Has population reduction been rejected as a solution to most environmental problems?

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Permalink Reply by Calliope on May 31, 2008 at 10:24am

>Well you have outlined the well known mechanism of how food supply regulates population levels but I thought you would give an answer to how it would work in a realistic way

Isn't there already an example underway with biofuels putting pressure on food supply?

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Permalink Reply by Dennis Anthony on May 31, 2008 at 10:47am

Perhaps this and uncontrollable acts of God wil occur to reduce food supply but I was looking at Afriend of B's seeming method of actually deliberately reducing food supply to reduce population - see his 3rd paragraph.

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Permalink Reply by Joseph Egan on May 31, 2008 at 11:31am

I think Afriendof B put it right, that this is a very complicated issue, especially in this country that strives for growth. With biofuels taking a bigger piece of the crop yields every year it will put the price of the such crops in even Higher demand. This will raise the price of food and make it in less excess. Which in turn will make it harder for families to have additional children because of the price it is to raise and feed them.
Although I think this will just further increase the use of land in general to be farmed, like in south America, because of the higher demand and the higher prices the yields will get.

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Permalink Reply by Calliope on May 31, 2008 at 12:28pm

But it does create a point of deliberation in the feedback loop.

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Permalink Reply by Afriendof B on May 31, 2008 at 4:54pm

The answer is simple and deceptively complex. Change how you live. Live by the rules that govern all other living things on the planet. Rejoin the community of life.

What does that mean for you and me, now, in the world as it is?

It means we meet our basic needs from local resources. All our food, water, energy, and waste are drawn from and returned to the local (for me with in 20 miles of your home) community. Everything else on the planet lives this way. We have systematically eliminated this system of living for the past 10000 years. If we change and start applying our prodigious creativity to living this way we will soon find it easy and we will not have to sacrifice the advances of civilization to do it. I started the Living Locally group to explore how this works in the real world. My vision is that if you are a politico you devote your time and effort to facilitating this kind of change. If you are a farmer, like me, you grow food using only local resources. You sell it to local customers, and you get them to return the waste if it is feasible. If you are a specialist in another field (a dentist for example) you use your money resource to support local food, energy, water, etc. One really important thing that I have been fretting about since I left World Hunger Relief, Inc. is the training and support programs we are sending to the "developing" world. I am all for helping people find ways to access the benefits of our culture, but they are not as many steps away from a life that met its needs locally. We should be developing programs that help them continue that way of life while accessing the benefits of ours not forcing them to make the same stupid mistakes we have made.

Like I said, simple and very complex. Hope this conversation continues and develops into action.

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Permalink Reply by Afriendof B on June 4, 2008 at 9:16am

I was at the library yesterday, looking for something diverting to read. (I tend to read more for knowledge than pleasure, and needed a break.) Nothing was sparking my interest so I started walking the stacks waiting for something to jump out. (This really works for me. Some of the books that have influenced me most jumped right off the shelf and said "READ ME!") Orson Scott Card's book Ender's Game jumped out and landed in my lap. I'd read it before, a long time ago, so I was about to put it back. But, I went with it. It's a good story, though I like the rest in the series more. Anyway, the first chapter is about government sponsored population control. Made me think of this discussion and wonder where it was going. Hope it (the discussion) continues. Dealing with population issues is one way to approach the causes of our environmental situation.

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