Even with all the evidence of overcrowding, some people are
convinced that there isn't or "can't be" a population
problem. Here are some questions for those who welcome growth at
any cost:
- Are you happy that the world is getting more crowded each
year to the tune of 75 million people? What purpose is
this growth serving in a world already struggling with
major resource issues?
- We already have economies of scale and there seems to be
a growing shortage of high-paying jobs. Should we welcome
population growth merely because it creates jobs that
wouldn't be needed in the first place without said
growth? This is a classic chicken and egg question that
economists never really answer. How is a growing
population improving the quality of life for
humanity in general?
- Why do we accept continuous inflation, and how can
constant increases in the cost of living coincide with a
sustainable economy? We pretend things aren't
intrinsically more expensive by correcting for these
factors, but does this make sense in light of huge
government and personal debts? Is it radical to suggest
that things are becoming more costly simply because they
are getting scarcer or harder to procure?
- Why is there increasing concern about water shortages in
drought prone areas? Why is it getting especially
difficult to secure building permits in desert regions?
- Why does the Colorado River disappear in the desert many
miles from the Gulf of California? It wasn't this way 50
years ago.
- Why are farmers draining aquifers (like the Ogallala in
the Midwest) much faster than they can be replenished?
- Does the air really seem cleaner overall? Some cities
have less smog than they did decades ago, but we are now
seeing pollution in areas that used to have none. This
invariably coincides with population growth in these
areas. Improvements in auto emissions have been negated
in many areas by the growing number of cars and
other pollution sources. The air in many major cities is
getting dirtier again, despite the fact that individual
cars are producing less pollution.
- Speaking of cars, isn't it clear that "road rage"
is tied to congestion on formerly uncrowded roads?
Frustration can boil over when there's a lack of elbow
room (on and off the road). It's getting to the point
where you can't escape from traffic unless you're deep in
the desert
- Why are there almost 20 million fewer acres of forested
land in the U.S. compared to 30 years ago? What about the
situation in the Amazon Basin? (See data on this site
regarding Rush Limbaugh's fallacies).
- Why are timber companies trying to cut on virgin acreage
if tree farms are able to keep pace with increasing
demand, as some claim? If you think government control of
the land has led to this, you are confusing cause with
effect.
- Why is the endangered species list growing and animal
habitat shrinking?
- If you're a hunter or fisherman, have you noticed that
there are fewer and fewer places open to these activities
as houses, roads and factories consume habitat?
- Why is it necessary to stock lakes with hatchery
fish and manage animal populations with elaborate surveys
to keep them viable? Long ago, with fewer people making
demands on fish and game, there was no need for this
safety net. But today, nature is almost completely at the
mercy of human activity, and most wilderness is being
overseen like a giant zoo. Who can honestly say that
there's a "balance" between Man and nature?
- If you find that you're too busy earning a buck to be
concerned about aesthetics and other species, what does
that tell you about the current state of the world, and
your outlook on life? Does the phrase, "stop and
smell the roses" have any meaning, or is the purpose
of life merely to see how fast we can scramble to
accommodate growth?
- How will the U.S. be able to feed more and more people
when we're building more homes and roads on thousands of
acres of farmland each year?
- If America grows so much surplus food, why (during the
1988 drought) did we consume a third more grain than we
grew? Reserves bailed us out that year, but what if
global-warming scenarios are accurate and every year
brings a poor harvest with millions more mouths to
feed?
- Have we conquered world hunger? Is it getting easier
to feed 75 million additional people each year?
- Why are ocean harvests dwindling and national fishing
boundaries being hotly contested? What happened to the
fish that Cape Cod is named after? Is it possible that
there aren't enough fish in the sea to satisfy the
appetites of 75 million more people annually?
- Why are 35,000+ people dying each day from hunger-related
illnesses? (See UNICEF statistics).
- When a herd of elk starves, we immediately see the
correlation between population size and available food.
Why do some people search for any explanation except
overpopulation when humans are starving?
- Why are our national parks more congested than they used
to be? Visit Yosemite during the summer and try to
pretend this isn't a real problem.
- There are more and more aircraft sharing finite airspace
each year. Is this making flying safer and more
convenient?
- Why is it getting more difficult to secure reservations
at popular hotels and restaurants?
- Why are beaches becoming more crowded? Why are pollution-related
beach closures happening with greater frequency?
- Why is there a growing need for two-income families? We're
supposed to be better off than our parents because of
growth, right?
- Is it easier (in general) to make a living nowadays?
- Why are there more homeless people than there used to be?
Could this possibly be due to overpopulation and
decreasing per capita wealth?
- Do you think banks and government institutions are paying
less attention to you and treating you more like a number?
How can institutions become more friendly to individuals
when there are so many more to deal with?
- Do you spend more time in line or on hold than you used
to?
- Are you content with the hectic pace of life these days,
and is the quality of life (aside from the growing number
of convenience gadgets) increasing universally?
Advertisements tell us it's hip to have a "busy
lifestyle" with mimimal leisure time, but what's the
point of all this rushing-around in the first place?
- Do you think crime is more of a problem today than in
years past? Do you see any correlation between crime and
population density in America?
- We are being forced to increase the number of students
per classroom and to hold school year-round in many parts
of the United States. How are these growth-induced
changes helping our kids?
- Prison overcrowding is caused by population growth, not
just rising crime rates and drug convictions. A larger
population requires more jail cells, and it's no trivial
matter to pay for these additional cells. Is this just
another price we must pay for "progress?"
- Welfare is allowing people to have kids when they really
can't afford to, and it's perpetuating the idea that
childbirth is a right, not a responsibility. How long can
society continue to function with this burden?
- There's a lot of talk about our "changing world,"
but how often do you hear people admit that population
growth is the single most obvious component of this
change?
- Will more users make the Internet more usable? Since it's
fairly new, the growth of the Internet isn't directly
tied to population growth but there's a strong
analogy. Jammed Internet sites are becoming as common as
jammed freeways. We can't add new servers and extra phone-lines
indefinitely. Users of growing ISPs generally notice
more busy signals, despite promises that new hardware and
economies of scale will compensate.
- Why did dozens of nations meet in Cairo in 1994 to
discuss solutions to the population problem if it doesn't
even exist? Denial ain't just a river in Egypt.
- In the time it took you to read this list, at least 300
more people were added to the Earth's population...
You may come up with counterpoints to some of these questions,
but that doesn't make the rest of them disappear. Consider also
that population problems are a relatively slow-moving threat, and
cannot be viewed in the same context as earthquakes, hurricanes
and fires. All too often, the wrong criteria are applied, and the
seriousness of gradual threats is vastly underestimated. If you
think overpopulation means bodies in the streets overnight, you
are looking for the wrong evidence.