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is the population bomb real

Is the world overpopulated

  • the more the merrier

    Votes: 18 38.3%

  • overpopulation is a problem but I am against child quotas

    Votes: 17 36.2%

  • overpopulation is a problem and we need child quotas

    Votes: 11 23.4%

  • but but but, my kid may be the one to save the world

    Votes: 1 2.1%
  • Total voters
    47
grip said:
And the welfare masses. The combo of older and poorer are just getting out of control, unless we can cycle into another upward growth pattern spurred on by some new "got to have items". The air pollution in China and water pollution of India are indications of populace driven industrialization in need of reform. Only time will tell if we sail smoothly or have some serious hiccups.
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Long term I think we'll be fine.
 
grip said:
I hope I'm absolutely wrong but there's every indication that the sustainable quality of life has hit its population peak and will only begin to deteriorate in the future. Currently it seems to be in a transformation phase of give and take but the definition for a successful and meaningful standard of life will probably change dramatically in the next decade or so. We will probably start to see far more noticeable shifts in classes and groups of people into haves and have nots with the middle evaporating.
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The population in America has doubled since I was born and the quality of life has already been significantly degraded IMO.
 
sawyerloggingon said:
The population in America has doubled since I was born and the quality of life has already been significantly degraded IMO.
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I think the ease or even standard is higher but I believe the context of quality is in question. You and I remember the old ways that had a tad tougher work ethic but also a deeper meaning. Few people under 40 will remember those days having not lived them of less electronic distraction and more physical interaction with nature and each other.
 
sawyerloggingon said:
IMO we have too many people on the planet already and the quality of life is decreasing as population increases. The guy that wrote the book The Population Bomb is now saying there should be mandatory population control which I am against but as far as his contention that we have to stop or even reverse population growth I tend to agree.

"A Stanford professor and author of The Population Bomb recently published a paper in a scientific journal re-emphasizing climate change and population growth pose existential threats to humanity and in an interview with Raw Story said that giving people the right to have as many children as they want is “a bad idea.”

The only criticism we’ve had on the paper is that it’s too optimistic,” said Paul Ehrlich, Bing professor of population studies at Stanford University and president of the Center for Conservation Biology. “You can’t negotiate with nature.”The study, published the Proceedings of the Royal Society B journal earlier this month says that climate change is “driven by overpopulation, overconsumption of natural resources and the use of unnecessarily environmentally damaging technologies and socio-economic-political arrangements to service Homo sapiens‘ aggregate consumption.”

‘Population Bomb’ scientist: ‘Nobody’ has the right to ‘as many children as they want’ | The Raw Story
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I could give him plenty of criticism other than "it's too optimistic."
 
grip said:
Your optimism is a refreshing view for a change. :)
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Just track the overall progress of civilization.
Individual civilizations rise and fall, but on aggregate people went from calorie deficient, to calorie indulgent.
Among all the other great things.

I mean it's about 28 degrees outside, inside my house it's about 64-65 and I'm complaining that I'm cold.
In comparison to what most of the people, of the world have experienced, I'm a cry baby.
 
Harry Guerrilla said:
Just track the overall progress of civilization.
Individual civilizations rise and fall, but on aggregate people went from calorie deficient, to calorie indulgent.
Among all the other great things.

I mean it's about 28 degrees outside, inside my house it's about 64-65 and I'm complaining that I'm cold.
In comparison to what most of the people, of the world have experienced, I'm a cry baby.
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LOL,,, no doubt we are almost spoiled rotten compared to previous generations. But does that make you appreciate life more or less?

To be honest everyone my age or older will always remember the good old days as better.
 
Harry Guerrilla said:
Just track the overall progress of civilization.
Individual civilizations rise and fall, but on aggregate people went from calorie deficient, to calorie indulgent.
Among all the other great things.

I mean it's about 28 degrees outside, inside my house it's about 64-65 and I'm complaining that I'm cold.
In comparison to what most of the people, of the world have experienced, I'm a cry baby.
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I keep it about 75 in my house but I heat with wood I cut on my own land so it's free heat in a way, yes you are "a cold hearted bastard".:lol:
 
grip said:
LOL,,, no doubt we are almost spoiled rotten compared to previous generations. But does that make you appreciate life more or less?

To be honest everyone my age or older will always remember the good old days as better.
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Well, until I really thought about it.
I didn't think about it at all.

Knowing what I know now, I really appreciate what I have.
All my ancestors that lived before me, put a lot more work into getting, what I have come by relatively easily.
It helped though having a grandparent relate to me stories of how he grew up and how I never had to endure things like that.

I think most every generation remembers the "good ole days."
Watching this show about eastern Europe and the fall of the iron curtain.
A lot or most of the elderly long for the days of communism, even though it was pretty ugly for them.
 
Harry Guerrilla said:
Well, until I really thought about it.
I didn't think about it at all.

Knowing what I know now, I really appreciate what I have.
All my ancestors that lived before me, put a lot more work into getting, what I have come by relatively easily.
It helped though having a grandparent relate to me stories of how he grew up and how I never had to endure things like that.

I think most every generation remembers the "good ole days."
Watching this show about eastern Europe and the fall of the iron curtain.
A lot or most of the elderly long for the days of communism, even though it was pretty ugly for them.
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You have wisdom beyond your years. It took me 50 of them to learn what you already know.

Yes, my parents told me how they and their parents grew up (poor and harsh) and I realized how good I have it in comparison.
And that has only continued to improve with every generation but it can go backwards for gaps of time.
Look at how advanced the Sumerian, Egyptian, Greek and Roman civilizations were in comparison to the dark ages of Europe that proceeded for the next several centuries.

