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Great thread, thank you. And you're not alone in your thinking - it's in my mind every day. As usual, humanity doesn't go to the source of the problem and tries to mask the crises with various "solutions" that will never work in the long run.
If everyone thinks the war for oil going on now is bad, wait until everyone is fighting over the most basic element on the planet: water. It's depleting quickly, either by massive misuse (meat industries, golf courses, watering Astroturf sports fields because it's "legally" permitted, cash crops, irrigating lawns instead of growing food) or pollution. We only have one world, we're all connected - or will be when the feces really hits the fan in coming decades.
That the US only rewards those who breed over and over again, especially those who cannot afford to properly care for children, makes me throw up in my mouth. I despise the welfare system and the whole "baby daddy" phenomenon. The passive way to resist that now is to stop paying taxes into such an insane system. The aggressive way, which I foresee happening in the future, is the ostracization and/or expulsion of compulsive breeders from society - which will be ugly, but they'll eventually die out as they realize the free ride is over.
In the 1/3 of a century I've been on the planet the human population has doubled. It's been many years since I thought babies & children are cute and precious (though I never really thought that to begin with). When I hear the news that someone I know or am acquainted with is having another one, I just walk away shaking my head. Don't expect to hear words of congratulations from me when there are already thousands upon thousands of children desperately needing homes and families.
When I see the various population counters on the Internet it only reinforces the doom humans are self-perpetuating. No species on earth breeds and overpopulates itself without dire consequences - except us, of course. But it will hit a breaking point, and nature will take control. Even squirrels know better than to overbreed or not breed when resources are scarce, and during scarcities they don't even mate.
There's a growing number of the younger generation in this country (and possibly others, like Japan) who have no interest in procreating - as traditional beliefs and religious attitudes wane. Unfortunately it's still a very small sector of the population and most people (at least in the US) have this fairy-tale attitude that they want to settle down and have children. Like it's some kind of social rule they're supposed to follow. When I meet people who are child-free, for whatever reason, I thank them.
Laugh while you can, and remember: WRAP IT UP.
I've long been a member of VHEMT, check out their website for lots of compelling information and arguements.
Advances in medicine are also contributing to over population.
Agreed. More tampering with nature. It's like survival of the fittest barely exists amongst humans anymore, and looks how disastrous it's becoming.
Another similar issue is the problems in Africa, with all the efforts being made to try to help people who aren't able to grow enough food or find fresh water. IT'S A DESERT - and it can't naturally sustain human life. As callous as it sounds, those who overbreed in regions that can't support them should and will eventually die out. Sending starving people bags of rice and bottled water is just another way to prolong the inevitable.
Agreed. More tampering with nature. It's like survival of the fittest barely exists amongst humans anymore, and looks how disastrous it's becoming.
Another similar issue is the problems in Africa, with all the efforts being made to try to help people who aren't able to grow enough food or find fresh water. IT'S A DESERT - and it can't naturally sustain human life. As callous as it sounds, those who overbreed in regions that can't support them should and will eventually die out. Sending starving people bags of rice and bottled water is just another way to prolong the inevitable.
Africa is a Desert? It might have a desert, but that doesn't make the entire continent a desert. That would be like saying North America is a desert or Asia is a desert.
Africa is a Desert? It might have a desert, but that doesn't make the entire continent a desert. That would be like saying North America is a desert or Asia is a desert.
Indeed. The desert belt that covers much of NORTH Africa in fact extends almost all the way around the earth at that latitude. Much of Africa is extremely fertile and well-watered.
You got that right. Overpopulation is THE problem. (Incredibly the right wing denialist kooks are not only dismissing global warming but overpopulation as well like Al Gore invented it.) World Overpopulation Killing Earth: The Root Cause Of The Earth's Problems: Too Many People (http://environmentalism.suite101.com/article.cfm/we_are_the_environmental_problem - broken link) We're outstripping the carrying capacity of the world like a plague of locust.
