descent into misanthropism

In 1930, J.K. Leopold penned the following letter to an unnamed confidant:

I tire of seeing people around every corner. No place can I go where there aren't hordes of people doing the same damn thing that I'm doing. It's like a gathering of ignorant beasts I tell you! Less so, like a swarm of insects. mindless insects never questioning their existence.

I have no doubt that if i took the time to get to know most any one of these individuals I'd probably grow to like them. I might even love a few. However, for the most part, it is not the individual that chafes but the mass of individuals.

Every year the population grows in leaps and bounds. I have a secret wish that there will be a report one day soon that the population is actually shrinking. This would clearly mean that more people died than were born. When a tragic accident occurs and is broadcast on the radio and written in the papers, I hear the numbers of those killed and think "that means this counteracts the X number of babies born". Again, my hope being that more will die than are born. Horrible, yes?

-J.K. Leopold