Volvo commercial on the radio this morning... pinch me, but they said

[Deja Q]

300 million Americans is overpopulation.

:wtf:

Last time I checked, other counjtries each have populations near or higher than 1.5 BILLION. ~6 TIMES more populous than America.

America is not the problem regarding population. We know how to control ourselves.
Screw U, volvo. And not in that way.

[Squatch]

1. Population density is the more important figure.

[3waygeek]

15. And since * was "elected"

twice, our population is obviously quite dense :evilgrin:

[Don Claybrook]

2. maybe they were going by consumption rates

in which case, we're very much "overpopulated", or at least over-represented in the amount of stuff we consume.

[mom cat]

8. Bingo.

[mandyky]

3. Yeah, but the countries that have a billion people don't have cars

Hell, they are lucky if they have a donkey or a beast of burden of some sort.

[0rganism]

4. Yet those "other countries" w/1.5 billion consume less than Americans

IIRC, the stat from 2000 was America having 5% of the global population but consuming 25% of the resources.

[Deja Q]

6. So we Americans need to change our ways too.

I'm just amazed at how the rest of the world can live, with so many numbers.

[0rganism]

16. the assertion that "we know how to control ourselves" is suspect

With 2/3 of our population overweight or obese, it would seem somewhat hypocritical of us to be standing on a soap-box of self-control.

Personally, I do think the inflated human population is about to experience a significant "market correction", but that's just a hunch.

[lapfog_1]

9. But they want to change that...

we need to quit thinking that the large population countries (that would be India and China) are also poor undeveloped countries. They aren't! They are growing in wealth and stature, they are currently floating the debt of the US. They will start competing with us for resources (oil, steel, etc). We will need to adapt or learn to live on less and less.

[0rganism]

14. "adapt" and "learn to live on less and less" are not mutually exclusive

We have to bring our consumption levels into line with the rest of humanity, and we need to make what we do consume go a lot further and last a lot longer than it does. And frankly, the rest of the world should NOT be seeking to emulate our nuttiest behavior patterns.

[lapfog_1]

17. But I'm pretty sure that they will resent us telling them that. - n/t

"the rest of the world should NOT be seeking to emulate..."

But I doubt that they actually need be told that. They will, by their very nature of doing more with less, not be as consumptive as we are... even the rich in India use little air conditioning.

[0rganism]

18. Oh, I agree, but as you say, we won't be the ones telling them

They'll be the ones bringing the hammer down on us, in all likelihood.

[NYC]

12. How much of that is consumed by the military?

Oil and gas consumption, for instance.

I know a lot of Americans are wasteful, but are we the people responsible for the 25% consumption rate? I guess it would be far lower if the military consumption was extracted from that figure.

[0rganism]

13. Now that's a good question

I don't know the answer offhand, would have to look it up.

I think, ultimately, we ARE responsible for it, since we keep voting for candidates who prop up an amazingly large military -- to the point where it's nearly political suicide to do otherwise. I mean, you have to be from a pretty rare breed of congressional district to run a campaign based on cutting discretionary defense spending. That's the whole Reagan-arms-buildup propaganda legacy you'd be challenging, directly, every two years. That's GE and its pet news networks.

We The People don't have to be so stupid that we fall for it, every goddam time, but let's face it, we are and we do.

[MADem]

5. Why would Volvo make an ad that pisses Americans off?

Doesn't seem to be a good business decision. I don't listen to much radio, so I haven't heard the ad....

[Deja Q]

7. Agreed - unlike other DUers, many Americans don't know...

...the facts on statistics and other issues; assuming they choose to believe them offhand. That's the trouble with the media; unless it's a sales pitch, the veracity will always be questioned.

And as for sales pitches, I'm always turned off by those. I'm not a walking wallet.

[Garbo 2004]

10. Note: the commercial is supposed to be humorous. A bogus news

report "blaming" Volvo's safety as a cause of "overpopulation." The ad's not supposed to be taken seriously. It's supposed to be a humorous way of promoting the image of Volvo as a safer car.

The commercial is running on television. Perhaps it comes across better on TV than just audio alone. It's a kind of odd commercial IMO, but the bogus "news report" that blames Volvo for overpopulation is not to be taken literally on any count and IMO that's clear in the video version.

[booley]

11. THE WERE JOKING!

It was a satire. They were no more seriouse about that then they were about people needing to die in auto accidents.

Sheesh!

[Obamanaut]

19. Ecological footprint quizzes - how many earths to support us?

Ecological footprint calculator quizzes

http://www.bestfootforward.com/footprintlife.htm

http://www.ecofoot.org/

Either one takes only a few moments. Gives an idea how many earths it takes to support us if everyone lived the way we (as an individual) do.