HCL41

THE OVERPOPULATION MYTH

Some facts for NYC re his eugenics policy.

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In fact, people do live in crowded conditions, and always have. We cluster together in cities and villages in order to exchange goods and services with one another. But while we crowd together for economic reasons in our great metropolitan areas, most of the world is empty, as we can see when we fly over it. It has been estimated by Paul Ehrlich and others that human beings actually occupy no more than 1-3% of the earth's land surface.
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If you allotted 1250 square feet to each person, all the people in the world would fit into the state of Texas. Try the math yourself: 7,438,152,268,800 square feet in Texas, divided by the world population of 5,860,000,000, equals 1269 square feet per person. The population density of this giant city would be about 21,000 -- somewhat more than San Francisco and less than the Bronx.
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Another fact: World population growth is rapidly declining. United Nations figures show that the 79 countries that comprise 40% of the world's population now have fertility rates too low to prevent population decline. The rate in Asia fell from 2.4 in 1965-70 to 1.5 in 1990-95. In Latin America and the Caribbean, the rate fell from 2.75 in 1960-65 to 1.70 in 1990-95. In Europe, the rate fell to 0.16 -- that is, effectively zero -- in 1990-95.And the annual rate of change in world population fell from 2% in 1965-70 to less than 1.5% in 1990-95.
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Worldwide, the number of children the typical woman had during her lifetime (total fertility) fell from 5 in 1950-55 to less than 3 in 1990-95. (The number necessary just to "replace" the current generation is 2.1.) In the more developed regions, total fertility fell from 2.77 to 1.68 over the same period. In the less developed regions it fell from more than 6 to 3.3. Total fertility in Mexico was 3.1 in 1990-95. In Spain it stood at 1.3, and in Italy, it was 1.2.
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Official forecasts of eventual world population size have been steadily falling. In 1992-93, the World Bank predicted world population would exceed 10 billion by the year 2050. In 1996, the UN predicted 9 billion for 2050. If the trend continues, the next estimate will be lower still.

NewYorkCentral

HCL41,

http://www.juntosociety.com/guest/sp...pm1010903.html

Thats an interesting idea that I had not thought of before. I mean you shouldnt copy word for word without referencing but still its good stuff. I would be relieved to find out the world is not overpopulated however I have a hard time believing that there is not some sort of flaw in that argument.

Why stop there? Why not include some of the other arguements on that site like, MYTH 2: Overpopulation is causing global warming, MYTH 3: Overpopulation causes ozone depletion, MYTH 4: The world's forests are disappearing because of overpopulation. I understand that you wouldnt want to sound radical or extreme but it reads like a conspiracy website. I know how much you guys object to conspiracy in any and all forms (lol). I will look into this very interesting idea. Thanks for sharing and I expect to be back to you very soon on this.

Bob

NewYorkCentral

I am not a math wiz but if the usable land surface is 12 million square miles and there are 6 billion people on earth everyone only gets .002 of a square mile.

Math is not my strong point so I wouldnt be surprised if I messed it up but it looks like the problem is that 75% of the land isnt usable. We are using about 6 million square miles and if our population gets to 9 billion we will be using most all of it. Why take the chance of mass famine by using every inch we have to use? Cleary the population explosion is causing poverty.

Bob

HCL41

The points I found there I had seen in many other places, they were handily found in one place though. I should have put in the reference though, touche. it was on oversight not a conspiracy. Here is some more for ya

"About 90% of the earth's people live on 10% of the land. Additionally, about 90% of the people live north of the equator.

Population density of the continents:

North America - 32 people per square mile
South America - 73 people per square mile
Europe - 134 people per square mile
Asia - 203 people per square mile
Africa - 65 people per square mile
Australia - 6.4 people per square mile

The population density of the planet (including all land area) is about 105 people per square mile. If Antarctica is eliminated (since it has zero population density), the world population density rises only to 115 people per square mile.

The population density of the United States is approximately 76 people per square mile."

http://geography.about.com/od/popula...popdensity.htm

HCL41

Here is the UN article from another conspiracy site CBS news
"(AP) Following a trend among rich nations, the fertility rate in developing countries has dropped below three children per women for the first time, a United Nations report says.

The findings reflect trends, common among many researchers including the U.S. Census Bureau, that suggest the world population boom that had been feared in recent decades would not come to pass. A key factor has been the unexpected drop in the fertility rate.

The U.N. report, released Tuesday, said the fertility rate of 2.9 came as people across developing nations are waiting longer to marry and have children, and are using family planning including contraception more often.

"Women and men in developing countries are marrying later, having fewer children and having them later," a summary of the report said.

The report said that with the fertility rate in 20 developed countries now below the replacement rate, the world was seeing "a major and unprecedented reduction in fertility levels."

Among key findings of the report: In the world's 192 countries, the number of women between the ages of 25 and 29 who are single rose from 15 percent in the 1970s to 24 percent in the 1990s. For men, the increase was from 32 percent to 44 percent.

