too many people

[Paulc]

The earth can no longer support the number of people living in it, a report warns today. There are 1.2billion people too many and if populations continue to grow at present rates it could cause wars and starvation.

http://www.optimumpopulation.org/index.html

World population is projected to rise from today's 6.6 billion to 9.2 billion by 2050. We are rapidly destabilising our climate and destroying the natural world on which we depend for future life.

The Population Reference Bureau estimates the world's annual growth at 81 million - about 9,200 extra people each hour and 221,000 every day. Either way, a population almost the size of Germany's is being added to the planet each year, with the equivalent of one new city added every single day. Every year about 56.4 million people die (PRB), but they are more than replaced by the annual 137 million births - a natural increase of 81 million human beings, all of whom add to the numbers causing environmental degradation to their only habitat - Earth.

Just imagine all the environmental benefits of a reduced human population - less exploitation of the oceans, less land used for food production, less competition for scarce resources, reduced fossil fuel usage, reduced global warming.

But how do we reduce population? Who would agree to only 1 kid per couple? How would that be enforced? And might we be preventing the birth of the next Einstein, Ghandi or Morrissey?

 

[laughing_anne]

This just strenghtens my decision not to have any children...

 

[lottie]

this is not news,
take the population of the Uk for example, very very small island, and we have a bigger population that australia...

its ridiculous, and i know this will get me a LOT of hassle, but i have to say it, we do need a one child policy, its the only way i can see to reduce the population, (that or a massive tax/exam to pass before you are allowed a child) as most people just dont get it.
I get particularly pissed off when the 'environmentalists' go on about cars etc, when it is so blatantly obvious that if there were less people there wpouldnt be a problem, etc etc... becuase whatever anyone says every person that is born is a consumer of resourses/pollutor from the moment they are born.

*hides*

 

[laughing_anne]

this is not news,
take the population of the Uk for example, very very small island, and we have a bigger population that australia...

its ridiculous, and i know this will get me a LOT of hassle, but i have to say it, we do need a one child policy, its the only way i can see to reduce the population, (that or a massive tax/exam to pass before you are allowed a child) as most people just dont get it.
I get particularly pissed off when the 'environmentalists' go on about cars etc, when it is so blatantly obvious that if there were less people there wpouldnt be a problem, etc etc... becuase whatever anyone says every person that is born is a consumer of resourses/pollutor from the moment they are born.

*hides*

I would give adoption as an option more support. I know that people are inherently selfish when it comes to spreading their genes but adopting would help the situation a little. That way orphans or abandoned children would get loving parents and the population wouldn't grow so rapidly.

 

[Busy Clippers]

Re: It's People!

I see your soilent green, and I raise you a barbara

 

[Hellie]

One child laws is an outrageous suggestion.The world would end up literally throwing its baby girls away like in China.

As long as you can pay for your children then you should be free to have as many as you want.

There is no answer.Its one of those questions where there never will be.

 

[Paulc]

One child laws is an outrageous suggestion.The world would end up literally throwing its baby girls away like in China.

As long as you can pay for your children then you should be free to have as many as you want.

There is no answer.Its one of those questions where there never will be.

But if we as a species do nothing then the results could be horrendous. We may not suffer but our kids and grandkids might live in a world where there isnt enough to eat, where there is no countryside to enjoy, where there are no forests left, where there are continual battles for ever scarcer resources. Surely its our responsibility to do something while we still can and maybe not having more than 1 kid each is worth a try.

 

[lottie]

I would give adoption as an option more support. I know that people are inherently selfish when it comes to spreading their genes but adopting would help the situation a little. That way orphans or abandoned children would get loving parents and the population wouldn't grow so rapidly.

i know, and ive always believed this too, it really annoys me, when people who cant have children or have had some and want more moan on about how hard done by they are etc, and i all i can think is 'if youre really that bothered and you REALLY want a child then go adopt one'. but mostly you dont get little young babies when you adopt and i think most idiots, oh sorry 'people', want a baby, which is so silly because if you are that desperate and you have a loving home ot give to a child that needs it what does it matter if its 4?

 

[lottie]

One child laws is an outrageous suggestion.The world would end up literally throwing its baby girls away like in China.

As long as you can pay for your children then you should be free to have as many as you want.

There is no answer.Its one of those questions where there never will be.

i dont think it is 'outrageous' and it wouldnt even have to be long term,
but i agree that if you can afford the children and dont rely on any state help in any way then you can have them, but the more important isssue is to make sure that they are brought up to be intelligent and aware of their impact on this planet etc.

 

[Buzzetta]

Sadly enough overpopulation tends to correct itself in a frightening way which is through war, starvation and disease. All of which can be brought upon BY overpopulation. Very interesting topic.

