Will the world have to become vegetarian by 2050? page 5

[Blackcatbone]

Total rubbish.

Population is already stable and reducing in the west. To reduce the world human population you have to suggest measures that work in the third world. Hans Rosling does an excellent job of explaining your colonial attitutes towards the 'natives' aren't the right solution.

Please watch this video and then let me know if you still think that your prescription of birth control, sterilisations and taxation are the answer.

I watched most of it and yes, I do still agree that incentives to reduce population growth are a good idea. Yes, they will likely have to be tailored to specifically fit different cultures. And no, I wasn't assuming every woman in African had twenty babies that died before they reached adulthood. I'm seeing more people around the world becoming more affluent, which often does reduce the number of offspring, but not enough. I'd like to see negative population growth, because it isn't about space, it's about resources. As people become more affluent they buy more stuff and that stuff requires resources, of which we have a finite amount. And America, being the largest consumer of stuff for its population really needs to cut back. And as much as the population growth may be slowing, it hasn't stopped. While we're currently at about 7 billion we're expected to be between 7.5 and 10 billion by 2050.

[Nigel]

how?

Education. Allegedly, educated females tend to have fewer children. Alternatively, I suspect a nuclear war or two would do the trick.

[NZ primal Gwamma]

we could follow in the Leamings footsteps ??????? (not sure if I have spelt that correctly ) LOL

[BestBetter]

One way to save water is to stop pooping in it and flushing it down the toilet.

This made my day!

When I have a composting toilet in my dream house, I think I'll frame this quote and put it somewhere nearby.

[Alex Good]

So shall we set the cannibal clock to 38 years?

[kenn]

Would it not be more economical and ethical to focus on space exploration as a means of population control?

Exploration would include settling and terraforming

[JWBooth]

quelsen is correct. Population is self regulating in nature. If we really start getting too overcrowded, a plague or something will pop up that puts this back in to order. The focus in America at least needs to be on getting our government to stop subsidizing out of wedlock/underclass births. I read an article today about a guy with 30 children from 11 different women suing to get his monthly child support (which currently amounts to a dollar and something in change per child) reduced even further because he's in prison. Nature would have killed off a good number of this man's future hoodlums if we lived in a perfect world, but they'll all grow up just fine in our modern society because the state is going to intervene and pay for their upbringing. With the reproduction rate of the productive classes at barely reaching replacement rate, this is setting up a demographic nightmare for the future.

The solution to our problems are simple- just get out of the way and let nature run its course. But will our politicians ever let that happen is the question.

[Alex Good]

quelsen is correct. Population is self regulating in nature. If we really start getting too overcrowded, a plague or something will pop up that puts this back in to order. The focus in America at least needs to be on getting our government to stop subsidizing out of wedlock/underclass births. I read an article today about a guy with 30 children from 11 different women suing to get his monthly child support (which currently amounts to a dollar and something in change per child) reduced even further because he's in prison. Nature would have killed off a good number of this man's future hoodlums if we lived in a perfect world, but they'll all grow up just fine in our modern society because the state is going to intervene and pay for their upbringing. With the reproduction rate of the productive classes at barely reaching replacement rate, this is setting up a demographic nightmare for the future.

The solution to our problems are simple- just get out of the way and let nature run its course. But will our politicians ever let that happen is the question.

So what you're saying is that we should revert to a complete lack of government for a while so I can go out and kill all of the stupid people.

[SCruz Carter]

Off the top of my head . . . widely available and free birth control to whoever wants it, offer incentives like those voluntarily sterilized without having children get a free college education, eliminate tax breaks after a certain number of children (after two you get taxed at a higher rate) and so on.

The problem is not here in the developed world, but rather in the developing world- those sort of incentives do not work when college educations are a dream for even the elites

[Alex Good]

So I take it the people on this thread wouldn't support my life goal of having 100 kids and then dying in a glorious battle that will be talked about for the next 1000 years?