Overpopulation: the basic evil

One in six in our world struggles to have enough to eat, I heard on the news. That’s more than one billion people! Oh yes, there are plenty of other problems to address: global warming, air pollution, loss of ocean habitats and marine species, war, poverty, peak oil and energy shortages, the rise of deadly strains of diseases, water shortages, and so on. The mind boggles!

I fear we have been attempting to smother brush fires without examining what fuels them. The larger question is: what underlies these daunting challenges?

Overpopulation, the population bomb.

In 1950, the world’s population was a mere 2.5 billion people. By 2010, we had grown to 6.8 billion, and in 2050, there will likely be 9.3 billion of us. Each of those 9 billion will have the same basic needs.  And each will compete to survive as the world and its resources shrink.

Humans are special animals: we can suppose theoretically, our language is elaborate, we consider both past and present, our imaginations are active, our aptitude unmatched. But the rest of our nature, our biological selves, is still primitive and driven by needs that are of the “when push comes to shove” kind. But I am willing to bet that if we don’t start applying our “special” talents to address the fundamental issues of overpopulation and environmental savagery, Mother Nature will take care of herself at our expense. It’s not nice to fool with her, you know. We are her guests and are bound by history and contract to tend her gardens like the excellent shepherds that she had hoped we would become.

What can we do about it? There are a few ideas that seem notable because they are possible. We can put robust effort towards family planning, providing education, support, and condoms to those who cannot sustain additional children. We can approach solar power technology full bore. We can set the world example for clean energy (Europe is way ahead of us on that one). How about putting the NASA nerds on that task, rerouting them from their latest extraterrestrial water hunting expeditions?  We could demand that our auto industries make electric-only cars by the year 2020. It’s very possible, even if they would have it otherwise. We might require 100% recycling, setting yet another example for how such things can be done. We could require all buildings to meet highly restrictive, green building codes. We might require all homes built to have solar and wind electricity generation. WE COULD DO IT! The list goes on.

There is one more thing: we must lower our expectations. More is not better, bigger is not better, and we Americans need to invert those delusions. We cannot stay mute or procrastinate on any of this stuff. It’s the bottom of the ninth inning, and Mother Nature is about to throw us a fast ball.

This was an article published in 2009 in The 15th Street News, written by the author of this blog, with minor changes made.