Originally Posted by
bizzz111
why do we always have to lower our standards? No one (outside of the super whackos) talk about population reduction through forced/voluntary sterilization, or other means.
Reduce the number of people on earth and RAISE the standard of living for everyone. Of course, it's largely the first world nations that are already doing this (birthrates for 1st world nations are largely declining), but for some reason it's politically incorrect to try and do the same in poorer nations.
I also never really see any recommendation at what level we can stop "reducing". Will we be balanced if everyone lives to N. Korea standards? China/India standards? African bushman standards?
Someone give me a target to shoot for, and as soon as Al Gore personally meets that target, I'll hop on board.
Are you a fan of Isaac Asimov? One of his last works,
Foundation and Earth, dealt with the very question of 'overpopulation', using a planet 'out of the loop', where hermaphroditic humanoids operated vast estates for their own purposes, keeping strictly segregated to their own holdings, and only having remote contact whan necessary. These beings considered their lives idyllic, and here you are, advocating the control of population for your own comfort. At least Asimov wrote FICTION....
We sure don't need the standards of rampant waste becasue we're too busy/tired/preoccupied/self-important to be responsible in our use of resources. I have a 1700 sq.ft. house, which I share with 8 other people, one of whom is my daughter. These are the most important folks in the world to me, and even without the extra load of another house to pay for, our little group struggles to make it from month to month. A lot of it is because the demands of the 'free market', which is becoming less and less free, what with credit checks for insurance premiums, the coming mortgage crash, runaway credit coupled with runaway bankruptcy...you get where I'm at.
I'll give you a target to shoot for -- a comfort level below DECADENT.