Does it bother you at all that we are overpopulating the Earth?
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The World is not over populated and their is no shortage of food, the problem is that their is a huge distribution problem, food isnt being shared for a number of complicated reasons, and people are moving to crowded cities so they have a chanch of work, its not a population problem its a distribution problem.
More gay people. Now.
Hahah, that's really all we need.
It does bug me a bit that some folks have lots of children of their own instead of adopting kids that already exist.
I think the world is overpopulated, maybe we don't take up all the resources or space (though I think we're getting pretty close) but just the general lack of cohesion in what is becoming a globalized network. Too many people shouting different things just makes things confused, we either need a better way of relaying information through different parties or reduce the population quite a bit.
I don't think tubes need to be tied, taking away a natural function like that for the sake of anyone's 'vision' tells me that the world would already be doomed.
Hahah, that's really all we need.
It does bug me a bit that some folks have lots of children of their own instead of adopting kids that already exist.
I think the world is overpopulated, maybe we don't take up all the resources or space (though I think we're getting pretty close) but just the general lack of cohesion in what is becoming a globalized network. Too many people shouting different things just makes things confused, we either need a better way of relaying information through different parties or reduce the population quite a bit.
I don't think tubes need to be tied, taking away a natural function like that for the sake of anyone's 'vision' tells me that the world would already be doomed.
oh also if you know anything about the demographic transition theorys you would know that as countries develop life expectincies increase, number of children needed by parents thus goes down as they know they will live and population declines this is already happening in Canada and Europe, our population is declining and thus their are a slew of problems that will occur as people live longer but their are less people working to take care of them and thus we need to increase imigration to compensate and............. its a complictaed problem but dont worry we are not overpopulating and the population will start to decline eventually.
I personally wouldn't be bothered by a single child policy. I'd only like to have one kid anyways.
But it's a lot more involved than that. Solving the world's population crisis requires changing social norms and economic conditions around the world. People need to rapidly be brought out of poverty and educated if we want to solve the crisis.
What I'd call part 2 of the crisis is a major population shift. I personally believe that a shit ton more people need to migrate from the Old World to the new world. Many parts of the Americas and Australia could use several times the number of people they have now (and I mean use; it'd be good for them to have that many people.) Enough to take pressure off of regions that are going to be taxed with population in the future, notably India.
And I'll just say that sending people off to space is definitely not the way to solve that issue, simply because it'd cost trillions of dollars to do and would be a nightmare to manage.
But it's a lot more involved than that. Solving the world's population crisis requires changing social norms and economic conditions around the world. People need to rapidly be brought out of poverty and educated if we want to solve the crisis.
What I'd call part 2 of the crisis is a major population shift. I personally believe that a shit ton more people need to migrate from the Old World to the new world. Many parts of the Americas and Australia could use several times the number of people they have now (and I mean use; it'd be good for them to have that many people.) Enough to take pressure off of regions that are going to be taxed with population in the future, notably India.
And I'll just say that sending people off to space is definitely not the way to solve that issue, simply because it'd cost trillions of dollars to do and would be a nightmare to manage.
Sure no problem, since the population of the entire world could fit comfortably in the province I live. Since in the vast majority of industrialized nations there population growth will not sustain their population in 50 yrs. 1.2 to 1.5 children per woman.William MacKay said:
The problem is not overpopulation, its is population density, and it is not sharing resources equally around the world, and bad distribution of food and wealth. Wanna care about an issue, care about poverty.
The problem with over population is food supply and water. Which we are currently at our limits for countries productions. Problem is - We as countries are not developed in the farming market as we need to be if we wanted this much population. I suspect that as piracy, rising oil and other such acts continue to nick at our economies, we're going to see a global collapse like we never seen before. Problem is - Consumerism is like communism. It only works if people buy crap. IF they don't, the economy starts to slow down. Problem is that we are too inter-connected and dependent on each other when countries need to be dependent on only themselves if you ask me.
However, with this act of global collapse, I suspect 1-3 billion people will starve to death (most likely Europe, America, china, japan and Russia will get thru) but most other population centers will be thoroughly crushed. Perhaps even more depending just how long it goes on. Restarting the global economy will be interesting. This is our own damn fault anyway for cutting back space exploration budgets. We should have been all out focusing on it since the get go. We need an moon base.
Why? It would develop the technologies we need to live out in space. It will cost us resources - yes but it will help speed up the process for living out in space for extended periods of time. Once we get that done, Europa (Fresh water), Mars... rest of the moon etc could be colonized without an problem.
