tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6216910.post9190216022558359811..comments2023-10-30T01:52:04.961-07:00Comments on Miniver Cheevy: Eating the seed grainJonathan Kormanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06249159323930786199noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6216910.post-24877468506336428682008-10-10T09:59:00.000-07:002008-10-10T09:59:00.000-07:00Well, the US consumes roughly 25% of the world'...Well, the US consumes roughly 25% of the world's resources, depending on how you count. As we have about 5% of the population, that's both an injustice and and opportunity — if Americans can reduce their consumption, it can make a big difference.<BR/><BR/>But it doesn't make enough difference. If Americans could live on locust and honey and stop consuming <EM>any</EM> resources, that would only bring us down to 75% of our global consumption, which ain't enough to save the world. Humans would still be using a lot of resources, and most of us are living too close to the bone to survive on any less. We really do need less people.<BR/><BR/>Western consumer culture and global overpopulation are two of our top four problems, especially given that the latter is projected to get significantly worse very quickly. (The other two are the structural commitments we've made to inefficiency like urban sprawl and bad agricultural policy, and the poor alternatives we have to carbon-emitting energy sources.) Thorn is of course right to emphasize Western consumption—but global population is indeed of equal importance ... and these two are the ones where we actually have the knowledge and ability to make things a lot better if we just have the will to do it.Jonathan Kormanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06249159323930786199noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6216910.post-91842114437684007872008-10-10T09:10:00.000-07:002008-10-10T09:10:00.000-07:00Sorry, Artsparker and JK, but I get annoyed by peo...Sorry, Artsparker and JK, but I get annoyed by people in a country that consumes most of the world's resources talking about population growth as though that is the major problem. The major problem is US, folks! Our country consumes far, far more of our fair share, far, far more than those "overpopulated" places. <BR/><BR/>Yes, population is too big. I get it. I'm not having children, (and our friend Germany's low birth rate is now starting to concern their govt). But over-consumption is a much greater issue. Let's educate women about that. While we're at it, let's educate the men, too.<BR/><BR/>Great article, though. Thanks for the link.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6216910.post-32760446252116719432008-10-10T06:53:00.000-07:002008-10-10T06:53:00.000-07:00That's actually easy, artsparker. Giving women mor...That's actually easy, artsparker. Giving women more education in general, more family planning education in particular, and more economic independence all have been shown to reduce birthrates; give women all three and birthrates go down a <EM>lot</EM>.<BR/><BR/>Now if we can just figure out how to run an industrial economy without population growth ...Jonathan Kormanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06249159323930786199noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6216910.post-55696530821479785752008-10-09T22:41:00.000-07:002008-10-09T22:41:00.000-07:00How do you convince people to have less babies? T....How do you convince people to have less babies? T. Coraghessan Boyle said something in the NRDC magazine a couple of years back about ten years of sexual abstinence solving a lot of the problem...ArtSparkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04875996639432864367noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6216910.post-55904240367150178812008-10-09T10:58:00.000-07:002008-10-09T10:58:00.000-07:00Aye. It's the fundamental reason why we're seeing ...Aye. It's the fundamental reason why we're seeing so many species extinctions: there ain't enough capacity left over in the biosphere to support them all.Jonathan Kormanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06249159323930786199noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6216910.post-30496590115682152322008-10-09T10:54:00.000-07:002008-10-09T10:54:00.000-07:00Holy crap - I just about wet my pants in fear from...Holy crap - I just about wet my pants in fear from that last paragraph. Yikes!d.a.https://www.blogger.com/profile/10701833441665984965noreply@blogger.com