[Dr. Eckleburg]

The statistic isn't to be used for urban planning.

It simply shows that the planet is not as crowded as we've been led to believe, especially considering that the lament of over-population has been used to justify abortion, euthanasia and assorted other population controls.

[WFTR]

It simply shows that the planet is not as crowded as we've been led to believe, especially considering that the lament of over-population has been used to justify abortion, euthanasia and assorted other population controls.

If the statistic cannot be used for urban planning, then it really doesn't have anything to do with the debate about overpopulation. The statistic is used as if the overpopulation debate is one of square feet or square miles, but that's not all there is to the debate. Furthermore, even if you tried to reduce the debate to square feet, telling us that every family will be confined to a 50 x 150 foot lot is the same as telling many of us that we will live in a hell on earth. When society was talking about every family having 40 acres of fertile ground and a mule, then we weren't overcrowded. When we're talking about a 50 x 150 lot, we're overcrowded.