However, with this act of global collapse, I suspect 1-3 billion people will starve to death (most likely Europe, America, china, japan and Russia will get thru) but most other population centers will be thoroughly crushed. Perhaps even more depending just how long it goes on. Restarting the global economy will be interesting. This is our own damn fault anyway for cutting back space exploration budgets. We should have been all out focusing on it since the get go. We need an moon base.
Why? It would develop the technologies we need to live out in space. It will cost us resources - yes but it will help speed up the process for living out in space for extended periods of time. Once we get that done, Europa (Fresh water), Mars... rest of the moon etc could be colonized without an problem.
The Worst thing about the overpopulation boogey man, is that it brings out the old demons Classism and Eugenics.
EVERYBODY thinks they're geneticist when intelligence and heredity are brought up in a conversation.
EVERYBODY is pissed that SyFy, and television as whole, is cutting their favorite programs short and won't take risks on programs that THEY want to see due to the increasingly shaky TV business. So, of course, it MUST be the fault of the program that took it's place, and vicariously it's fans!
"CLEARLY anyone that likes Smackdown is of lower birth than me. That must be why the world is overpopulated!"
It's like back when obsessive Sailor Moon fans used to use freaking Hamtaro as a hate figure.
Only with Victorian level attitudes toward class and genetics.
It disgusts me...
EVERYBODY thinks they're geneticist when intelligence and heredity are brought up in a conversation.
EVERYBODY is pissed that SyFy, and television as whole, is cutting their favorite programs short and won't take risks on programs that THEY want to see due to the increasingly shaky TV business. So, of course, it MUST be the fault of the program that took it's place, and vicariously it's fans!
"CLEARLY anyone that likes Smackdown is of lower birth than me. That must be why the world is overpopulated!"
It's like back when obsessive Sailor Moon fans used to use freaking Hamtaro as a hate figure.
Only with Victorian level attitudes toward class and genetics.
It disgusts me...
No, it doesn't bother me at all.
In fact, it'd probably take at least 3 times as many people for it to start bothering me.
In fact, it'd probably take at least 3 times as many people for it to start bothering me.
there is more than enough room and resources on the Earth to support us at this time and well into the future. At most, if it becomes an issue (and im talking about in the next 500 years) we may need to settle for smaller properties.
8 billion may sound like a lot, but humans make up less than 1% of the total biomass of everything living on Earth. much less than 1%.
8 billion may sound like a lot, but humans make up less than 1% of the total biomass of everything living on Earth. much less than 1%.
Overpopulation does not exist. It is physically impossible to achieve that. Stop making these threads please.....
Overconsumption by a few countries filled with people who have a sickening sense of entitlement to luxury with already 7 billion people in the world and more to be expected in the future, possible wanting that lifestyle for themselves as well? Yeah, it does worry me. We already have a lot less usable fresh water than people think we do, and it doesn't help that most of our crop production where I live is threatened by flooding and then droughts. Add this together with any other consequences down the road from global warming and the world will be a lot less easier place to live on with so many people demanding a wasteful lifestyle they think and believe they deserve.
I think I'll scream if another person mentions how there's plenty of space. That's not the point at all. We have space to put people, but no resources on which to sustain them. The Colorado River in the US doesn't even reach the sea anymore. A lot of the water extracted has to go through desalination before use, simply because pollution is so high and so concentrated from evaporation and water extraction that it's practically unusable. And this is in one of the wealthiest countries in the world. If they have trouble supplying water, how the hell will poor nations support overpopulation, even if there is plenty of desert to stick houses in?
Overpopulation is not the problem, but the cause of other problems. Poverty, lack of women's rights, lack of education, lack of resources, higher death rates, not using contraceptives, all have a severe impact on population. This is why developed nations have stable birth rates whereas underdeveloped nations are suffering from overpopulation. It is actually predicted by the UN that we will see a population decrease in most developed countries, and that accounts for immigration.
I think we should work on solving the cause of the problem rather than putting a bandaid on the damage being done.
I think we should work on solving the cause of the problem rather than putting a bandaid on the damage being done.
I think the overpopulation theory stems from the fact that we find less and less of the resources we rely on so much (other than the ones we can actively keep going), and so stubborn are we to change as humans that whether or not this was proven true or false, we wouldn't notice it until it REALLY becomes a problem, at which point it would be too late to do anything about it. After all, why should we care as long as it does nothing to us.
