formspring formsprung;

I wanted to reply to your response, about consumerism vs. overpopulation, I just didn’t get around to it until now. You’re definitely 100% right about the excess consumption by people in the western world, especially the United States: the US makes up less than 5% of the world population and uses a ridiculous one third of its resources. But it’s about much more than just reducing consumption. China’s looking to compete with us, India’s rapidly industrializing, and the developing world is going to follow. This all means more consumption, so that even if we reduce ours, worldwide we are going to be consuming a lot more, just so that other countries can even be brought up on a level approaching the most basic modern western life. Also, no reduction in consumption is going to stand a chance against overpopulation. In 1900, there were about one billion people on the earth. Now there are over six billion. In the developed world, we may be having less children, but people are dying less as they grow up and surviving to a much older age to compensate so that we are still growing. Here’s a hilarious figure: if the developing world continues to reproduce at its current rate, there will be 296 billion people on the earth in 150 years. That is not a typo, look up Bill McKibben. If the rate drops to 2.5 children per woman, there will be 28 billion people in the same time frame. We need to drop to an average of 2 children/woman worldwide to stabilize. The easiest way to reduce consumption is to reduce population, and at some point it will be a necessary way. People are made to reproduce. We do have a carrying capacity, like any other animal, and we may have already extended over it. Like I said, some kind of law might become necessary, because the way people are now, they’re not going to limit themselves in having kids, and for a very natural reason: look up the tragedy of the commons, it’s an idea that when I read about it, it was like I finally found something that very simply explains human selfishness in a way I’d always tried to explain it; explains how we justify it and how it applies to overpopulation.

As much as I love a good debate I’m tired of trying to defend my own personal beliefs against your beliefs. As I’ve said before I believe we need to do something to fix the current issues that have been affecting our world but focusing on only one thing, such as overpopulation, is part of the problem. There a HUNDREDS of factors that have lead to Global Warming, not just one or two. Eliminating one thing won’t help, there has to be entire lifestyle changes willingly taken on by everyone. Which is virtually impossible unless mandated and there is nothing society hates more than being told what to do when they don’t want to do it.

There are other problems, in the world than Global Warming that deserves more attention. The fact that there are families that live on less than a dollar a day deserves attention. The fact that there are sweatshops making children work in terrible conditions deserves attention. The fact that there are mass genocides to this day on innocent people. The horrors of human trafficking deserves attention. The abused, the poor, the raped women in the Middle East deserve attention.

It’s no wonder that people have such a hard time believing in government when there is so much neglect and indifference towards their own people

Yeah we’re killing our planet, but we’re also killing humans rapidly as well, physically, emotionally, mentally.
There’s no point in saving the earth if there’s no one left to enjoy it.

And with that I’m done with this discussion. You and I will just have to agree to disagree.

formspring.