Oil is the only thing that made that possible. Before oil there were maybe a billion people; after oil there are 6.6B. Most species go thru a boom & bust cycle. When there are plenty of resources population booms; when resources are depleted population crashes. As we head into resource decline there will be increasing wars over oil, minerals, land, food, etc. But talk is cheap so I don't just complain about it, I invest in it. I'm long on oil, gold, silver, cotton, sugar & other commodities. So when the world is going up in flames I'll have plenty of money. I just hope it's worth something.
We're outstripping the carrying capacity of the world like a plague of locust.
One teenie weenie problem with making this comparision is locusts don't replant once they've "stripped" off the foliage. Most humans do. Not really the same. But it was a good try. I almost worried for a minute there.
So glad to see someone else thinking about the this. I felt so alone, can't talk about it without every making you feel like a real anti-baby creep! I work in an environment (U.S. military) which is really family oriented and tends to be very traditional. This sort of topic is extremely forbidden.
Our entire culture is focused on family - it is the most important thing - from talk shows to news casters, movies - you can talk about the devasting effects of overpopulation all you want and people will agree - in big picture theory.
But when you get down to floor level and talk families, babies, not having them - forget about it.
Years ago I decided it was pointless to keep giving to organizations to save the earth, save the tiger what have you (well I give to nature conservancy and orgs that buy land to keep humans off) - I tried to find population control organizations to give to. Kind of hard, they seem to tend to come and go and as near as I can figure have gotten zero traction.
Great thread, thank you. And you're not alone in your thinking - it's in my mind every day. As usual, humanity doesn't go to the source of the problem and tries to mask the crises with various "solutions" that will never work in the long run.
If everyone thinks the war for oil going on now is bad, wait until everyone is fighting over the most basic element on the planet: water. It's depleting quickly, either by massive misuse (meat industries, golf courses, watering Astroturf sports fields because it's "legally" permitted, cash crops, irrigating lawns instead of growing food) or pollution. We only have one world, we're all connected - or will be when the feces really hits the fan in coming decades.
That the US only rewards those who breed over and over again, especially those who cannot afford to properly care for children, makes me throw up in my mouth. I despise the welfare system and the whole "baby daddy" phenomenon. The passive way to resist that now is to stop paying taxes into such an insane system. The aggressive way, which I foresee happening in the future, is the ostracization and/or expulsion of compulsive breeders from society - which will be ugly, but they'll eventually die out as they realize the free ride is over.
In the 1/3 of a century I've been on the planet the human population has doubled. It's been many years since I thought babies & children are cute and precious (though I never really thought that to begin with). When I hear the news that someone I know or am acquainted with is having another one, I just walk away shaking my head. Don't expect to hear words of congratulations from me when there are already thousands upon thousands of children desperately needing homes and families.
When I see the various population counters on the Internet it only reinforces the doom humans are self-perpetuating. No species on earth breeds and overpopulates itself without dire consequences - except us, of course. But it will hit a breaking point, and nature will take control. Even squirrels know better than to overbreed or not breed when resources are scarce, and during scarcities they don't even mate.
There's a growing number of the younger generation in this country (and possibly others, like Japan) who have no interest in procreating - as traditional beliefs and religious attitudes wane. Unfortunately it's still a very small sector of the population and most people (at least in the US) have this fairy-tale attitude that they want to settle down and have children. Like it's some kind of social rule they're supposed to follow. When I meet people who are child-free, for whatever reason, I thank them.
Laugh while you can, and remember: WRAP IT UP.
I've long been a member of VHEMT, check out their website for lots of compelling information and arguements.
"May we live long and die out"
Very good points, awash over a mountain of self hate....
Don't want to have kids, good for you. The Uneducated, Poor and Thuged out will more than take your place. Is that the world you would like to live in? The rich, smart, successful, and cultured of all colors buy into this VHEMT garbage, while my section 8 neighbors, of all hues, more than fill the slots.
6 million, 6 billion, 6 trillion, it's all about quality. Before civilzation, we had way less people (like 1 million?), and guess what? Life was ****ty then too. Maybe it's the people that make the place.
This isn't to say I don't care about the enviorment, but it's being marketed to the way wrong people. As long as people in places like Romania, Africa, Bangladeish, Mexico, hell, even appalica and the inner-city continue to breed like rabbits, all we will be doing is taking one more giant leap towards Idiocracy.
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