Opinion: Shooting sparrows

In 1958 Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong launched a five-year
plan that included a call for the country's half a billion
rural residents to kill all the sparrows.
Mao claimed the birds spread disease and stole grain.
So villagers turned out in force. They shot sparrows and
destroyed their nests. The birds were nearly eradicated.But the grain the pesky sparrows ate and Mao's ploy to unify
the populace were nothing compared to the damage done by insects,
which swarmed...