The report, "World Fertility 2003," said government policies had played a central role in changing reproductive behavior. It cited support by 92 percent of all governments for family planning, and widespread backing for the distribution of contraceptives.

According to the report, the use of contraceptives rose from 38 percent to 52 percent of women. In the developing world, the numbers also rose, from 27 percent to 40 percent."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/...in669744.shtml

HCL41

Here is the UN one From wikipedia


" The United Nations states that population growth is rapidly declining due to the demographic transition. The world population is expected to peak at 9.22 billion in 2075. [2]"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population

Mystic knight

[quote=HCL41]THE OVERPOPULATION MYTH

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the world population of 5,860,000,000,

Try 6 Billion, 848 million, 303, 000 and climbing.
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Another fact: World population growth is rapidly declining.

I seriously doubt that.
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Official forecasts of eventual world population size have been steadily falling. In 1992-93, the World Bank predicted world population would exceed 10 billion by the year 2050. In 1996, the UN predicted 9 billion for 2050.

We should easily hit 10 billion by 2050 as we are experiencing exponential population growth. I'm not suggesting eugenics or other crazy things, but it is disconcerting.

I believe that nature, as always, will take care of this population problem. There will be some sort of plague, perhaps natural or due to man's stupidity or arrogance. Famine, war and other natural disasters as well. Between nature and man's foolish arrogance I think we don't need to worry so much about the rapid population growth not unless you are one of the unfortunates that nature or man is responsible for killing.

I have seen in my short lifetime the population go from 4 billion to almost 7 billion. So I will easily see it double. It's the exponential thing that makes it dangerous. We calculated it in Environmental Ethics and it was staggering. Unsustainable for certain.

Mystic knight

LMAO SO funny, but I doubt that would be too appetizing. It used to be we lived in a capitalist society or under a capitalist system. Now we live under an ultra capitalist system where greed knows no boundaries. And it is always at the expense of the poor. The pigs get fatter and fatter. They eat at the trough 24/7 and the little pigs can't make their way in to eat at all cause the big pigs are so fat and their appetite is insatiable. I think it is this that infuriates Bob. The gross social injustice.

Psi Brr

I feel like a proud parent. I feel like I've been validated. I feel like I make sense. I feel like, like... like... me!

__________________
Bob Hunter
"When elephants fight, the grass suffers.” - African proverb

HCL41

Here to top off my point is some quotes from Paul R. Ehrlich the father of the "The Population Bomb (1968) "

The father of the myth.

"In ten years all important animal life in the sea will be extinct. Large areas of coastline will have to be evacuated because of the stench of dead fish." Paul Ehrlich, Earth Day 1970"



"I would take even money that England will not exist in the year 2000." (1969)

"By...[1975] some experts feel that food shortages will have escalated the present level of world hunger and starvation into famines of unbelievable proportions. Other experts, more optimistic, think the ultimate food-population collision will not occur until the decade of the 1980s." Paul Ehrlich in special Earth Day (1970) issue of the magazine Ramparts."

"By 1985 enough millions will have died to reduce the earth's population to some acceptable level, like 1.5 billion people." (1969)"

"The battle to feed humanity is over. In the 1970s, the world will undergo famines. Hundreds of millions of people are going to starve to death in spite of any crash programs embarked upon now. Population control is the only answer." - Ehrlich in his book, The Population Bomb (1968), predicting widespread famine that never materialized"

"This vast tragedy, however, is nothing compared to the nutritional disaster that seems likely to overtake humanity in the 1970s (or, at the latest, the 1980s) ... A situation has been created that could lead to a billion or more people starving to death.
- Paul Ehrlich, "The End of Affluence" (1974), p.21"

"Hundreds of millions of people will soon perish in smog disasters in New York and Los Angeles...the oceans will die of DDT poisoning by 1979...the U.S. life expectancy will drop to 42 years by 1980 due to cancer epidemics.
- Paul Ehrlich, 1969 in Ramparts."

"Thus the Laws of Thermodynamics tell us why we need a continual input of energy to maintain ourselves, why we must eat much more than a pound of food in order to gain a pound of weight, and why the total weight of plants on the face of the Earth will always be much greater than the weight of the plant-eaters, which will in turn always be much greater than the weight of flesh-eaters.
- Ehrlich, Population, Resources and Environment, 2nd edition, p. 63."
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"It follows from this application of the Second Law of Thermodynamics that in most biological systems the biomass (living weight) of producers will be greater than that of primary consumers; the biomass of primary consumers in turn will be greater than that of secondary consumers; and so forth.
- Ehrlich, p. 103-104."

"Ehrlich is mistaken in these two assertions. Because chickens grow much more rapidly than people, if we lived entirely on chicken, the biomass of chicken would be about half that of people. If we lived on chlorella, which can double their mass in a few hours, the biomass of chlorella could be one percent of that of people. This may be relevant to long space voyages."


http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/progress/quotes.html

among others

Any how this population problem you think is happening is equivalent to the hot air Al Gore is spewing now. If CO2 is a problem they could start by stopping the use of carbonated drinks. No beer or soda.