Overpopulation or Underpopulation?
Is the world overpopulated or is it underpopulated? That is the question that no one is asking. Is is the elephant in the room. And the average person’s opinion on this subject is actually more important than any chart or graph. The answer that the person on the street has to the question of over or underpopulation is the lynch-pin for policy. You see, who is the person being asked? Is it someone living in North America, or someone living in Africa? The social status, access to resources and perception of other people can greatly affect someone’s answer. If you think that the world should become more populated, then there are certain things that go along with that. Probably issues like dealing with increased pollution, and food and water consumption are at the top of your list. But if you feel that the world is overpopulated, then there is an entire set of interesting things that are on the table.
Let’s say for sake of argument that in the next 10 – 100 years, that space travel and colonization does NOT happen. I know this is a pessimistic stance to take. But space colonization messes up the concept of overpopulation. This is because a world, moon, or large enough asteroid can possibly be terraformed or outfitted with biodomes etc. But this technology would require research that doesn’t seem to be the priority in the current socio-economic system. So let’s just say that we are stuck with planet Earth, and its water supply and other resources.
There are advantages to having more people on a planet. The more people, the greater the workforce, and the more consumers for products. This can lead to economic growth, especially for the distributors and owners of resources. But of course there is an environmental toll, especially as more people want to enjoy greater levels of consumption.
I noticed something was going on when I was talking to friends that were a generation or two older than myself. We were discussing this very subject of overpopulation and in both occasions the different men said they felt the world was overpopulated. And we talked about a whole bunch of statistics and trends. But after a while, we ventured onto other subjects, and eventually that subject was me. He asked me when I was going to meet someone, settle down and start a family. And I said I wanted to own a home with a lap pool and outdoor jacuzzi before I got married. That way I can do laps in the pool and when I get too cold I could take a dip in the hot tub.
Well, the friend said that I shouldn’t take forever on my plan, because we needed more families with prospective parents like myself. I mentioned that it wasn’t too big of a deal, especially because of how we had just talked about how overpopulated the planet is. But my friend said that I should make some money, settle down and start a family anyway.
That’s why I think there is a lot more going on here than a few numbers in a textbook or chart somewhere. Opinions on this subject count more than any statistic you can toss out.
At the end of the day, this question needs to be discussed in greater detail and more publicly than it currently is. I think one of the reasons why this subject gets skirted into other issues is because of the sensitivity of political correctness and the aftermath of eugenic and social darwinistic forms of thought. But the reality is, if we don’t talk about this, then we may not engage in the course of action that is necessarily in our best interests.
Automation is getting intense, even China is beginning to lay off workers here and there due to machines that are more cost-efficient. As automation increases, there will be greater need for reeducation and retooling of entire economies in order to compensate for job obsolescence.
In conclusion, I understand that this subject matter must be difficult to think about. We live in a world where we would probably like to look ourselves in the mirror every morning and not have to think that we may actually be competing for the air we breathe and the water we drink. But the less we think about it, and the longer the global population grows and grows…the sooner we will have to face harsh realities and have to make actual decisions that could effect entire continents.
-Tyler