The Five Year Ban: Global Over-Population Part II (worthy read - links to good info)

[Triana]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=5013281&mesg_id=5013281|PART I OF THIS SERIES was posted on DU previously>
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So I made a lot of people very angry with my http://blogs.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-playing-field/200902/the-five-year-ban-because-a-billion-less-people-is-a-great-place-to-st|last post>—understandable. The facts are scary and the truth uncomfortable. That said, a great many of my new fans have managed to skew what I wrote into incredibly peculiar directions. For error correction purposes, I’m going to devote my next few posts to different aspects of this topic.

I want to start by reiterating what I'm saying and not saying. What I suggested was that we VOLUNTARILY stop having children for five years. I don't mean forever. I am not suggesting euthanasia or genocide or forced sterilization or top-down government mandates.

I simply think we can give the planet a five year break.

Those five years would not solve the problem, but they would lower the current population numbers by a little less than a billion people and it would do so in a way that doesn’t require culling the herd through violence of any kind. In the choice between birth control and mass devastation, I'm picking birth control.

Furthermore, for those who feel I’m a misanthrope, I would argue just the opposite. A misanthrope would want to see the human race disappear. I’m a pretty big fan of our species and would really like to prevent such a cataclysm. What I am suggesting is an easier (not in terms of emotional sacrifice, rather in terms of cost and method) way of giving us a chance to better our situation.

While I did point out that http://www.populationmedia.org/issues/population/|most experts feel the earth has 4.4 billion too many people> — I want to see humanity survive. I don't suggest killing off these people. I merely am pointing out what scientists have been pointing out for quite a while: that there are way too many of us.

My idea is a way to give these 4.4 billion extra folks a fighting chance in the years ahead. What do I mean by a fighting chance? Well, let’s first look at why we need that chance.

...MORE with good links to data/articles:
http://blogs.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-playing-field/200902/the-five-year-ban-global-over-population-part-ii