People, People Everywhere

 

            As of this writing, the population of the world is estimated to be 6.13 billion persons.  The growth rate is currently at about 77 million additional persons per year, or about 1.2 percent.  If this growth rate continues until the year 2040, we will be fast approaching the ten billion mark.

            No problem, say those who think population growth is an asset.  If all the people in India and China moved to the continental United States, we’d still have a population density less than that of affluent European countries such as England, Holland, and Belgium.  There’s plenty of room for everybody!  Wheee!  Keep on breedin’!

            But the people who know better learned in school that there are more needs that come into play for human survival than just low population density, chief among which are food and water.  And those who went even farther in school or of their own volition learned about the laws of thermodynamics.  Resources and energy are not infinite on earth, and the more matter that exists on this planet that is converted to human flesh means less matter for all other life forms.  The more we use energy to feed ourselves and create more artifacts – essentially creating what we perceive to be “order,” there must be an equal manifestation of disorder elsewhere.  Life, from this principle’s point of view, is a zero-sum game, and our activities can only strengthen our share of life on earth, not add to it, while we simultaneously decrease the homogeneity of nature.

            This startling truth is evidenced by the gradual collapse of the world’s fisheries.  According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, most of the world’s “commercially important” species of fish are nearly depleted or fished to capacity, going the way of the buffalo.  As a result, governments have been forced to place restrictions on fishing until populations can recover.  Many fishermen are now raising their own finfish, shellfish, crustaceans, and seaweed, a business that produces fifteen percent of seafood worldwide.

            Another example is the depletion of non-renewable energy resources.  The state of California, the most heavily populated and wealthy state in the country, is now experiencing a tremendous energy crisis fueled by economic deregulation and the skyrocketing cost of fossil fuels.  While the principles of this particular crisis may be more economic in nature, it underscores a much greater storm on the horizon that is sure to manifest as demand increases. 

            There are two ways we can curb the population crisis whose effects are just now beginning to be felt.  The first is to start grinding down human bodies into Soylent Green and eating them, which I’m not really sure I care for.  The second is to work toward a goal of zero population growth, which is a status enjoyed currently by only one country on the entire earth, Vatican City.  And that doesn’t count.

            There is much resistance to planned parenthood efforts, mostly in religious circles, but ultimately the church is going to have to acknowledge the seriousness of overpopulation.  Awareness to the sprawl of humankind isn’t prevalent because our quality of life has yet to be severely affected, and I fear that when we do begin to feel the consequences of the scarcity we create by multiplying relentlessly, it may already be too late. 

Ethics in general, not just the religious ones, are going to have to undergo a fundamental shift in coming decades.  The large family will have to become passe for the good of the world, and two persons will have to bear one or two children maximum, no exceptions.  Sounds almost biblical, doesn’t it?  It will be interesting to see how much freedom we are able to grasp onto in the next fifty years, and how important life and liberty will turn out to be.

            It’s some scary shit, I know.  And the government of China, one of the scariest regimes ever to exist, is already on the ball.  But it’s either that or fighting brutal wars against each other to secure the last remaining resources.  It’s gonna be vicious and heartless, but survival is the coldest and strongest motivation for human action.  It’s not “if,” but “when.”