I say this with a pinch of salt, because I come from a family of three and hope to have a large family myself if I can actively afford it, not 6 - 8 large, but 4 for the most. Saying that, I'm more likely to adopt two of my kids because there are more than enough kids out there without stable homes, no point bringing more kids onto the Earth if there are plenty of healthy lonely children without families and good parents.
Adoption agencies are crying out for capable parents to adopt here in the UK because the number of children in adoption agencies that go without parents throughout thier entire lives is increasing and it's pretty sad.
I say this with a pinch of salt, because I come from a family of three and hope to have a large family myself if I can actively afford it, not 6 - 8 large, but 4 for the most. Saying that, I'm more likely to adopt two of my kids because there are more than enough kids out there without stable homes, no point bringing more kids onto the Earth if there are plenty of healthy lonely children without families and good parents.
Adoption agencies are crying out for capable parents to adopt here in the UK because the number of children in adoption agencies that go without parents throughout thier entire lives is increasing and it's pretty sad.
On topic, many state that there is lots of space on Earth to live, that's not what I meant by overpopulation, lol, I don't mean we are literally in each other's faces because its too crowded, I meant that there are too many people and too little resources to support that amount of people, this you can argue against, I don't mind. Just because there is space on Earth, doesn't mean that everyone wants to live in those places, heck, there is space on the moon, but if they started building homes up there, would you really move up there? I wouldn't think it an exciting or interesting place to live
As morbid and cruel as it may sound, I believe the only plausible solutions lead to a dystopian future.
We are using up the Earth's resources at an ever increasing rate, and the degradation of our home world is becoming more and more apparent with each passing year. I fear that there will not be a "permanent" solution for the energy crisis for many, many lifetimes. After we find some substitute for oil, there will be great jubilation, but it is still only a substitute. We derive useful work by driving an ordered system to greater disorder, usually in the accompaniment of lethal Dihydrogen Monoxide.
Unless some unimaginable discovery which shakes the very foundation of our understanding of the mechanics in our universe (for example, how to create a magnetic monopole, or convert non-substantial amounts of energy to matter) our Earth will become inhospitable and we must move on, or perish.
As portrayed in many a Space Opera, Space (also known as SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE) will inevitably become the new frontier. And just like the Wild West, it may very well be lawless, at least in a sense. It is human nature to set up boundaries. Factions will emerge, claims will be staked and not held, and wars will break out over the New Oil. Peace may well come with time, but planets can only offer so much...
Seeing as the thread has been mostly concerning current issues...
Making a statement on modern society is tricky. Which is why historians tend to let a goodly number of years pass by, so as to analyze a period objectively. It is easy to revert to SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE as an option, because it is the Great Unknown, the massive void "Where no Man has gone before." It may hold untold riches, or cold oblivion. It is the hope that I, personally, have for the future of Mankind.
Gah. I was supposed to have that paragraph focus on modern issues... Well, I'm going out for a bite to eat, so here are some quick bullets. [EDIT] Not so quick after all... [EDIT]
* Japan may have a massive population density, but because of the state of its culture and society, the birth rate is quite low. Notice that in many Space Opera anime and Manga, they portray the crowded future streets in a way that much alike a populated area like Tokyo?
* I will not be one to condone the act of setting value to a human life.
* With the advances in medical and mechanical technology, would you be willing to sacrifice your "humanity" for a longer life? I speak of course of Cyborgs and Nanotechnology. With these options, mankind could live a much longer life, provide for the greater good longer, and potentially slow the rate of reproduction. I do not know how the mentality of a people would evolve, but I can guess that with longer life, the idea that beauty is only skin deep will become more profound, and a literal "switch" can be implemented for such things as ovulation.
* I am not a nature freak. I believe that humans are a species of animal as well, and as the dominant species we are capable of many things. Just because you CAN does not been you SHOULD.
* I finished watching Planetes a while ago, and one of the most moving lines was by someone floating through space, gazing down at Earth:
"From here, all I see is Earth." Its meaning is profound. We should unite as a species, and share our world, not carve it up and mutilate it.
* Ever seen Idiocracy? On the note of movies: Judge Dread.
When Fox News starts reporting facts, and stops cherry-picking aspects of the world, I will have renewed faith in America. Power is only powerful if you have an enemy.
Tl;DR~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE
We are using up the Earth's resources at an ever increasing rate, and the degradation of our home world is becoming more and more apparent with each passing year. I fear that there will not be a "permanent" solution for the energy crisis for many, many lifetimes. After we find some substitute for oil, there will be great jubilation, but it is still only a substitute. We derive useful work by driving an ordered system to greater disorder, usually in the accompaniment of lethal Dihydrogen Monoxide.