I foresee parts of society struggling more than other sectors from what's happening in current events but it could all be smoke and mirrors. There have always been areas of the world that rise and fall.
 
sawyerloggingon said:
"A Stanford professor and author of The Population Bomb
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This is Paul Ehrlich, who has been wrong in every prediction that he has ever made. He initially predicted that beginning in the 1970s we'd run out of food and all start starving to death. Later he amended this prediction to the 80s and then the 90s. To date his prediction that people would start dying of starvation to the extent that the global death rate starts to rise dramatically has not come to pass and is not likely to in the foreseeable future. See why this is the case below.

In point of fact the world's people have never had it so good with a higher proportion than ever having access to clean water and adequate food, clothing and shelter.

Despite the fact that Ehrlich is a living parody of the genre, a lot of people still love that disaster crap and still take him seriously. This is probably because Ehrlich's solutions to these 'problems' is always for the world to put a lot of power and money into the hands of intellectuals like himself so they can run things.

But now Ehrlich's predictions are even more absurd than ever because the birth rate in Europe, Russia, China, much of Asia, Japan and North America has gone below the replacement rate, meaning that the population will soon start to fall in those areas. Birth rates in other areas are dropping rapidly and may soon fall below replacement levels.

As usual, Ehrlich is 40 years behind current events.
 
grip said:
You have wisdom beyond your years. It took me 50 of them to learn what you already know.
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Thanks. :)
I try to think before I speak, something Confucius teaches.
Although that doesn't always happen.

grip said:
Yes, my parents told me how they and their parents grew up (poor and harsh) and I realized how good I have it in comparison.
And that has only continued to improve with every generation but it can go backwards for gaps of time.
Look at how advanced the Sumerian, Egyptian, Greek and Roman civilizations were in comparison to the dark ages of Europe that proceeded for the next several centuries.
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If I remember right, the dark ages were largely dark, because of the governments warring and suppressing people.
There were still achievements they were just not as open as we would have otherwise had seen.

I think that during that time, that the Muslim world was making leaps and bounds in terms of knowledge and overall progress.

grip said:
I foresee parts of society struggling more than other sectors from what's happening in current events but it could all be smoke and mirrors. There have always been areas of the world that rise and fall.
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No doubt there are some bad changes on the horizon, but I think they will, in the end, be good for our future people.
A more mechanized labor force, will allow more people to use their minds rather than their body for everything.
A Star Trek type world could develop.
 
Harry Guerrilla said:
Thanks. :)
I try to think before I speak, something Confucius teaches.
Although that doesn't always happen.



If I remember right, the dark ages were largely dark, because of the governments warring and suppressing people.
There were still achievements they were just not as open as we would have otherwise had seen.

I think that during that time, that the Muslim world was making leaps and bounds in terms of knowledge and overall progress.



No doubt there are some bad changes on the horizon, but I think they will, in the end, be good for our future people.
A more mechanized labor force, will allow more people to use their minds rather than their body for everything.
A Star Trek type world could develop.
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You're correct, while Europe was suffering a feudal system and religious reforms other parts of the world were advancing.

I think we're in the beginning stages of a Star Trek world with the computer glasses from Google, invisible cloaks, particle physics, stealth tech and other modern breakthroughs. Fixing many of the social and economic ills of this generation will be a final hurdle for humans too make before we are really able to focus our collective wills and intellects on advancements that will take us into other worlds.

Hopefully there will be voices of reason and compromise who can separate the diatribe and extremist ideology out of today's minds.
 
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grip said:
Your correct, while Europe was suffering a feudal system and religious reforms other parts of the world were advancing.

I think we're in the beginning stages of a Star Trek world with the computer glasses from Google, invisible cloaks, particle physics, stealth tech and other modern breakthroughs. Fixing many of the social and economic ills of this generation will be a final hurdle for humans too make before we are really able to focus our collective wills and intellects on advancements that will take us into other worlds.

Hopefully there will be voices of reason and compromise who can separate the diatribe and extremist ideology out of today's minds.
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Well, for me, I'm fine with communism as long as it develops through technological advancement, rather than by force.
Right now, things like replicators are sci fi, but then again they aren't, as we can see with the advent of the 3d printer.
It's what I'd call a first stage replicator.
 
Harry Guerrilla said:
Well, for me, I'm fine with communism as long as it develops through technological advancement, rather than by force.
Right now, things like replicators are sci fi, but then again they aren't, as we can see with the advent of the 3d printer.
It's what I'd call a first stage replicator.
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I don't think we'll reach communism but rather a more unified existence based on modernism, where old ideas of conflict based on cultural differences and struggling for resources are mostly resolved. It almost has to happen for society to continue to prosper in an increasingly technical existence or face huge reverses in growth and production.

I expect a huge breakthrough in particle physics could change our problems with resource availability perfecting a replicator.
 
grip said:
I don't think we'll reach communism but rather a more unified existence based on modernism, where old ideas of conflict based on cultural differences and struggling for resources are mostly resolved. It almost has to happen for society to continue to prosper in an increasingly technical existence or face huge reverses in growth and production.

I expect a huge breakthrough in particle physics could change our problems with resource availability perfecting a replicator.
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That's why I want to be frozen.
I want to be able to see and live this future.
Plus space ships.
 
JayDubya said:
What a horrible phrase.

"Giving people the right." We don't need to be given what we already have innately.
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One of only two "natural rights". The other is the right to attempt to survive. ;)
 
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