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Overpopulation
#1
Overpopulation
I have been a proponent of population control for years. (No kids here. Vasectomy 30 years ago)

One of the arguements the breeders use is "If we build vertically - the whole population of the planet could fit in Texas - easily"....


Yeah...

Sure...

Want to know what the death rate of Covid19 would be at that sort of population density?


....

Goodnight
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#2
RE: Overpopulation
I grew up in an area that was full of good Catholics who didn't believe in any sort of birth control. Farm families with a dozen or more kids weren't unusual. Even families from town were often five kids plus.

I had friends who barely knew their older siblings because those siblings were so much older and out of the house by the time my friends were in junior high.

Though I understand the breeding of farmhands, I figured with the advancements in machinery available to most farmers it was a moot point.

True story - My dad was a large animal veterinarian and he traveled from farm to farm taking care of herds and individual cows and hogs. Often the farmers came to our house (where the office was) to pay on their bill or to pick up medication. One long time client who my mother knew on sight and not just by name had been a regular for years and he often sent his kids who were old enough to drive to our house to tend to business. One day he came in with a carload of little kids. Mom figured they were grandchildren. She asked the gentleman if that was the case. His response was, "Nope, that's my second crop."
  
“If you are the smartest person in the room, then you are in the wrong room.” — Confucius
                                      
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#3
RE: Overpopulation
Humans really do need to understand we are an invasive species. No sane person should suggest population control through genocide or murder. But the truth is as far as numbers worldwide, our pace of birth far outpaces natural death. Humans cannot keep going at the pace of birth we are. Any evolutionary biologist can tell you that when an ecosystem gets lopsided by one species, the rest of the system, and even the dominate species suffer. The bottom line is that humans need to stop thinking of ourselves as an apex and understand we are simply one species among many. And the bigger we get the more resources we need and the faster those resources are harder to find and get more damaged and polluted by our species growth.

Not that humans will, but if we were smart about it, we should care less about billionaires and short term profits, but if we cared about our own population management and resource use, we'd have a better chance extending our species ride, than what we are doing now, which is chasing short term profits instead of focusing on long term viability.
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#4
RE: Overpopulation
Things like covid 19 are one of the many reasons that population control fails as an argument. People will have as many children as they want - you did..that number is sometimes zero. Not all children will live. Sometimes that number is zero as well.

If there are known mechanisms, internal and external, which reduce or slow the growth of population, and if there are still adequate resources for a given population, there is no logical impetus to engage in population control.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
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#5
RE: Overpopulation
Nobody with money wants zero population growth or a decline in population because it will cause a recession due to a shrinking economy. The powers that be are going to encourage propagation and maximize lifespans to keep demand growing to potentiate higher and higher market gains.

That being said we could do a lot more to increase the health of the planet by incentivizing changes in lifestyle to reduce consumption across all sectors BUT the same powers that be are against that too can you guess why?
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#6
RE: Overpopulation
A great argument for throwing off the yoke of the oppressor and being smart about what we use, and how - but no argument for population control.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
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#7
RE: Overpopulation
(June 16, 2020 at 12:37 pm)Rhizomorph13 Wrote: Nobody with money wants zero population growth or a decline in population because it will cause a recession due to a shrinking economy. The powers that be are going to encourage propagation and maximize lifespans to keep demand growing to potentiate higher and higher market gains.

That being said we could do a lot more to increase the health of the planet by incentivizing changes in lifestyle to reduce consumption across all sectors BUT the same powers that be are against that too can you guess why?

That is pretty much what I was getting at. You cant rid the word of the desire for wealth, or procreation. But humans most certainly need to accept we cant keep going at the pace we are. Humans for the past 100 years have been driving down a highway of 55mph max at 200mph as far as birth and consumption. Humans are addicted to fast pace and short term profits. But the very attitudes our species has short term are going to shorten our ride the way we are doing it now.

I agree, the world needs to incentivise slowing down, not speeding up. The top earners in the world simply need to understand resource management isn't a simply a matter of speed for profit's sake.
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#8
RE: Overpopulation
Every seven seconds, a woman gives birth. She must be found and stopped.

Boru
‘But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods or no gods. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.’ - Thomas Jefferson
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#9
RE: Overpopulation
It was humanity's love of short term profits that made malthus wrong in his own lifetime.

Chances are, there's a huge amount of love for short term profits supporting whatever acceptable long term solution to the worlds ills a person may have in mind when they worry about the love of short term profits.

The idea that we're about to fall off a cliff has never been anything more than promissory, and it's been wrong in every case thusfar. It may be right tomorrow, but if that's so, perhaps we should let as many people attempt to enjoy as much of life as they can before the curtain falls. That opportunity was afforded to us, after all.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
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#10
RE: Overpopulation
(June 16, 2020 at 12:58 pm)The Grand Nudger Wrote: It was humanity's love of short term profits that made malthus wrong in his own lifetime.  

Chances are, there's a huge amount of love for short term profits supporting whatever acceptable long term solution to the worlds ills a person may have in mind when they worry about the love of short term profits.  

The idea that we're about to fall off a cliff has never been anything more than promissory, and it's been wrong in every case thusfar.  It may be right tomorrow, but if that's so, perhaps we should let as many people attempt to enjoy as much of life as they can before the curtain falls.  That opportunity was afforded to us, after all.

I think there is a huge difference between accepting the ride ends, and selfishy shortening it for others.

Our species will die and go extinct and for whatever reason someone wants to attach that to, superstition, religion or science, it makes no sense for anyone who wants a future for their offspring to simply use and exploit faster now if they want to leave something behind. Yes, the ride ends, but enjoying it should not be so selfish as to not think about what you leave behind.
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