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Smitty Apr 1st 2008I noticed a lack of news being discussed so I thought I'd start something here. We're discussing the issue of overpopulation in my world issues class right now so I was just curious on some of your viewpoints on the topic. Will technology fix this problem? Is it each individual country's responsibility to achieve sustainability or will it require a global effort? Just curious to hear what some people have to say about this issue, if you even consider it one.
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GlassSphere
Apr 1st 2008
I don't really know much on the issue of overpopulation. It used to be a big deal, but now I'm hearing that the future of China's economy is actually going to be in jeopardy because of the population control laws they put in (only have 1 or 2 kids or something) And everyone always chose to keep the males (they make money) and tossed the girls away.
I have two more questions I guess -Are the people in the countries/regions that have overpopulation problems practicing sexual promiscuity for the most part?
Is AIDS countering (or going to counter) this in an awful way in certain areas? -
TheLeggett
Apr 1st 2008
I think the biggest problem with overpopulation right now is the absence of sexual education. There is a decline in moral views in many countries on sex, where it's becoming more acceptable at a younger age, thus more children are being born (or in some cases, people don't want to be accountable for their child and have an abortion).
In other countries, there simply is no education in different regions, leading to increased numbers of HIV & AIDS victims, and rapid over population.
It's a pretty awful situation I think. It's a blessing that we have some organizations and charities looking to educated those who need it. -
Smitty Apr 2nd 2008I would definately agree that a lack of sexual education is a major cause of this. That leads into the issue of money because everyone knows nothing is free.
Personally I think the richer countries can more than afford to cut spending costs in certain areas in order to start developing the less fortunate countries. Once those countries started had a foundation to grow upon I think they would be much better off instead of being stuck in the lifecycle they live in now.
I think a large reason why this problem exists is because of a lack of awareness. Most people who have never been to a developing nation, and I'm not saying I have, don't understand the severity of this issue and all the poverty, famine and disease associated with it. -
Pseudonym Apr 3rd 2008From an economic and resource stand point, there's a sad reality that the most densely populated places in the world are also those with the least means of sustaining their populations at an acceptable level. One of the more depressing parts of this is that we reap the benefits of this situation.
China for example. They make up 1.3 billion people of the 6.2 billion world population. This would be a huge problem, except for the fact that most of those people are in poverty. If every one of them lived in the same manner that the western world did the world's resources would drain at an incredible rate.
So even if we were fully aware of the poverty, I'm not sure that as a whole we would decide to help out. I don't think we could sacrifice our life style, because if wouldn't just mean giving up our SUVs and televisions. To bring all developing nations to a reasonable quality of life would mean lowering ours to that of a lower class American. -
GlassSphere
Apr 3rd 2008
The ability to buy things cheap from other countries isn't actually due to us buying those things, but the governmental systems don't have proper restrictions that prevent inhumane working conditions/minimum wages.
Throwing money at the problem doesn't work either. If we send aid to those countries, if done improperly(the common way), will only hurt that country's economy. What if your someone who grows rice, and sells it, hardly making a profit but beginning to do well, when suddenly an aid center begins handing out free rice not too far away? You'd either have to start selling for even less, or stop growing rice altogether. And we can't just send our money to their governments either, we know they'd rather spend it on rocket propelled grenades before investing it in any economic system.
China is weird, they are quickly developing, yet they still have massive poverty. I honestly think that they are utilizing the fact that they can make and sell everything cheaper than anyone else, and enjoying it, knowing full well it's because their own lack of human rights/workers rights. And as awful as it is, it works. Their economy is getting stronger.
-But this isn't about poverty.- thats a huge other topic and isn't entirely connected to overpopulation.
Overpopulation though, can anyone give examples of where it's a problem other than China, India, and Africa? What are some rich/upper class cities or developed countries that have population issues? -
Smitty Apr 3rd 2008If you look at overpopulation at its true definition instead of just dealing with population density most if not all developed countries are overpopulated. Correct me if I'm wrong but I can't think of a wealthy country that isn't consuming more resources than the environment they live in can replenish. Instead they most often have to rely on importing goods from other countries to achieve their current style of life.
On another note, yes poverty is a whole other issue, but I disagree with you when you say they aren't entirely connected. If you look at all the countries with large amounts of poverty you'll see they all have fairly high birth rates, much higher than replacement rate. Take a look at the developed nations Canada for example and you'll see that its birth rate is less than replacement. The only factor increasing Canada's population is immigration. My point is, as the economy of a country grows, the standard of living would hopefully increase, which should drop the birth rate. Over a larger period of time, population levels off and starts to decline. Eliminate poverty and you've solved a large portion of the overpopulation problem.
Of course you still have to deal with resource consumption and issues such as that but just eliminating poverty and stabilizing birth rates would be a great start. -
GlassSphere
Apr 3rd 2008
It's so weird though, why is it when there are less resources, population increases rapidly, and areas with lots of resources the population increases slowly? It would make more sense of the convex was true.
Could it be resources= education & culture/moral values? Or is it more the social structure in poorer areas is different? For us, children are commodities in a sense that they don't aid us to have them, but they are something we want (sorry to talk about them as an object). But 100 years ago, children were free family laborers in a sense, so the more you had the better off you would be- they made more money for you than they took. -
Pseudonym Apr 3rd 2008
Posted By: GlassSphereCould it be resources= education & culture/moral values?
I don't think those in overpopulated areas or those in poverty are any less moral than wealthy people living in low population areas. However, I think you keyed in on something there about children. Societies in places with better resources developed more stable cultures where you don't need to have children to help with work. Also, in a modern world, contraception is more readily available in well developed areas. I imagine the sexual activity in poverty stricken areas is just about the same as in wealthy areas. It's just that the poor have to face the consequences more often. -
iii James iii
Apr 4th 2008
I love how sophisticated the members of this site are. It's a very welcome compared to the 'lol wtf bbq rofl lmao' style of most forums.
I really hope the site only attracts the types of members we currently have.
I don't have anything to comment on the overpopulation issue though...