Is overpopulation cause for concern?

[LucyDuke]

Spun from Perfy's thread.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=310041


EDIT.
I had to trim some options to fit. Options six and seven assume "yes, this is a serious problem right now."


What sort of carrying capacity has this planet got? With current technology, with future technology?

Consider that space colonization may be in the future, but even if we manage to colonize everything inhabitable in our solar system, it's probably going to be a pretty big leap from that to colonizing other solar systems (hell, even just finding habitable ones might be tricky), star clusters, and so forth.

Also, if it's a problem, how do we address it? (I vote education, birth control, taxing people for babymaking, and internationally cracking down hard on human trafficking.)

 

[Masquerouge]

It has the potential to become a serious issue, but there are quite a few other problems we should address first.

Mostly because it seems to be self-regulating via development.

 

[Munch]

Also, if it's a problem, how do we address it? (I vote education, birth control, taxing people for babymaking, and internationally cracking down hard on human trafficking.)

Education is of course the real solution (for most problems, really) but it is a long-term one and we won't see the results for some time. As for short term prevention of overpopulation, taxing people for babymaking is only going to result in a poorer quality of life for those children unfortunate enough to be born into a large family, for one reason or another, which would have a strong negative impact upon the child (resulting in e.g. ultra-chavs).

 

[El_Machinae]

I recall a back-of-the-envelope stating that there's enough sunlight and CHNOPS in the solar system to handle 7200 trillion humans. So I'm not really worried about an upper limit. That would require us getting out into the solar system properly. I believe this is nearly inevitable, but I am concerned about how much pain it will involve in the process.

But right now we have some pretty serious overpopulation issues. Some of these can be dealt with using making better use of current resources, but we'll actually have to deal with these problems as problems if we're to make it long term. India is already mostly vegetarian, for example (there are a lot of ecological efficiencies created by vegetarian diets), but their aquifers are still dropping at about 1m per year. This means that they will not be able to maintain their levels of irrigation in the long term.

Now technology can obviously replace aquifers as a source of fresh water. But the sticker shock on that (compared to a currently free source of water) is going to be brutal. It might be better to not need to produce that much fresh water, just to feed people.

 

[West 36]

I said in another thread something to the extent that when people reach a certain standard of living they stop having kids, Western Europe being the perfect case, where native population is actually declining slighlty. If we try to help the world progress forward like that, than it shouldn't be a problem- and I don't see it being a problem in the near future unless they all consume like your stereotypical American, but if we work on renewable energy and recycle and the like, then that shouldn't be a problem either. I don't think that's out of humanity's reach, and there will be bumps along the way, but I do believe it's possible. That said if we don't do any of that, then the future doesn't look so bright, but even then, some people should survive.

 

[Narz]

Overpopulation is a serious concern & has been for many decades now. Anyone who denies this is simply not educated on that matter.

We need to stop giving people tax breaks & free money for having large families at the very least.

I don't believe anyone should be sterilized except for rapists & certified sociopaths who are convicted criminals.

Also, as I said here people who want to die should be able to do so with dignity & of their own volition rather than casuing mass suffering to themselves, their families & society before finally being allowed to die.

Wills should be allowed to stipulate the request for assisted suicide in case of dementia. I know I would want to die if I ever lost my mind to the point where I could not remember my loved ones.

Housing old people who might well choose to die if they were given a dignified choice to is a huge resource drain. Of course it's also a huge industry making billions of dollars from the well-meaning families of people who talk to chairs & think their daughters are nurse's aids would never have wanted to descend into such a state if they were asked about it pre-dementia.

 

[Chamnix]

www.vhemt.org

 

[LucyDuke]

Yes, that's clever, but doesn't really help much.

 

[RedRalph]

Absolutely it is. theres too many of us by half.

 

[salty mud]

The Moon is only 250,000 miles away. Why can't we go there?

 

[Narz]

The Moon is only 250,000 miles away. Why can't we go there?

Great idea. Lets go this weekend. This friendly fellow sold me some magic beans that will grow us a beanstalk up to the moon. He also sold me some gold dust that he said when we sprinkle in on the mood will grow fields of gold. Also, he gave me a bottomless flask so we'll never get thirsty & a candybar that regenerates every time we take a bite.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

No need to worry. These guys will take care of it.

 

[sysyphus]

Overpopulation is the number one problem facing the world today. The strain on resources is a threat to economy, environment and security.

I would even contend that the world should set a goal to reduce the human population to 1 billion over the next few centuries.

 

[Narz]

Overpopulation is the number one problem facing the world today. The strain on resources is a threat to economy, environment and security.

I would even contend that the world should set a goal to reduce the human population to 1 billion over the next few centuries.

Sounds like the Georgia Guidestones.

If we don't nature will. As a guy I know says "mother nature always bats last".

http://www.garretthardinsociety.org/articles/art_tragedy_of_the_commons.html

 

[salty mud]

Great idea. Lets go this weekend. This friendly fellow sold me some magic beans that will grow us a beanstalk up to the moon. He also sold me some gold dust that he said when we sprinkle in on the mood will grow fields of gold. Also, he gave me a bottomless flask so we'll never get thirsty & a candybar that regenerates every time we take a bite.

Someone's sarcasm detector is broken.

 

[Bigfoot3814]

The Moon is only 250,000 miles away. Why can't we go there?

There's no air there!

On the topic, overpopulation wouldn't be a problem if people took some measures to increase the Earth's carrying capacity.

 

[Ekmek]

malthus was right

 

[mrwhite89]

I'm trying to find a Nazi angle to this thread.

Give me a few more minutes.....

 

[Irish Caesar]

The "sustainable development" option was the key for me. "Too many" people is the amount at which the earth can't sustain that many, and although I have no idea what that number is, we need to make sure we use what we have wisely and try a little harder not to waste what we have. I suppose that's not very concrete.

Perhaps a better way of phrasing it would be that you should not have children if you do not think their lives will be better than your own?

Until then, I have a modest proposal...

 

[scherbchen]

really has to be country-specific imho...