 

[Not Right in the Head]

Damn! I hoped that this thread was going to be about the Paul & Linda McCartney song from Ram:

This just strenghtens my decision not to have any children...

this is not news,
take the population of the Uk for example, very very small island, and we have a bigger population that australia...

I support your decision not to breed. It means that much less competition for resources that my offspring will have to face.

Sadly enough overpopulation tends to correct itself in a frightening way which is through war, starvation and disease. All of which can be brought upon BY overpopulation.

So voting Republican is a very indirect form of population control?

 

[Buzzetta]

So voting Republican is a very indirect form of population control?

Both parties admit to something needing to be done to combat the man caused aspect of changing climate. I have always believed that the last one hundred years have had to have some form of negative effect on the land. One need only look at the first atomic testing before they realized that they needed to stand back a little more and could not picnic on that land for the next couple of hundred years.

What really sold me was that a group of retired generals let it be known that the biggest military threat the US faces in the next fifty years is global warming as it will suck up the food supply. The generals forecast that the US military will be faced with controlling the food supply and helping to safeguard it.

 

[lottie]

Both parties admit to something needing to be done to combat the man caused aspect of changing climate. I have always believed that the last one hundred years have had to have some form of negative effect on the land. One need only look at the first atomic testing before they realized that they needed to stand back a little more and could not picnic on that land for the next couple of hundred years.

What really sold me was that a group of retired generals let it be known that the biggest military threat the US faces in the next fifty years is global warming as it will suck up the food supply. The generals forecast that the US military will be faced with controlling the food supply and helping to safeguard it.

would now be a good time to point out that if everyone was veggie there wouldnt be a food shortage? (or such a severe one)

 

[Not Right in the Head]

What really sold me was that a group of retired generals let it be known that the biggest military threat the US faces in the next fifty years is global warming as it will suck up the food supply. The generals forecast that the US military will be faced with controlling the food supply and helping to safeguard it.

That's an interesting point. Protesting wars for oil is pretty easy, but who would find fault with a war for food? Perhaps a threat to the nation's (fast) food industry would be the rallying point that America has lacked for 66+ years.

 

[Paulc]

Sadly enough overpopulation tends to correct itself in a frightening way which is through war, starvation and disease. All of which can be brought upon BY overpopulation. Very interesting topic.

Yep there are various schools of thought that say nature will find a way to deal with the overpopulation of a given species. Disease or starvation (leading to war over scarcity) are the most likely scenarios. But we could head this off if we unite and agree a sensible route forward.

But could this ever be done or allowed politically and socially?

 

[Buzzetta]

That's an interesting point. Protesting wars for oil is pretty easy, but who would find fault with a war for food? Perhaps a threat to the nation's (fast) food industry would be the rallying point that America has lacked for 66+ years.

Goes beyond vegetarian - non vegetarian eating habits though. All food sources would suddenly begin to have a surge then begin to dry up. However I am of the belief that it will come down to the a problem that will correct itself through mass loss of human life.

History has shown that anytime an overpopulation has existed in a confined area that spread of disease kicks in eradicating a good deal of the overcrowding.

 

[Not Right in the Head]

History has shown that anytime an overpopulation has existed in a confined area that spread of disease kicks in eradicating a good deal of the overcrowding.

When was the last big one? I can't think of any since the 1918-9 influenza epidemic, but I haven't exactly been paying attention, either. *off to check Wikipedia*

 

[laughing_anne]

i know, and ive always believed this too, it really annoys me, when people who cant have children or have had some and want more moan on about how hard done by they are etc, and i all i can think is 'if youre really that bothered and you REALLY want a child then go adopt one'. but mostly you dont get little young babies when you adopt and i think most idiots, oh sorry 'people', want a baby, which is so silly because if you are that desperate and you have a loving home ot give to a child that needs it what does it matter if its 4?

I know. People can be so selfish.
I do understand that people feel that it's important to have a child that's your own flesh and blood. It's hard to fight biology. But at the same time there are children all over the world who have no family and no hope for a better future.

 

[Not Right in the Head]

When was the last big one? I can't think of any since the 1918-9 influenza epidemic, but I haven't exactly been paying attention, either. *off to check Wikipedia*

And here's the answer to my own question.

I know. People can be so selfish.
I do understand that people feel that it's important to have a child that's your own flesh and blood. It's hard to fight biology. But at the same time there are children all over the world who have no family and no hope for a better future.

How old are you? Have you ever met anyone, or even heard of anyone, who chose to adopt as a first option, i.e. as opposed to trying, and failing, to have biological children? Don't you think that "biology" usually trumps altruism?

 

[Not Right in the Head]

but mostly you dont get little young babies when you adopt and i think most idiots, oh sorry 'people', want a baby, which is so silly because if you are that desperate and you have a loving home ot give to a child that needs it what does it matter if its 4?

I didn't think that you could sound any more ridiculous than you do when you post about vegetarianism, but I stand corrected.