Overpopulation: Is there a Solution ?

Original post by Rakas21

Well here in the UK there's actually no real need to deal with population size since we are not overpopulated and another fallacy which the eco group often neglects is that the Earth can actually sustain light population growth which is why most of the west is fine, the only problem is areas like India and Africa which are out of control.

On a global basis there are several measures we can take...

1) Contraception

2) Greater vegetarian diet, fish farming rather than trawling

3) Invest in renewable technologies, especially close to the equator or in seismically active areas

4) Greater use of desalinisation technology

No we're out of control, asia and africa may have a higher population growth rate, but they are still consuming far less than we are. Western europe and north america accounts for 12% of the world population but we consume over around 60% of world resources, much of which is just wasted and thrown away.

Reply 62

Original post by Scienceisgood

I am probably gonna be negged here, but, I think India needs the one child per family policy implemented SOON!

The UK could do with this too, although, since the child benefits have been capped to your first 2 children (or going to be, don't know if it has been enforced yet), this will prevent population increase a little.
I think I read somewhere the population of the UK is increasing by 400,000 a year. =l

The UK has more water than we need, could produce more food than we need if we really wanted and can at any time increase its energy capacity.

So bar immigration scare stories i'm curious, why does a country under no significant population stress need to reduce its population.

Reply 63

Scienceisgood

Original post by Rakas21

The UK has more water than we need, could produce more food than we need if we really wanted and can at any time increase its energy capacity.

So bar immigration scare stories i'm curious, why does a country under no significant population stress need to reduce its population.

Increasing population = increase in energy demand.
The NHS is already being stretched too thin.
Housing problems
Limited number of school places.

You know, things like that.

Reply 64

Original post by Zero Nowhere

No we're out of control, asia and africa may have a higher population growth rate, but they are still consuming far less than we are. Western europe and north america accounts for 12% of the world population but we consume over around 60% of world resources, much of which is just wasted and thrown away.

Indeed, however in western countries we not only see a slower birth rate but increased technological development which will lead to greater sustainability. We are also much more sparsely populated in general and as such have more resources per head than Asia and Africa. Exactly my point, the west is not in any danger of starving.

Reply 65

IShootLikeAGirl

If we figured out how to turn people into mermaids/fishmen then we could have loads of people living in the sea so the land problem would be solved.

Reply 66

Original post by Scienceisgood

Increasing population = increase in energy demand.
The NHS is already being stretched too thin.
Housing problems
Limited number of school places.

You know, things like that.

None of which are serious issues. We have the capability to build more schools and houses (even if we choose not to) and the NHS is under pressure from more old people who use the system but won't contribute.

The only primary concerns to our species are food, water and energy and no western country is under any danger of going without.

Reply 67

Original post by Rakas21

Indeed, however in western countries we not only see a slower birth rate but increased technological development which will lead to greater sustainability. We are also much more sparsely populated in general and as such have more resources per head than Asia and Africa. Exactly my point, the west is not in any danger of starving.

Yes and my point is that they are about to starve because of us. Because we exploited them in the past and are exploiting them today. We are safe, but if the poor of the world die out, where do we get our cheap resources from?

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 68

Original post by Zero Nowhere

Yes and my point is that they are about to starve because of us. Because we exploited them in the past and are exploiting them today. We are safe, but if the poor of the world die out, where do we get our cheap resources from?

If the poor of the world die out, the resources will still be there.

Aside from which as sad as that is, the UK should not make sacrifices just because of the incompetent governance of poor countries.

Reply 69

Scienceisgood

Original post by Rakas21

If the poor of the world die out, the resources will still be there.

Aside from which as sad as that is, the UK should not make sacrifices just because of the incompetent governance of poor countries.

This is fairly justified given that India is accepting aid from the UK, however, does anyone find it slightly concerning how this country's government spends its money on a SPACE PROGRAMME rather than feeding its people?!

Reply 70

Original post by Scienceisgood

This is fairly justified given that India is accepting aid from the UK, however, does anyone find it slightly concerning how this country's government spends its money on a SPACE PROGRAMME rather than feeding its people?!

So you don't think the Indian population should have telecommunications?

Unfortunately a lot of people think of space and think trips to the moon when actually their space programme like most others is mainly based around sending satellites up and is hugely beneficial to the economy ~(and the UK since we make a lot of the components).

Reply 71

SnoochToTheBooch

17

it's not a problem yet but left unchecked it will be. The best thing to do would be to remove the irratoinal stigma from abortion and make contraception free for all.

Reply 72

Original post by Rakas21

If the poor of the world die out, the resources will still be there.

Aside from which as sad as that is, the UK should not make sacrifices just because of the incompetent governance of poor countries.

Yes they will be there, but who will cultivate them and process them for our consumption? Certainly we couldn't do it because if we did then the workers would get actual workers rights meaning they get a minimum wage, a trade union an assurance of personal safety an assurance of quality of life, capped working hours etc which all costs money. That means we can't pay them 1p an hour like we are literally paying these poor people at the moment to cultivate the vast quantities of resources. That means things like a jar of coffee which cost less than a pound, despite the fact you can't really grow coffee in the uk, will then rise in price exponentially. Or vital metals and minerals that we use for manufacturing will not be anywhere near the costs as they are now. It would create a domino effect and pretty soon we will be saying bye bye to this vast consuming, easy, cheap life we live at the moment.

Secondly, it's not the incompetence of poor countries governments that is creating the problem. It's, like I have already said, their governments are being held to ransom by the west, they are being forced into selling their resources for far far less than they are worth by us so we can get them cheap. These governments thus have no money because they are being bullied by our multinationals and indeed governments and can't buy themself out of their desperation. Then our governments are allowing our banks to lend them money at rates that would put a loan shark to shame, and because these countries are in such a poor and desperate state already they have no choice but to accept it, despite the fact they will never be able to pay it back. Even the finacial aid they get from us is being corrupted by us. These countries are being given aid but are being told to spend this money in areas that will benefit us rather than benefit them. Oh but I suppose people will say that it's down to their corrupt govts, yeah corrupt govts that we imposed on them. Corrupt governments that wouldn't stand a chance if we hadn't ****ed them over in the first place, kept them poor and demoralised them into thinking this is their safest option.

This isn't a case of their governments being incompetent, this is a case of us in the west pushing them down to the ground, and kicking them back down everytime they try to stand up. It wouldn't have to be this way though if we just adjusted our consumption slightly to make it somewhat fair for these poor nations. If we just agreed to pay a little extra for the resources that we basically steal off of them at the moment. If we stopped consuming more than we actually needed and allowed other nations to some resources at fair costs. This small adjustment would be enough for them to help themselves.

Reply 73

Original post by SnoochToTheBooch

it's not a problem yet but left unchecked it will be. The best thing to do would be to remove the irratoinal stigma from abortion and make contraception free for all.

This reminds me of a quote from a comedian "if you want to help mother earth try sodomy, sodomy is eco friendly and abortion is green".

Reply 74

SnoochToTheBooch

17

Original post by Zero Nowhere

This reminds me of a quote from a comedian "if you want to help mother earth try sodomy, sodomy is eco friendly and abortion is green".

doug stanhope I believe

Reply 75

Ham22

15

Sterilize the underclass.

Reply 76