underXposed

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Root of Our Problems: Overpopulation

with 5 comments

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In case you haven’t noticed, human population hangs just on the cusp of 7 BILLION PEOPLE. It’s the biggest taboo subject that we deny even as we burn up, starve, drown, and kill each other: overpopulation. It seems clear to me that until this massive global over-strain is addressed, the quality of life will continue to disintegrate at ever-increasing rates.

The argument is that everything that is destroying humanity comes from the patriarchal directive, Go forth and push out babies. Here are some of the clear and unfolding consequences of endless global fucking without birth control:

  • having too many children
  • agricultural burning
  • overconsumption of resources
  • failure to re-cycle
  • production/disposal of toxic waste
  • improper disposal of human waste
  • improper disposal of garbage
  • mis-use of pesticides
  • overcrowding
  • economic dependence on growth
  • depletion of soils by over-farming
  • erosion from removal of vegetation
  • urban sprawl
  • over-fishing
  • removal of carbon sinks (trees)
  • inefficient use of fuel
  • urbanizing farmland
  • urban growth where water is scarce
  • eating meat

The site where I found the following quote has a wealth of sobering information:

World population would not be a problem if there were unlimited land, unlimited water, unlimited resources. Unfortunately, with overpopulation, there is the problem of sharing the same sized pie with smaller and smaller portions. People in developed countries who have been accustomed to a better quality of life are reluctant to give it up. In many cases, more efficient use of resources has come along hand-in-hand with improved quality of life.

But there are still problems of overconsumption, exploitation, the short-sighted search for an ever-higher quality of life, and the greed of companies and individuals in cutting corners resulting in pollution and reckless use of raw materials. Less-developed countries that, in the past, had smaller populations such that slash-and-burn agriculture had less impact, cities had fewer vehicles to send pollution into the air, and industries were not as attracted by cheap labor and thus polluted rivers and the air less.

Should people have less children or should people use less resources, pollute less? Or both? Should one problem have priority over the other? The world population has doubled in the last forty years. Who has contributed the most to overconsumption and pollution? The more developed nations with a relatively stable population growth, but who use 5-50 times the resources of the poor, or the less developed nations whose populations will double again in 30 years, who will run out of food and water first, and whose pollution due to agricultural burning, coal burning, lack of emission controls, mis-use of pesticides, and toxic waste from under-regulated industries, will only worsen with the increase of population? And then there is the question of ownership and distribution of resources, do the rich exploit the poor, and to what extent? Read the rest>>

There is plenty out there to read. Here are a few more links.

The questions are WHY isn’t overpopulation being addressed, WHEN will it be too late and HOW can it be corrected? My guess is that nothing will be done. The die-off has already begun. Want to do something so the planet can survive? The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement is making more sense all the time.

Written by luminaria

June 24, 2008 at 8:44 am

5 Responses

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  1. Overpopulation isn’t addressed because it is quite easy to argue that it isn’t the real problem. In addition If you do get rid off all humans then most, if not all, life on/from Earth dies in about 5 billion years when the sun expands and there is nobody to move it elsewhere.

    And about overpopulation, some projections/theories say that the earth could support over 30 billion people. Population growth is projected to level off at a much smaller 9-11 billion.

    Rather than population growth itself I would by much more worried about the pollution levels of any worldwide society that is so developed (birthrates tend to fall when a nation becomes high consumption/development) that there is worldwide population stagnation.

    Nathaniel

    July 7, 2008 at 3:39 am

  2. Maybe so, but whenever I go anywhere these days, there’s always a maddening sense of too many people looming around me.

    The competition for social “resources,” i.e. shelter, recreation, seats on public transportation, ability to drive from one place to another in a reasonable amount of time, moving around in a supermarket or grocery store, trying to find a campsite, etc. etc., has impacted our public places so severely that I sometimes turn and walk or drive away.

    Sorry, your facts and statistics just don’t jive with reality on a personal, practical level.

    Wild animals have learned a survival skill: hiding. I’ve begun to adopt that skill myself whenever and wherever possible.

    luminaria

    July 20, 2008 at 1:15 pm

  3. I agree with luminara.

    To understand the true meaning of “Quality of Life” requires time and experience.

    It is a very arrogant species (humans), who can discard another species (wildlife) and their habitats, and just hope that Mother Nature won’t bite back.

    GotTheTshirt

    July 24, 2008 at 5:54 pm

  4. Population will decline when Mother Nature says so, In the form of disease. It will happen. We may not be here to see it but it has begun.

    There are no natural checks and balances for man except war, disease. These are all too common. Mankind will not stop reproducing because we are hard wired to do so. We eat, we reproduce, we create and we destroy.
    That is Man!

    Jimbo

    March 2, 2009 at 10:51 pm

  5. Jimbo-

    Your analysis continues the time-worn condition that keeps humans victims rather than the intelligent, adaptable, proactive and creative awarenesses that we are. We’ve been brain-washed into remaining obedient and dependent kindergärtners rather than to freely make choices and change our world view.

    Yes, we are animals hard-wired to procreate and wage wars (Kaku says we’re a zero civilization), but some of us are also self-aware and capable of self-transformation when we understand it means our survival. Recommended (satirical) reading: http://blog.macleans.ca/2009/02/24/the-problem-with-not-having-kids/

    luminaria

    March 3, 2009 at 7:07 pm


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