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Why Do Conservatives Deny The Existence Of The Population Management Crisis

Please read the OP and then answer the poll (conservatives answer 1-8, liberals 9-10)

  • I don't think it's a problem as all the extra people mean more customers for businesses.

    Votes: 3 25.0%

  • I don't think it's a problem as all the extra people mean low-wage employees for businesses.

    Votes: 1 8.3%

  • I don't think it's a problem as my religion tells us to multiply.

    Votes: 1 8.3%

  • I don't think it's a problem as my religion predicts such end-times calamities.

    Votes: 1 8.3%

  • I don't think it's a problem as I have many sibs/kids and I'd feel guilty advocating reduced births.

    Votes: 1 8.3%

  • I don't think it's a problem as we must keep up with the Muslims or they'll rule the world.

    Votes: 2 16.7%

  • I don't think it's a problem as if I admitted it I'd get harangued on global-warming.

    Votes: 1 8.3%

  • I do indeed think it's a problem.

    Votes: 3 25.0%

  • I don't think it's a problem.

    Votes: 6 50.0%

  • I do indeed think it's a problem.

    Votes: 4 33.3%
  • Total voters
    12
People need to understand that available space is not the issue in overpopulation. It's available resources. Yes, you can cram every person on the planet into a super city the size of Iowa. But you still need to feed them somehow. Africa has plains large enough to grow all the worlds food, but does the soil and water availability support that?

Also, on a long enough timeframe, any non-zero growth rate cannot be sustained. Eventually, doing so requires expansion faster than the speed of light, something we have reason to believe is impossible.
 
Ontologuy said:
Liberals complain that I'm always picking on 'em and I let conservatives slide. Let me just say that, as a centrist, I try to be an equal-opportunity-critic, but liberals do soooo many things soooo very often that they're pretty much always presenting targets for critique, whereas conservatives, by virtue of their penchant for doing next to nothing, ever .. well, you can see my dilemma.

So this thread's for all you persecution-complexed liberals who have been waiting so very patiently.

There is no rational question whatsoever that we have a serious national and global problem with regard to asymptotic population increase and basic needs resources-production that can't even begin to keep up.

All the charts and graphs and all that clearly document this unquestionably real problem have been presented so many times in so many other threads, so I'm not gonna waste space here repeating them.

But the increasing rate at which we now add an additional billion people to the planet is the scarriest challenge we as a species face, bar none.

The result of such a continued rise in the rate that we add people to the planet far beyond our ability to provide space and needs for them?

* Excessive deforestation that threatens our hospitable climate.
* Pollution everywhere that also threatens our habitat.
* Gross and abhorrent starvation.
* Disgusting wretched mass abject poverty.
* Miserably way-overcrowded cities that not only greatly decrease the quality of life to a neurosis-causing degree but ramp up the horrific person-on-person crime rate beyond law enforcement's ability to even investigate.
* Perpetual traffic jams that make the speed limit a satirically sick joke.
* An excessive drain on healthcare resources and availablity that ramps up the cost of care for those dwindling number who can manage to afford health insurance.
* A dog-eat-dog fight for living-wage jobs that are growing ever scarcer.
* Drastic reductions in living-wage incomes in previously prosperous nations caused by out-sourcing those jobs to wage-slaves in other nations.
* A proportional rapidly increasing drain on remaining global energy resources with no acceptable viable workable real alternative yet in sight.
* An increase in racism complete with the threat of bio-weapons to genetically target specific races.
* The growing threat of an apocalyptic war to "solve" the problem.
* And so many, many more severely deleterious reactions to this primary foundational crisis.

And though these readily visible symptoms of this truly deadly problem are everywhere, not only in third-world countries but in industrialized nations like our own ..

.. For some unknown reasons, most conservatives just behave like there is no dire problem in this manner whatsoever!

So, what I want to know from conservatives (and the like -- you know who you are, so treat yourself as a "conservative" for the poll's sake) is why do you think this problem doesn't exist at all or is so easily solvable when 1) it's obvious the problem exists, and 2) we've done nothing to even put a dent in it so far as it grows ever worse!

Please answer the poll and post accordingly .. and please note that you can specify more than one answer and that people will be able to see how you responded.

I would love to know what it is about conservatives that make those of their ideological ilk so obviously in denial of this major problem compared to liberals .. and liberals, there is a little in the poll for you too, but not much, as there is what I would call an irrational maximum of only 10 possible replies allowed in a poll at DP.

Poll questions:

1. I'm a conservative and I don't think the OP-described problem's an issue because all the extra people mean more customers for businesses.
2. I'm a conservative and I don't think the OP-described problem's an issue because all the extra people mean low-wage employees for businesses.
3. I'm a conservative and I don't think the OP-described problem's an issue because my religion tells us to multiply.
4. I'm a conservative and I don't think the OP-described problem's an issue because my religion predicts such end-times calamities.
5. I'm a conservative and I don't think the OP-described problem's an issue because I have many siblings/kids and I'd feel guilty about advocating population decrease.
6. I'm a conservative and I don't think the OP-described problem's an issue because we have to keep up with over-populating Muslims or they'll rule the world.
7. I'm a conservative and I don't think the OP-described problem's an issue because if I admitted it I'd get harangued on global-warming.
8. I'm a conservative and I do indeed think the OP-described problem's an issue.
9. I'm a liberal and I don't think the OP-described problem's an issue.
10. I'm a liberal and I do indeed think the OP-described problem's an issue.
Click to expand...

