Population Control
Discussion
Ok, we see lots of posts on here all the time about things like house prices, hose pipe bans, fuel/food prices etc etc. My opinion is that the global population has probably now got too large for the amount of space, resources and infrastructure available, sure there are areas on the planet which are underpopulated but I'm talking about the current lay of the land.
Politicians won't discuss it as it is a big no-no, but at some point we have to say the planet is not big enough, or to a more local extent we should be saying the UK is full.
What do we do? discuss....
Politicians won't discuss it as it is a big no-no, but at some point we have to say the planet is not big enough, or to a more local extent we should be saying the UK is full.
What do we do? discuss....
Puggit said:
Nature will deal with it in its own special way...
Not when you've got a cradle-to-the-grave State it won't...OP, I agree. It's a big elephant in the room..was having this discussion at work the other day. Nature enforces population controls (famines etc) but social democracy now prevents that, to the extent that we're paying to support a load of unproductive f
kwits who otherwise would have been left to starve!My solution would be to have to pass an aptitude test and then a financial assessment before being able to procreate...Just look and the hoops that have to jumped through if you want to adopt or, jumping sideways here, passing your driving test!!!
How to put that into practice would be the real problem....
How to put that into practice would be the real problem....
People have been saying this for ever. Actually the real cost of food is lower than it's ever been as a proportion of income, which is a pretty good indication that there's more of it available than there was before.
Improved technology has consistently outpaced population growth at least since the industrial revolution.
Secondly, there's a pretty clear picture showing that as countries develop and people are better able to plan their reproduction, the birth rate slows. Most of Europe, and indeed parts of Asia are now facing the opposite problem of an aging population with too few working age people who can support them in retirement.
Improved technology has consistently outpaced population growth at least since the industrial revolution.
Secondly, there's a pretty clear picture showing that as countries develop and people are better able to plan their reproduction, the birth rate slows. Most of Europe, and indeed parts of Asia are now facing the opposite problem of an aging population with too few working age people who can support them in retirement.
Pferdestarke said:
We could start pouring concrete in to the sea and creating more man made islands. Or limiting those who don't pay taxes to 2 children.
There, I've solved it!
.There, I've solved it!
China has Phoenix Island.
Man made island in South China, off Hainan.
Probably the most expensive real estate in the world.
http://www.visithainan.com.au/feature-report/307-p...
http://www.etravelblackboard.com/article/117825/de...
So when your father said "buy land my son, buy land, they ain't making any more of it".
Well, how times have changed.
vette
Edited by uk_vette on Saturday 7th April 06:30
I think we need population control, but only to stop the underclass outbreeding decent folk. The biggest issue we face is an idiocracy situation where those who work cannot afford to have children due to the tax burden of providing for the social underclass, and we end up with an economically unproductive nation dragged down into the gutter thanks to social politics and a fear of simply telling these types to look after themselves.
I still have no idea why we encourage the underclass to breed like rats, think of the reduced burden on resources (police, hospital, taxpayers etc) if they did not exist.
I still have no idea why we encourage the underclass to breed like rats, think of the reduced burden on resources (police, hospital, taxpayers etc) if they did not exist.
The amount of arable land on earth is actually in decline and has been for some time, we are mining land in some places to grow things that have no place growing there. However these production shortfalls have been met by increasing crop yields through the green revolution and now genetic engineering. There is much land available in areas of the world that is still underutilized for food production, usually because the infrastructure isn’t yet available for the supporting agricultural production.
Wealthy western countries aren’t the ones that have to worry, it’ll be the poor in countries with increasing populations that suffer most. Our populations are often increasingly in natural decline and our industry sufficiently advanced that we could transition from oil/gas, with a great degree of difficulty, to a more sustainable economic model.
If there was a sudden price shock I'm confident we could adapt better than Cuba did during it's "Special Period" because our economy is better balanced between central planning and the flexibility of capitalism. The only problem is that in the UK you may need to go through some sudden constriction of food supply so keep that fork and spade handy
.
Wealthy western countries aren’t the ones that have to worry, it’ll be the poor in countries with increasing populations that suffer most. Our populations are often increasingly in natural decline and our industry sufficiently advanced that we could transition from oil/gas, with a great degree of difficulty, to a more sustainable economic model.
If there was a sudden price shock I'm confident we could adapt better than Cuba did during it's "Special Period" because our economy is better balanced between central planning and the flexibility of capitalism. The only problem is that in the UK you may need to go through some sudden constriction of food supply so keep that fork and spade handy
.Jackleman said:
johnfm said:
Nah mate.
Loads of space, loads of resources and decades of as yet uninvented technology to improve crop yield, energy production, etc etc.
Great, where are they? Loads of space, loads of resources and decades of as yet uninvented technology to improve crop yield, energy production, etc etc.
http://www.iter.org/mach
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