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Old 09-19-2008, 04:03 PM   #2
whitecrow
Avalon Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: California
Posts: 469
Default Re: Important Question for George Greene

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeremiad View Post
One of George's big issues is this deal with overpopulation. How humanity has become too vast and is using up all the resources on Earth. I've come across a lot of people who agree on this overpopulation idea, so I wanted to figure it out myself, and did a few math equations (though, math is certainly not my strong point), and what I came up with startled me a bit.

Jeremiad, you bring up excellent points. I congratulate you for being an independent thinker!

Others have done similar calculations. You're right, the earth does have the resources to support everyone although obviously the population can't simply continue to grow forever. Let me throw a couple other ideas into the mix...

Earth is a living thing, not a big rock to be mined. I know you know this, but my point is that besides us, there is a vast ecosystem that can be thrown badly out of kilter, and in fact has been. We are part of the system, not just sitting in a throne on top of it.

To build this hypothetical city, one would need an immense industry. Factories, cement plants, roads, sewer systems, power systems...imagine a place the size of NYC or Johannesburg or Tokyo with no power. It would be a kind of hell at first. Communities would spring up in individual buildings...high-rises where people would never climb up and down 100 flights of stairs.

Back to resources...when we say the Earth has enough for all, what exactly are we talking about? Enough for us all to live how? It wouldn't be much fun if we all existed in slums like they have in Haiti or Brazil, picking through piles of garbage, trying to scrounge enough to feed our families. On the other hand I don't see how we could all live like typical Americans or Europeans, with our big houses and our many toys.

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