I find it interesting that a self-proclaimed centrist would create a poll for responses from conservatives and liberals, but no option for any responses from centrists. Hmmmm.
 
Ontologuy said:
Liberals complain that I'm always picking on 'em and I let conservatives slide. Let me just say that, as a centrist, I try to be an equal-opportunity-critic, but liberals do soooo many things soooo very often that they're pretty much always presenting targets for critique, whereas conservatives, by virtue of their penchant for doing next to nothing, ever .. well, you can see my dilemma.

So this thread's for all you persecution-complexed liberals who have been waiting so very patiently.

There is no rational question whatsoever that we have a serious national and global problem with regard to asymptotic population increase and basic needs resources-production that can't even begin to keep up.

All the charts and graphs and all that clearly document this unquestionably real problem have been presented so many times in so many other threads, so I'm not gonna waste space here repeating them.

But the increasing rate at which we now add an additional billion people to the planet is the scarriest challenge we as a species face, bar none.

The result of such a continued rise in the rate that we add people to the planet far beyond our ability to provide space and needs for them?

* Excessive deforestation that threatens our hospitable climate.
* Pollution everywhere that also threatens our habitat.
* Gross and abhorrent starvation.
* Disgusting wretched mass abject poverty.
* Miserably way-overcrowded cities that not only greatly decrease the quality of life to a neurosis-causing degree but ramp up the horrific person-on-person crime rate beyond law enforcement's ability to even investigate.
* Perpetual traffic jams that make the speed limit a satirically sick joke.
* An excessive drain on healthcare resources and availablity that ramps up the cost of care for those dwindling number who can manage to afford health insurance.
* A dog-eat-dog fight for living-wage jobs that are growing ever scarcer.
* Drastic reductions in living-wage incomes in previously prosperous nations caused by out-sourcing those jobs to wage-slaves in other nations.
* A proportional rapidly increasing drain on remaining global energy resources with no acceptable viable workable real alternative yet in sight.
* An increase in racism complete with the threat of bio-weapons to genetically target specific races.
* The growing threat of an apocalyptic war to "solve" the problem.
* And so many, many more severely deleterious reactions to this primary foundational crisis.

And though these readily visible symptoms of this truly deadly problem are everywhere, not only in third-world countries but in industrialized nations like our own ..

.. For some unknown reasons, most conservatives just behave like there is no dire problem in this manner whatsoever!

So, what I want to know from conservatives (and the like -- you know who you are, so treat yourself as a "conservative" for the poll's sake) is why do you think this problem doesn't exist at all or is so easily solvable when 1) it's obvious the problem exists, and 2) we've done nothing to even put a dent in it so far as it grows ever worse!

Please answer the poll and post accordingly .. and please note that you can specify more than one answer and that people will be able to see how you responded.

I would love to know what it is about conservatives that make those of their ideological ilk so obviously in denial of this major problem compared to liberals .. and liberals, there is a little in the poll for you too, but not much, as there is what I would call an irrational maximum of only 10 possible replies allowed in a poll at DP.

Poll questions:

1. I'm a conservative and I don't think the OP-described problem's an issue because all the extra people mean more customers for businesses.
2. I'm a conservative and I don't think the OP-described problem's an issue because all the extra people mean low-wage employees for businesses.
3. I'm a conservative and I don't think the OP-described problem's an issue because my religion tells us to multiply.
4. I'm a conservative and I don't think the OP-described problem's an issue because my religion predicts such end-times calamities.
5. I'm a conservative and I don't think the OP-described problem's an issue because I have many siblings/kids and I'd feel guilty about advocating population decrease.
6. I'm a conservative and I don't think the OP-described problem's an issue because we have to keep up with over-populating Muslims or they'll rule the world.
7. I'm a conservative and I don't think the OP-described problem's an issue because if I admitted it I'd get harangued on global-warming.
8. I'm a conservative and I do indeed think the OP-described problem's an issue.
9. I'm a liberal and I don't think the OP-described problem's an issue.
10. I'm a liberal and I do indeed think the OP-described problem's an issue.
Click to expand...
What problem?
 
To clarify a few points that were probably already well made.

1. Earth is not overpulated yet because, for the most part, food, shelter, clothing and land are all still plentiful.
2. Overpopulation may become a problem in the future, but it will be a temporary problem because it's one that self-corrects.
3. Overpopulation of any creature is never a problem for the planet Earth. What the population, density or diversity of life may be is no concern to the planet.

We can wring our hands over the growing population of people. We can wring our hands over the fact that the Sun will eventually die and will expand to consume all the planets including Earth in the process. We can wring our hands over the fact that our galaxy is destined to collide with a larger galaxy that will destroy it. But why wring our hands over such things? It's life. Everything created gets destroyed. And you, too, are going to die, whether you want to accept that or not. If you're lucky, it won't be particularly painful and maybe it won't happen for quite some time to come, but it's going to happen to everyone. Overpopulation of the planet, if it happens, will be a self-correcting problem, so hand-wringing over it is pretty silly.
 
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