New Member

From: Steve Long wrote:

"I believe the Earth is overpopulated. I believe that many of the
problems that we're beginning to see are a result of trying to support
six billion people on a planet that can sustainably support far fewer
at any lifestyle above that available in the least-developed parts of
the Third World."

I've been saying this for years. Most of our problems are complex and don't
have simple causes and solutions, but each of them seems to be caused in
part, or aggravated by, Over-Population.

"I believe that in the face of this, intelligent
people should limit their progeny."

They do. It costs more in resources to raise children the higher up the
socio-economic ladder you go; so the higher, the fewer.

"But I can think of only three ways
to rapidly reduce the population of this planet: Global famine and
resulting war; a global epidemic of a virulent, deadly, and
untreatable disease;"

Ain't that the truth. Europe between 1045 and 1345 AD saw its population
spiraling out of control, but Europe was saved by the Black Death. (Talk
about irony.) Population pressures in Central and Eastern Europe were
reaching a critical point when WWI broke out. That war, and the influenza
epidemic of 1919, didn't kill enough people (strange as that may seem). The
disease called National Socialism took care of that. Germany invaded Russia
in 1941 because the Germans needed "Living Space"; they were going to wipe
out the Slavic peoples and send in German colonists. I figure AIDS will
kill a couple of billion people before we bring it under control.

"... and the idea that governs this group."

The only time Europe saw the standard of living for the working class go up
was in the aftermath of the Black Death and the aftermath of massive
emmigration to the New World in the last half of the 19th century. In each
case, a labor shortage forced the upper class to fork over extra wages and
benefits. The same should happen when people start leaving planet Earth for
a better life elsewhere.

PS: Regarding the idea of people living in harmony with nature, or as some
would say, Living As God Intended Us To Live. The next time someone tries
to persuade you of the validity of this meme, remind them that God/Nature
intended that we run around the woods with sharpened sticks getting up close
and personal with our dinner.