300 million Americans by October 2006 (no cause for celebration)
Recent news says the U.S. population will reach 300 million sometime in
October 2006. This continues the mindless modern tradition of more traffic jams, housing tracts, noise, malls, boulevards, diverted rivers and wilderness yielding to the saw and drill. It should not be welcomed as progress. 200 million was plenty back in 1967. Since the population must peak someday, it may as well have peaked yesterday. There is no intrinsic value in more crowding. Our economy clamors for population growth to keep the GNP rising, but nobody can explain why that "must" be. Economists try but they get into an endless loop of demand driving supply (people make money off it, but they've always made money). We've been confusing gross consumption with per-capita prosperity for a long time. Mathematics says you can't portion a pie in endlessly bigger slices while feeding more people in a finite world. Personal and government debt is the price we pay for that illusion. The drawing down of finite oil and water supplies is the "bank" covering most of that debt. I may be around when we hit 400 million in under 40 years, and the number could easily surpass 500 million by 2100. I can picture homes and roads creeping into every biome except the driest deserts, wettest swamps, highest alpine meadows or coldest tundra. I can see Nevada, a rare refuge for solitude, being opened up with extravagant water schemes from the north and west. Watch out, Lake Tahoe. At some point they may ruin Great Salt Lake with desalination plants or build extreme canals from the Great Lakes, transferring the population burden from one place to another. Aquifers nationwide have been shrinking ever since pumps were invented. More money will be made by growth-addicted developers and the land will keep losing its character. The construction industry can count on a solid century of mindless digging, damming, building and paving to satisfy all those people. The needs of other species will continue to suffer as pressure mounts on their habitat. Depending on how many "conserv"atives the ignorant half of the populace elects, development could crowd the edges of many national and state parks. The fight for ANWR will just be one of many. Alaskans think they need to consume more wilderness to support their economy, but they should question that whole parasitic scheme. I don't even want to think about the rest of the world as the growth parade tramples everything. We may see the extinction of several major species in Africa and Asia via bush-meat and exotic foods. The world's fisheries will continue to decline with more mouths to feed. Trying to reducing CO2 emissions with more people emitting is a joke. How about Kyoto-2 with a contraception clause? Instead of futilely "managing" growth, let's make birth-rates match death-rates, like nature intended. All of you who equate the endless tide of people with progress, please volunteer to live in dense urban areas and stay close to home on vacations. Save the vanishing open spaces for those who truly appreciate nature; and that doesn't mean building trophy homes to covet and simultaneously spoil the last vistas. If you consider yourself an environmentalist but you're fine with unbridled immigration, don't complain as your battles get ever more futile. If you think PBS nature documentaries are sobering today, just wait. E.A. http://enough_already.tripod.com/ If any other species behaved like Man we'd call it a plague. "More people, more scars upon the land." (John Denver) |
Re: 300 million Americans by October 2006 (no cause for celebration)
Originally Posted by Enough Already
Since the population must peak someday, it may as well have peaked yesterday.
Our economy clamors for population growth to keep the GNP rising, but nobody can explain why that "must" be. Save the vanishing open spaces for those who truly appreciate nature... Anyway, in addition to being off topic for this forum, you seem to have your own personal agenda in all of this... and that's just boring. When you graduate from high school, come back and entertain us some more. Ian |
Re: 300 million Americans by October 2006 (no cause for celebration)
In article <[email protected] .com>, [email protected] says...
>Recent news says the U.S. population will reach 300 million sometime in >October 2006. This continues the mindless modern tradition of more >traffic jams, housing tracts, noise, malls, boulevards, diverted rivers >and wilderness yielding to the saw and drill. It should not be welcomed >as progress. 200 million was plenty back in 1967. Since the population >must peak someday, it may as well have peaked yesterday. There is no >intrinsic value in more crowding. Yeah, consider India. In 1948, after independence was achieved, the population was around 350,000,000. Now, it's greater than 1,000,000,000. The U.S. is becoming another India, as in, Indian... Let the resource wars begin! (If they haven't already...) http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...r18&refer=asia -- Eric Swanson --- E-mail address: e_swanson(at)skybest.com :-) -------------------------------------------------------------- |
Re: 300 million Americans by October 2006 (no cause for celebration)
On 15 Jan 2006 23:08:54 -0800, "Enough Already"
<[email protected]> wrote: >Recent news says the U.S. population will reach 300 million sometime in >October 2006. Good! The US needs at least 1 billion to continue to foreshadow other countries economically. |
Re: 300 million Americans by October 2006 (no cause for celebration)
I blame it all on too much sex in the world ......
