Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to “Dubya’s World.” It is a world where, for the next four years, cause and effect will have as minimal significance as the consequences that arise from the thoughtlessness of a single executive action.

Case-in-point is last week’s decision to cut federal funding to any international family planning organization that provides any sort of abortion services – big mistake for many reasons.

The organizations whose funding have been cut provide more than abortion as a way of addressing world overpopulation. These organizations provide many other family-planning services, including contraception counseling, gynecological services for women and prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases.

These organizations cater to Third World countries where economies are unstable, resources are scarce and prostitution is one of the only means of putting food on the table. These ills can all be attributed to overpopulation, but there are other far-reaching effects that these conditions create, and this is where Dubya is having trouble understanding global dynamics. Products of overpopulation may include war and illegal immigration.

Republican administrations don’t really mind war since it gives them an excuse to build up the military and jack up the Dow Jones or NASDAQ, thus making their wealthy friends a few bucks in the process. Never mind that we’ll end up sending our troops to quell another country’s problems; stocks will go up, and some will be wealthier for it.

Illegal immigration is another issue. We’ve all heard about things like Operation Gatekeeper and raids on smuggling rings, which are intended to stem the tide of illegal immigration into the United States. Republicans aren’t big fans of illegal immigration because they believe it brings in foreigners seeking a free handout in the land of milk and honey. However, according to their rationale, illegal immigration is acceptable if said foreigners are here to clean up after us, pick our crops and do the jobs we don’t want to do, for less money and zero benefits.

Even with NAFTA in place and a fortified border, we still have plenty of illegal immigration issues to contend with. Well, get ready for more in the coming years. In the name of the religious right, and with a single stroke of his executive pen, Dubya managed to put the United States in the path of the consequences of Third World overpopulation. With lack of funding, many of these planned-parenthood programs that provide medical services and education will now fall by the wayside.

Contraception, the preventative to abortion, will not be available as readily, and pregnancies will rise. While we’re at it, let’s throw in the inevitable rise in sexually transmitted diseases, and we got ourselves one fun, little mess, all thanks to Dubya and his buddies in the religious right.

I’ve only mentioned a couple of overpopulation’s immediate effects. There are many more like famine, pollution, diminishing resources and crime.

If the executive decision was made as a function of scientific rationale and reasoning, then I could live with it, as long as the facts and data were presented. But the decision was not made for logical reasons – further proof that Dubya is nothing more than a minion who will bend to the religious right’s agenda. Thanks America, you’ve just opened the door to tough times. Welcome to Dubya’s World.

What really pisses me off is that a federal decision to cut funds for a federal program was made on religious grounds. Have any of the new residents at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue ever heard of this little thing in our Constitution called separation of church and state? Apparently not.

What was saved in ending funding to international abortion counseling programs will be lost at least twofold when we have to solve the Third World problems that result. The Cold War is over, but there are plenty of little countries out there that are ready to explode at the seams from the social dynamics created by overpopulation. When those seams burst, you know who’ll get the call to intervene and you know where everybody will run to: The U.S.

Welcome to Dubya’s World. I’m sure there’s more to come in the next four years. At least someone, anyone, running against Bush’s platform in 2004 will most likely get elected – but then comes the task of undoing all damage done, and by then it might be too late.

Henry Sarria is a longtime Isla Vista resident.