The Overpopulation Myth

Junto Society ^ | Bob Sperlazzo

[stoney]

The Over Population Myth Part 1

Provided by Bob Sperlazzo Informed Christian Digest 01/09/2003

The Overpopulation Lie is Killing Us! (Part 1) . "There are now 6 billion people on Earth. The planet's population will most likely continue to climb until 2050, when it will peak at 9 billion; other predictions have the world's population peaking at 7.5 billion in 2040. In either case, it will then go into a sharp decline. The world may soon be facing an under-population crisis -- a prospect that has all but escaped media scrutiny." -- Anthony C. LoBaido (http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=19076) . "The world is NOT over-populated. More than 97% of the land surface on Earth is empty.... Yes, certain cities are over-populated, of course. Yet the entire population of the world could fit inside the state of Arkansas. So, then, how is the world 'over-populated'? Europe and Japan will be facing under-population crises in the coming decades, even according to UN studies on population." -- Anthony C. LoBaido (http://w114.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=28797) . ========================================= Overpopulation? -- 10 Myths by Dr. Jacqueline R. Kasun, Economist and Author . It's a day like any other. Your child comes home from school with an assignment. Only today, the assignment is to detail the problems that "overpopulation" is causing the world's ecosystem. . And part of this assignment is to educate you about the world's population "problem." . What do you do? Do you go along with what s/he's being taught? After all, this is what you've been hearing on television and in the newspapers for decades. Or do you have some counter-arguments? Might you, in fact, need to defend yourself and your child from a very real threat? . You should be aware that the question of "overpopulation" is no longer merely a topic of conversation, if it ever was. It is a burning matter of policy and action at the local, national and international level. Our national government is actually committed by law and by international agreement to reducing the worldwide rate of population growth. . Government spokesmen, such as Ambassador Timothy Wirth, insist that this effort must also apply to the population of the United States. Your chances of having grandchildren depend on whether and how this program is carried out. In many countries already, governments sterilize and abort their citizens by force, often with financial help from the United Nations, the United States and government-supported private agencies such as Planned Parenthood. . There are many government policies that make it difficult for families to bring children into the world, and for those children's fathers to support them and their mothers to stay home and raise them. Those policies include levying heavy taxes on families with children, discrimination against men in the job market, building codes and land use restrictions which increase the cost of housing, regulations which discourage productive activity. The groups which have supported these policies have plainly stated their intent to reduce population growth. . The United States government and the United Nations have promoted sex education in the schools, teaching children that there are too many -- far too many -- people in the world. The programs teach that abortion, sterilization and contraception are necessary to reduce "excessive" population growth. . If you familiarize yourself with the myths surrounding "overpopulation," you'll be in a better position to defend yourself and your family against these idealogical threats. . MYTH 1: The world is overcrowded and population growth is adding overwhelming numbers of humans to a small planet. . 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

[stoney]

Long, but worth reading. Be sure and read part 2.

[anniegetyourgun]

So much of what the liberal left has fed people (especially American kids in government schools) is based on a lie.

[rellimpank]

--yeah, but the places I like best-the rural American West for example-are filling up with such trash as displaced Californians and their ilk. Count me as one who would be happy with a world population (especially that of the USA) as it was at the turn of the last century--

[CJ Wolf]

Yep and if we were to divy up the combined parkland in the US each of us would get ten acres.

[Fudd]

Long read. I'm surprised the authors didn't mention one critial resource: water. Not only do we need water to drink and bathe and fill our swimming pools, but industry needs water to make all the goods the developed countries enjoy. I won't say we have plenty or we're running out because I don't know that off the top of my head. However, I know it is a bone of contention between the Israelis and surrounding nations, as well as around the SW United States.

[MissAmericanPie]

Now we are being plunged into the "fresh water" myth. Goverment must control fresh water, food, gasoline, all resources.

[AntiGuv]

What exactly is the 'fresh water myth' that you refer to?