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Re: 300 million Americans by October 2006 (no cause for celebration)
Sorry Eric. No resource wars, and your ethnic bias is noted. Truth be
told, the danger (read William Pesek's latest column at Bloomberg) is in underpopulation in Asia. Hence nations like Singapore and Japan are trying to encourage more reproduction. RL |
Re: 300 million Americans by October 2006 (no cause for celebration)
Eric Swanson wrote:
> In article <[email protected] .com>, [email protected] says... >> Recent news says the U.S. population will reach 300 million sometime in >> October 2006. This continues the mindless modern tradition of more >> traffic jams, housing tracts, noise, malls, boulevards, diverted rivers >> and wilderness yielding to the saw and drill. It should not be welcomed >> as progress. 200 million was plenty back in 1967. Since the population >> must peak someday, it may as well have peaked yesterday. There is no >> intrinsic value in more crowding. > > Yeah, consider India. In 1948, after independence was achieved, the > population was around 350,000,000. Now, it's greater than 1,000,000,000. > The U.S. is becoming another India, as in, Indian... The androids of the future won't use many resources. However, they will zap us with their lasers when they deem us of inferior intelligence. I wonder if they'll care about global warming. |
Re: 300 million Americans by October 2006 (no cause for celebration)
lol with 3 loop roads around Houston and the 4th being built, traffic jams in abundance plus with all the Louisiana ve-hicles...dunno what it'll be like in 10yrs time, hopefully I'll be long gone, dunno where but outta here for sure...global warming in the US lol don't make me laugh...nah they don't care....
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Re: 300 million Americans by October 2006 (no cause for celebration)
ian-mstm wrote:
> This just isn't true. There's nothing to indicate that the population > *must* peak. Except resource sustainability, common sense and a healthy respect for breathing room. > Au contraire! There are lots of folks who can explain it... you just > don't happen to agree that those explanations are valid. Big difference! The only big difference is that you don't really care what happens to nature and open spaces. You'd like the country to become even more of a huge feedlot than it is. I don't share that people-centric view of the land. > Since the US is larger than China, we can easily support a population of > 1+ billion. China actually has more land acreage than the U.S. (minus water acreage) and it's barely smaller in total acreage. 1 billion Americans would be a tragedy for the landscape. Hopefully we'll peak at 500 million tops. Are you so stupid as to think traffic jams will be trivial at even half a billion? Do you love dealing with crowds and noise everywhere you go? Are you eager to see even more species put on the extinct or threatened list? Population growth is THE reason all of the above are occurring. > There are still lots of places in China that are wild and rugged! You're just so myopic, > you don't seem to understand this! http://www.reliefweb.int/mapc/asi_ea...china_lulc.jpg (China land use map) Most of China's true wilderness is in the eastern high deserts and rugged mountains. Most desirable, habitable areas are packed, and don't forget the much simpler lifestyle of the average Chinese. If they all adopted our sprawling lifestyle (it's in the works) you'd see a lot more land invaded. They are already building the world's largest dam project (Three Gorges). In America, the lower 48 States are honeycombed with people and infrastructure. True wilderness, by my definition, is a place that lacks roads where you can't hear engine noise (except airplanes) for several days at a walking pace. There isn't much unbroken wilderness left in regions where people are comfortable living. > Anyway, in addition to being off topic for this forum, you seem to have > your own personal agenda in all of this... and that's just boring. When > you graduate from high school, come back and entertain us some more. Off topic for what forum(s)? Mindless growthism is a mental illness that has everything to do with immigration and the environment. E.A. http://enough_already.tripod.com/ If any other species behaved like Man we'd call it a plague. |
Re: 300 million Americans by October 2006 (no cause for celebration)
raylopez99 wrote:
