora takes it, then hurls it across the room where it bangs against Thanos' throne with a loud clack.]
Gamora: I always hated that chair.
Thanos: So I've been told. Even so. I'd hoped you'd sit on it one day.
Gamora: I hated this room. This ship. I hated my life.
Thanos: You told me that too. [Thanos mounts two of the four steps to his throne, turns, and sits on the second from the top.] Every day. For almost twenty years.
Gamora:
I was a child when you took me.
Thanos:
I saved you.
Gamora:
No. No.
We were happy on my home planet.
Thanos:
Going to bed hungry, scrounging for scraps.
Your planet was on the brink of collapse.
I'm the one who stopped that.
Do you know what's happened since then?
The children born have known nothing but full bellies and clear skies.
It's a paradise.
Gamora:
Because you murdered half the planet.
Thanos:
A small price to pay for salvation.
Gamora:
You're insane.
Thanos:
Little one, it's a simple calculus —
This Universe is finite, its resources finite.
If Life is left unchecked,
Life will cease to exist.
It needs correction -
Gamora:
YOU •DON'T• KNOW THAT.
Thanos:
[Scowls as his egotistical narcissism prevents him from fully listening to her]
I'm the only one who knows that.
At least, I'm the only one with the will to act on it.
[He stands again and walks back to Gamora]
For a time... you had that same will... as you fought by my side. Daughter.
Gamora:
I'm not your daughter. Everything I hate about myself you taught me.
Thanos: And in doing so, made you the fiercest woman in the galaxy. That's why I trusted you to find the Soul Stone.
Gamora: I'm sorry I disappointed you.
Thanos: I am disappointed. But not because you didn't find it.
Thanos: [Leans down to put their heads at a level, whispering fiercely] But because you did. [Looks at her] And you lied.
[Thanos and Gamora stand outside a large solid door that slides open vertically as they approach, then pause as a set of inner doors made of interlacing metal slide away. Inside, we see Nebula face-on, suspended horizontally in the air in the middle of the room, her breath shuddering in pain.]
Gamora: Nebula.
[Gamora hurries to to Nebula's left side, and we now see that she has been partially disassembled, her components stretched apart -- a cybernetic version of the medieval torture rack. Hannibal Lecter level of brutality.]
Gamora: Don't do this.
Thanos: Some time ago, your sister snuck aboard this ship to kill me.
Gamora: Please don't do this.
Thanos: And very nearly succeeded. So I brought her here. To talk.
[Thanos curls his gauntleted fist, activating both the Power and Space Stones, scowling -- causing Nebula's already extended pieces to stretch further outward. She begins to scream.]
Gamora: Stop. Stop it. [She puts her hands on the gauntlet, pulling it down] I swear to you on my life. I never found the Soul Stone.
[Thanos signals a nearby servant who taps on a control pad. We hear Nebula's voice say, "Accessing memory files" and a sort of hologram of Gamora's face shudders to life.]
Memory Nebula: You know what he's about to do. He's finally ready, and he's going for the stones. All of them.
Memory Gamora: He can never get them all.
Memory Nebula: He will!
Memory Gamora: He can't, Nebula. Because I found the map to the Soul Stone and I burnt it to ash. I burnt it.
[The memory ends.]
Thanos: [To Gamora, walking around behind her] You're strong. Me. You're generous. Me. But I never taught you to lie. That's why you're so bad at it. [His voice drips with disgust] Where is the Soul Stone? [He raises his gauntlet next to Gamora's face. Nebula shakes her head, expression terrified, to encourage her sister's silence but when Gamora does not answer, Thanos clenches the gauntlet again, brow furrowed at his adopted daughter as the Power and Space Stones are reactivated. Gamora grimaces in shared pain at her sister's screams, growing louder as Thanos increases the pressure.]
Gamora:
VORMIR! [Thanos unclenches his hand, and Nebula gasps in air as her parts snap back almost into place. Gamora goes to her and caresses her face.] The Stone is on Vormir.
Thanos: [Satisfied.] Show me.
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