Hello everybody. I am very please to join this group. I would agree that the problem is not over population - but there is a huge problem called overconsumption given that we do live on a finite planet and we are rapidly using up our natural resources. The world CANNOT consume like we do in the West, and we cannot prevent the rest of the world aspiring and developing to an equitable level of consumption - so the only solutions are war (like shoppers fighting over the last loaf of bread in the supermarket) or equitable sharing to ensure everybody has enough to meet their basic needs, unconditionally. This is not a lazy buggers charter - all the economic productive output can be done with probably 20% of the workforce so lets not pretend otherwise - now we can easily produce enough for our physical needs the other 80% of our collective time can far more usefully be spent being nice to each other and making our communities simply amazing places to live in! Progress cannot sensibly measured now by how many pixels on your phone screen (there are enough), progress now should be measured in our emotional development as a species. We should condemn the old fashioned emotions of greed and fear that lead to hoarding and overconsumptioin and instead focus on values that make our daily lives more fulfilling - the fruits of the spirit in Galatian 5 in the new testament are a good place to start love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, but this is a discussion we should be having. Whatever they are they are not the things that are causing us to drive around ever faster in circles to no obvious end apart from demonstrate that we can produce lots of things, fight economically and legally over who owns what, and generally go me, me, me alot. There are 7.2 billion of us, all generally capable with a little time and learning to make lots of things too out of the raw materials of a finite planet. What we choose to do with these inconvenient facts makes it either a glorious opportunity for a better future or a recipe for Malthus finally coming home to roost. Useful references - happiness has not increased in the developed world in 50 years even whilst income and consumptions has soared p11 - Institute of Actuaries Sharing A Finite World report: https://google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CEIQFjAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Factuaries.org.uk%2Fsites%2Fall%2Ffiles%2Fdocuments%2Fpdf%2Fresourceioaevidence-print-copy.pdf&ei=Ook3VPqTK6mf7gaS-oCgDg&usg=AFQjCNEyJOkl9qKF1JtElHy-TqrNTnnF0g&sig2=B9yJzo_0aRwSnkxfO50GpQ&bvm=bv.77161500,d.ZGU The major increase in overconsumption on the current trajectory is NOT population growth but the rapidly emerging Asian Middle Class wishing to consume just like we do in the West - according to the ex Chief Scientist of the UK Goverment Sir John Beddington, and the Astronomer Royal Lord Rees. footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/world_footprint/ oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/event/1677 Underpopulation or Overpopulation - the case for more people - the key to our problems is to SHARE - Toby Ord - also founding thinker of the Effective Altruism Movement. https://youtube/watch?v=ZEN5gxGPQOI
Posted on: Fri, 10 Oct 2014 07:47:57 +0000
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