> Sorry Eric. No resource wars, and your ethnic bias is noted. Truth be > told, the danger (read William Pesek's latest column at Bloomberg) is > in underpopulation in Asia. Hence nations like Singapore and Japan > are trying to encourage more reproduction. Please don't try to tell people that population growth is a non-issue. Parts of Asia and Europe may have birth dearths but not China, India, Africa and Mexico, etc.. Where do you think the projected 9 to 10 billion by mid-century will come from, the Moon? We may have to send them there! The whole world economy is addicted to growth for no logical reason. If growth slows in one area, customers for products (and fading natural resources) will be sought elsewhere to feed the frenzy. When local resources have been depleted, growthism borrows from Peter to pay Paul. The world transportation network is run on fossil fuels, making it unsustainable and precarious. Follow the trails of oil exploration, timber harvesting and fish catching throughout history. One region gets depleted and we move on to the next, but it can't last forever. I encourage all growth-addicts to study this refutation of infinite abundance. Most growthism is underlain by Simon's illogical mathematics. http://enough_already.tripod.com/dalysimon.htm E.A. http://enough_already.tripod.com/ If any other species behaved like Man we'd call it a plague. |
Re: 300 million Americans by October 2006 (no cause for celebration)
Just Cocky wrote:
> On 15 Jan 2006 23:08:54 -0800, "Enough Already" > <[email protected]> wrote: > > > >Recent news says the U.S. population will reach 300 million sometime in > >October 2006. > > > Good! The US needs at least 1 billion to continue to foreshadow other > countries economically. I hope you're kidding. We'd be foreshadowing our own demise, and certainly that of nature, which keeps our whole economy functioning. People who think nature plays second fiddle to economics are walking around with fiddlers in their heads. E.A. http://enough_already.tripod.com/ If any other species behaved like Man we'd call it a plague. |
Re: 300 million Americans by October 2006 (no cause for celebration)
Atheist 4 Bush (reformed) wrote:
> The androids of the future won't use many resources. > However, they will zap us with their lasers when they deem us > of inferior intelligence. > I wonder if they'll care about global warming. How about a future like this one where the temperature is uniform and humans have essentially become drones. http://enough_already.tripod.com/Sil...body_cares.mp3 E.A. http://enough_already.tripod.com/ If any other species behaved like Man we'd call it a plague. |
Re: 300 million Americans by October 2006 (no cause for celebration)
Eric Swanson wrote:
> In article <[email protected] .com>, [email protected] says... > > > >Recent news says the U.S. population will reach 300 million sometime in > >October 2006. This continues the mindless modern tradition of more > >traffic jams, housing tracts, noise, malls, boulevards, diverted rivers > >and wilderness yielding to the saw and drill. It should not be welcomed > >as progress. 200 million was plenty back in 1967. Since the population > >must peak someday, it may as well have peaked yesterday. There is no > >intrinsic value in more crowding. > Yeah, consider India. In 1948, after independence was achieved, the > population was around 350,000,000. Now, it's greater than 1,000,000,000. > The U.S. is becoming another India, as in, Indian... > Let the resource wars begin! (If they haven't already...) Yes, people take for granted that India and China have mostly had peasant standards of living. It's unclear how many will become American style gluttons. The youth are caught up in cultural changes and could seemingly care less about the environment. Maybe they'll slow down and do things right but I'm not counting on it. E.A. http://enough_already.tripod.com/ If any other species behaved like Man we'd call it a plague. |
Re: 300 million Americans by October 2006 (no cause for celebration)
Correction: I meant to say previously, "Most of China's true wilderness
is in the WESTERN high deserts and rugged mountains." E.A. |
Re: 300 million Americans by October 2006 (no cause for celebration)
Enough Already wrote:
> Recent news says the U.S. population will reach 300 million sometime in > October 2006. This continues the mindless modern tradition of more > traffic jams, housing tracts, noise, malls, boulevards, diverted rivers > and wilderness yielding to the saw and drill. It should not be welcomed > as progress. 200 million was plenty back in 1967. Since the population > must peak someday, it may as well have peaked yesterday. There is no > intrinsic value in more crowding. > Our economy clamors for population growth to keep the GNP rising, but > nobody can explain why that "must" be. Because unless you want to live in the Stone Age, where every single day was a struggle for survival, that's the way the world works. Every single technological advancement, from fire to agriculture to antibiotics, has made life easier and allows us to support a growing population. It's the reason you have time to post nonsense on the internet instead of doing manual labor for 15 hours per day. You cannot draw a line in the sand and say "As of now, all economic growth must stop". -- "If you think health care is expensive now, wait until it's free." ~P.J. O'Rourke |
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