Overpopulation

[brewer]

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?


....

Same as the black plague?

Using covid as a rationalization is silly.

[The Grand Nudger]

Barring a giant asteroid decimating the earth, The Ride™ isn't going to end anytime soon - and if the giant asteroid does hit, then population control will have been more than a little bit futile in the first place.

It's just not clear how people having children is shortening any rides, Brian. If you could elaborate on that then you'd have the beginnings of some argument for population control.

[brewer]

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.

Really, again? You just can't help but blame others.

You consume. Are you willing to stop thinking about yourself fall on your sword for the good of the planet?

[Fake Messiah]

I think there is an overall consensus that birth rates in US and Europe have been falling for decades although world population has been growing.

But the problem is also that people are getting older and question naturally arises Who will take care of the old people in the not so distant future? This is also something that humanity has not yet faced. I mean what if at one point old people outnumber those in the workforce? Who will pay the bills?

[Rev. Rye]

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?


....

And that's even ignoring the even bigger issue behind overpopulation: the usage of resources. Some we have enough of, some we have enough of but it's distributed in a ridiculously unequal way, and some we're clearly using up in an unsustainable way, and oil is very much in the second category. And that’s what overpopulation has been about since Malthus wrote An Essay on the Principle of Population. He lucked out for the first two centuries, since humankind proved resourceful enough to increase their food supply, but with climate change, I suspect our luck is running out.

Fun fact: because I'm not feeling well and I'm extending the quarantine, I'm rewatching The Boondocks, and last night, I saw their episode about the "Fried Chicken Flu." And it's legitimately disturbing that, of all the parallels one could draw between that episode and the current pandemic, the one Aaron McGruder dropped the ball on is that the President actually gives a shit about what the bug could do to him in the episode. One major plot point is that Huey's been preparing for a disaster for three people, warning them if he tries saving everyone, then he'll end up saving no-one... then it turns out the DuBois family, Thugnificent and his crew, and some random girl decide to move in with them during quarantine (and even Uncle Ruckus managed to crash there for a few days, uninvited, of course, because an obese racist stuck in a house with a dwindling food supply and mostly black people is very easy to chuck out). The situation deteriorates very quickly. I'd post a clip, but The Boondocks being The Boondocks, I'm kind of worried that a show that's very liberal with its use of the N-word (even if it is spoken by black people most of the time) might fall afoul of the rules.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Oh please, nobody can claim this is overcrowding! I mean look at all the space between those hundred story buildings!

[Brian37]

I think there is an overall consensus that birth rates in US and Europe have been falling for decades although world population has been growing.

But the problem is also that people are getting older and question naturally arises Who will take care of the old people in the not so distant future? This is also something that humanity has not yet faced. I mean what if at one point old people outnumber those in the workforce? Who will pay the bills?

It really is simple math with birth vs death. Humans are outpacing the death rate with birth. I don't think any other species could do the amount of damage to our planet than humans have. The irony is that cockroaches and bacteria outnumber humans.

I don't know what humans can do, and I am honestly at a loss. I find lots of hope in innovation, but even that requires resources. We are not going to go back to rocks and sticks and backyard farming, so that is a problem.

[The Grand Nudger]

A warmer earth will be an agricultural improvement. The zones will shift, there will be winners and there will be losers - but, overall, climate change is expected to increase the worlds agricultural capacity, not decrease it.

Is it damage to the planet, or damage to people that concerns us? If we're concerned with shortening the ride for people, that's one thing. If we're concerned that a planet with more humans won't be as pretty, that's another.

There's no need to go vertical. There are 93 residents per square mile in the US. A square mile is 640 acres. Calling it an even one hundred residents, we could spread ourselves out one resident to six acres with 40 to spare. How many of you are living alone on six acres? This ignores many salient factors, granted, but it puts the idea of a crowded earth into perspective.

There is no shortage of food. There is no shortage of beauty. There is no shortage of space.

[brewer]

I think there is an overall consensus that birth rates in US and Europe have been falling for decades although world population has been growing.

But the problem is also that people are getting older and question naturally arises Who will take care of the old people in the not so distant future? This is also something that humanity has not yet faced. I mean what if at one point old people outnumber those in the workforce? Who will pay the bills?

If there is not enough people/money to take care of the old people, nature will take it's course.

Better enjoy the ride while you can.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

If we just lived in the areas unsuitable for farming we could house fifty times our current population.