[Slyfox]

Overpopulation? They have to justify abortion even if it is a lie.

Every once in a while I'll watch one of those old WWII movies where at the end the guy will look into the eyes of the woman and say, "And we'll have ten kids and they'll all be boys." And the gal will respond, "I want at least one little girl." Hence,the baby boom.

I remember looking at one of my sons as he was in his high chair. He couldn't speak to keep up with the other kids' conversation, but I could tell that he really enjoyed the fellowship with his older brothers. Too many kids are being denied their rightful amount of brothers and sisters.

[Blackyce]

First of all, North America doesnt really have a water problem. All our freshwater problems stem from the environmental impact of displacing it, not supply. Secondly, there is plenty of water on Earth in the form of salt water. Desalinization is actually pretty simple once its cost efficient to do anything other than drain a lake.

[Fudd]

Now we are being plunged into the "fresh water" myth.

I didn't mean to say this. I was remarking that this was omitted from the source article, and that I myself am quite ignorant on the issue, other than remembering that it is an issue in places where fresh water is in short supply - places like the Middle East and the Southwest.

Goverment must control fresh water, food, gasoline, all resources.

Hell no. If I thought this I would be posting on DU.

[Age of Reason]

The earth is way overpopulated.

It has been overpopulated for tens of thousands of years.

[Desdemona]

ping

[matthew_the_brain]

Thomas Malthus is dead, and so is his silly theories about overpopulation.......


Children are like flowers, how can you have too many flowers?....Mother Theresa

[Monti Cello]

There is not much of a natural water problem in the western United States. There is tons of room for improved pricing of water, and for more efficient usage. Israel is using drip irrigation where water is exteremely scarce, while in California farmers are still flooding fields of water-hungry alfalfa.

Conservation will arise when population causes water to become scarce and/or bad policies cause temporary crises.

I will agree with Blackyce that the major concerns involve ecological impacts on rivers and political disputes involving dams and water distribution among various competing interests.

[Blackyce]

[b]It has been overpopulated for tens of thousands of years.[/b][br][br][br]What was overpopulating the world 50 or so thousand years ago?

[biblewonk]

Father of 8 big eaters bump.

[Age of Reason]

The world is NOT over-populated. More than 97% of the land surface on Earth is empty....

So I can just go to some nice empty piece of beachfront property along the Atlantic or Pacific coast and live there?

No?

You mean I first need to buy the land?

Well then, that means good land is being rationed because if there were enough good land, it would be free like it used to be and like air is today

(But if population keeps growing, air won't be free either--in fact, we've already begun paying for fresh air via the cost of pollution controls and laws).

Yes, certain cities are over-populated, of course.

That's interesting.

I'd like to know what, in the author's mind, makes "certain cities over-populated"--I'll guess that means when it's too crowded for the author's taste.

Yet the entire population of the world could fit inside the state of Arkansas.

Hey, you can fit even more if you make them live like in Alcatraz or Sing-Sing.

[Freedom4US]

Exactly right. Every schoolboy knows there are "too many people" and he should limit the size of his family or forego having children at all. The only problem with that logic is that he comes from a country that is experiencing negative population growth if you exclude the massive illegal immigration of third worlders who have no such illusions. In truth he should have a nice, large family of about 8 kids.

In truth, the only countries that will implement population control measures are the ones that least need to - The West.

[Monti Cello]

I will disagree in one respect. Overpopulation is a problem in countries where population is expanding and scarcity is already an issue.

Ironically, it is western do-gooderism and partial development which now plague these nations. Basic technology reduced water-borne illness and infant mortality, and death rates plummeted. Economic development never arrived, and incentives on large families remained. Therefore population grows.

[Age of Reason]

What was overpopulating the world 50 or so thousand years ago?

The minute it got too crowded in Africa and people had to trek to the cold north to find room, the earth became overpopulated.