[calumsteele1]

as we all know due to a combination of human factors not least the advancements in medicine and our continued passion for breeding like little bunnies the earth is starting to run out of room to accomodate us meaning serious issue with food and commodities will arise..
so im curious what would everyone do to try and alleviate this issue?

[TheHansa]

It won't be a problem. This Earth can hold billions more people and as more people are born increased competition will reduce birthrates until we reach equilibrium.

[chefdave]

I personally pledge to go on a diet to help ease the overcrowding problem. If we all only lose a few lbs many of our spatial issues will be resolved overnight.

[Aramiss18]

If we in the West and the now developing countries (BRIC) manage to get a grip of our huge over consumption there won't be a problem. It's the selfishness of our lifestyle that is/will cause the most problems.

[Joinedup]

Tbh you need to do a bit more to demonstrate the existance of a problem... Being crowded seems to be working out alright for people in hong kong for example.

[No Man]

Let the future of lack of food and commodities take its coarse.

[Classical Liberal]

Capitalism.

The price mechanism and the powerful productive forces of enterprise will do what they always do. Drive man kind forward.

[chefdave]

(Original post by Classical Liberal)
Capitalism.

The price mechanism and the powerful productive forces of enterprise will do what they always do. Drive man kind forward.

Capitalism is only applicable to the factors of production that can be readily reproduced (labour, capital), as the final factor of production: land is fixed in supply it can be easily monopolised thus giving the impression of a lack of space.

In laymans terms when you have Dukes and Earls owning hundreds of thousands of acres each while some of our poorest can barely afford to rent a bedsit you can guarantee there'll be spatial issues. And people say the financial crisis is due to those pesky bankers!

[Oziris]

A GTA style Kill Frenzy.

[chefdave]

Does anyone believe the following people suffer from the blight of overcrowding (name plus total amount of land owned):

1. Duke of Buccleuch & Queensberry 240,000 acres

2. Trustees of Dukedom of Atholl 145,700 acres

3. Prince Charles, as the Duke of Cornwall 133,602 acres

4. Duke of Westminster 133,100 acres

5. Duke of Northumberland 130,000 acres


The fact is there's loads of space left on our "overcrowded little island", it's just being monopolised by the landed gentry who have been in control of it for hundreds of years.

[Welsh_insomniac]

A reduced consumption on meat and frivolous cheap, throw away items that people tend to buy week in week out. A move towards sustainable renewable energy and moving away from centralised farming practices and working towards a more localised, systemic model.

[calumsteele1]

(Original post by chefdave)
Does anyone believe the following people suffer from the blight of overcrowding (name plus total amount of land owned):

1. Duke of Buccleuch & Queensberry 240,000 acres

2. Trustees of Dukedom of Atholl 145,700 acres

3. Prince Charles, as the Duke of Cornwall 133,602 acres

4. Duke of Westminster 133,100 acres

5. Duke of Northumberland 130,000 acres


The fact is there's loads of space left on our "overcrowded little island", it's just being monopolised by the landed gentry who have been in control of it for hundreds of years.

isnt the vast bulk of the duke of westminsters property sold off in lease form to people though?

[Classical Liberal]

(Original post by chefdave)
Capitalism is only applicable to the factors of production that can be readily reproduced (labour, capital), as the final factor of production: land is fixed in supply it can be easily monopolised thus giving the impression of a lack of space.

The problem in question is that of scarcity. That is the fundamental problem of economics. And the ideal solution is almost always private property and the free price mechanism.

[ionaaa]

I'm not entirely sure that the UK is as overcrowded as we'd like to think it is. Yes, there is a lot of immigration but even within these immigrant families the number of children is not high, causing the UK fertility rate (or that of England at least) to be about 1.95. This is slowly increasing, well to be honest it's fluctuating, but to answer your question I think the only thing we can really do is wait. As we enter stage 5 of the demographic transition model our population will start to decline, people will choose to move away from the 'old man' of the world that Europe is known as nowadays. Germany and Japan have already entered this phase and it's not long before we do too, though we might not be alive to witness it. The overcrowding of the UK is restricted to certain areas, for example the highest fertility rate is in Newham (2.87), London. It really depends on where you live what your perception of overcrowding is- people living in the countryside will probably see less overcrowding (though of a different sort) than those in the cities; and those in England in general will see more overcrowding than Wales or the other devolved nations. I didn't really mean to write an essay but you did say 'other (please state)'. Hope this has helped to answer your question

[chefdave]

(Original post by Classical Liberal)
The problem in question is that of scarcity. That is the fundamental problem of economics. And the ideal solution is almost always private property and the free price mechanism.

Of course, but the free price mechanism in turn is based upon the liberty to replace the services of another. Where there are artificial restrictions involved the pricing mechanism stalls and the beneficiaries of these restrictions ends up collecting economic rent instead of profit, nowhere is this more true than with the land market. Churchill called it "the mother of all monopolies" for good reason, it's fixed in supply, fixed in location and the state is prepared to back up the landlord's claim to ownership with brute force. You can't have a free market when an entire factor of production can be held to ransom by a cartel of rent seeking opportunists, it's simply not possible.

[chefdave]

(Original post by calumsteele1)
isnt the vast bulk of the duke of westminsters property sold off in lease form to people though?

I don't know is the honest answer.

[Aust1n]

The world is not over populated.

The resources we have are not being distributed and stable infrastructures are not being created to support the places that are being deemed as 'over populated'.

[Angry Spartan]

Wont the population level out anyway once it reaches around the 10 Billion mark?

Not long now.

Also, saying "colonise Mars" is a bit silly. If the Earth is overpopulated with 7 Billion, surely Mars would only be able to hold 2 Billion'ish.

[py0alb]

(Original post by chefdave)
Does anyone believe the following people suffer from the blight of overcrowding (name plus total amount of land owned):

1. Duke of Buccleuch & Queensberry 240,000 acres

2. Trustees of Dukedom of Atholl 145,700 acres

3. Prince Charles, as the Duke of Cornwall 133,602 acres

4. Duke of Westminster 133,100 acres

5. Duke of Northumberland 130,000 acres


The fact is there's loads of space left on our "overcrowded little island", it's just being monopolised by the landed gentry who have been in control of it for hundreds of years.

Question:
if someone decides they don't want a piece of land they own, what do you think happens to it?

[brabzzz]

These are some of the estimates the nerds have come up with. Is there a problem in the making? We have no sodding idea, as there are more people alive right now than ever before and we're growing faster than ever. This is unchartered territory.

I'm not sure the earth gives a toss either. It'll find an equilibrium (there is always one), but whether mankind will be involved in it, and to what extent, is the big question

I reckon there are too many people here, and being born. If nothing else we're destroying/using our environment and resources on an unprecedented scale. But i'm not sure we'll realise until it's too late. It's not something you can change overnight!

And, hey, Communists, i'm not sure more efficient land allocation and better resource distribution mechanisms...to enable us to support another 7bn, would be a good thing, all things considered. An interesting topic to write a paper on, but i'd be the first to oppose the idea in practice