Population Explosion: The real threat and what are we to do?

[snfu73]

I think we will only know how many humans the world can sustain once we have hit the limit...and things start going bad...not enough food, water, space, shelter and air. I don't think it is an issue everywhere...I don't think Canada has a major issue at the moment....but there are some countries where things seem a little...tighter shall we say.

 

[Zzarchov]

What you are saying is precisely the same thing Malthusians said in the 1840s. BOOM-GLOOM-DOOM!

Yet, here we are over 150+ years later. And it's a good bet that 150 years from now people will look back and ask what the fear was all about.

Yep, and alls it took to keep the band-aid on the problem was massive destruction of the wonder in the world, making it harder to solve now.

And just think, wars are caused when there is overpopulation, so for the selfishness of having so many kids even waay back then, you got to subject your children and grandchildren (whom you obviously don't care for) to massive world wars and campaigns of genocide. Not to mention the continent sweeping famines and massive levels of pollution. The destruction of irreplacable species and landforms..

All for what? So you don't have to be responsible for sex?

 

[gopher]

I never married and have no children or grand children. but the doom and gloom you fear is the same as that spoken of in the 1840s when we did not have the technology we have today.

Again, using it for advancement rather than death and war is a matter of choice. Obviously, war is profitable and that's why tech isn't used properly.

 

[gopher]

When I was in high school in 1967, one of the most acclaimed books was the doom and gloom Famine 1975:

http://www.overpopulation.com/faq/people/paddock_brothers.html

Today we can look back and almost laugh at how pathetic it turned out to be!

 

[Zzarchov]

I never married and have no children or grand children. but the doom and gloom you fear is the same as that spoken of in the 1840s when we did not have the technology we have today.

Again, using it for advancement rather than death and war is a matter of choice. Obviously, war is profitable and that's why tech isn't used properly.

That doom and gloom came to pass. Part of the doom and gloom predicted would be that there would be increasing levels of warfare as civilized nations fought over ever shrinking availability of living space and resources in increasingly viscous and blood thirsty wars until they annihilated each others populations to the point there was enough room.

Sound familiar? Its what happened and what very nearly got much much worse. Its still only on pause, it isn't fixed yet.

From European wars being about honour, fought with rules and civility we had total war breakout.. and what types of things were fought over? Lebensraum, living space.


The Food problem is also not "solved" the 1975 problems are still there.

The "green revolution" is based upon using limited resources for temporary food boom. The energy used producing food is now something like what, 2000 times greater than produced? Before you produced more than you expended. Not only that, the processes needed to fuel this type of farming cannabalize available land, for the long term, ruining it.

This is like saying "See I can easily make more money, look I just pawned my couch, I can afford this new car" , It just means once you run out of things to pawn you are going to be more hosed than you were before.

This cannot continue.


I have yet to hear a good reason WHY we need 25 billion people and growing on the planet, What is wrong with five billion, or three billion?

 

[gopher]

I genuinely share your concern. But the key is that we must work with determination for peace and for advancement. You don't just give up and resign yourself unnecessarily as the Millerites did in the 1840s.

The Malthusians were wrong. The Millerties were wrong.

David Ricardo was right. And from all indications, his current disciples are equally correct.