Unless some unimaginable discovery which shakes the very foundation of our understanding of the mechanics in our universe (for example, how to create a magnetic monopole, or convert non-substantial amounts of energy to matter) our Earth will become inhospitable and we must move on, or perish.
As portrayed in many a Space Opera, Space (also known as SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE) will inevitably become the new frontier. And just like the Wild West, it may very well be lawless, at least in a sense. It is human nature to set up boundaries. Factions will emerge, claims will be staked and not held, and wars will break out over the New Oil. Peace may well come with time, but planets can only offer so much...
Seeing as the thread has been mostly concerning current issues...
Making a statement on modern society is tricky. Which is why historians tend to let a goodly number of years pass by, so as to analyze a period objectively. It is easy to revert to SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE as an option, because it is the Great Unknown, the massive void "Where no Man has gone before." It may hold untold riches, or cold oblivion. It is the hope that I, personally, have for the future of Mankind.
Gah. I was supposed to have that paragraph focus on modern issues... Well, I'm going out for a bite to eat, so here are some quick bullets. [EDIT] Not so quick after all... [EDIT]
* Japan may have a massive population density, but because of the state of its culture and society, the birth rate is quite low. Notice that in many Space Opera anime and Manga, they portray the crowded future streets in a way that much alike a populated area like Tokyo?
* I will not be one to condone the act of setting value to a human life.
* With the advances in medical and mechanical technology, would you be willing to sacrifice your "humanity" for a longer life? I speak of course of Cyborgs and Nanotechnology. With these options, mankind could live a much longer life, provide for the greater good longer, and potentially slow the rate of reproduction. I do not know how the mentality of a people would evolve, but I can guess that with longer life, the idea that beauty is only skin deep will become more profound, and a literal "switch" can be implemented for such things as ovulation.
* I am not a nature freak. I believe that humans are a species of animal as well, and as the dominant species we are capable of many things. Just because you CAN does not been you SHOULD.
* I finished watching Planetes a while ago, and one of the most moving lines was by someone floating through space, gazing down at Earth:
"From here, all I see is Earth." Its meaning is profound. We should unite as a species, and share our world, not carve it up and mutilate it.
* Ever seen Idiocracy? On the note of movies: Judge Dread.
When Fox News starts reporting facts, and stops cherry-picking aspects of the world, I will have renewed faith in America. Power is only powerful if you have an enemy.
Tl;DR~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE
It doesnt really bother me at all. Have you been to Michigan? Drive through there sometime. 70+% of the population lives around Detroit, and anything north of Lansing, the capital, is just highway as far as the eye can see. Doesnt seem overpopulated to me.pulse2 said:
we've actually had a lot of huge topics about this, and the scientific data is actually stronger on the side of "not overpopulating the earth". We just don't seem to be doing it. Sure some countries are having population problems, and inane policies regarding the growing of food (look up the corn or beef industry or the debate about genetically engineered crops in just the US for a tasty sample) might lead to food shortages, but the world itself, responsibly managed could easily support 15-16 billion people, and that's pretty much what the world is projected to look like by the time most countries stabilize their birthrates (which for some countries, like the US etc might actually involve INCREASING birthrates).
When people start really starving (and they will) and sadly I mean the 1st world nations, eventually more responsible growing and eating habits will come out of that, long before the world "starves to death" which is just a silly concept. You can't starve your species into extinction. Eventually enough specimens die that the population can properly feed itself. I don't think it will come to that for humans though because we can control things like agriculture to fix specific problems we're having, but we won't fix it until it is a specific problem.
I could be wrong, and I don't really want to argue about this as I've literally spent hours and hours in other threads rehashing the same information over and over, so I'm not sure if I'll be back. Feel free to disregard everything I said if it doesn't mesh with what your research shows if you have any, but I'm fairly confident that it won't, if you actually take the time to look.
When people start really starving (and they will) and sadly I mean the 1st world nations, eventually more responsible growing and eating habits will come out of that, long before the world "starves to death" which is just a silly concept. You can't starve your species into extinction. Eventually enough specimens die that the population can properly feed itself. I don't think it will come to that for humans though because we can control things like agriculture to fix specific problems we're having, but we won't fix it until it is a specific problem.
I could be wrong, and I don't really want to argue about this as I've literally spent hours and hours in other threads rehashing the same information over and over, so I'm not sure if I'll be back. Feel free to disregard everything I said if it doesn't mesh with what your research shows if you have any, but I'm fairly confident that it won't, if you actually take the time to look.