I need your comments.. this is for a class project

So we hit 300 million sometime last week. I have a class project and i am trying to see what your thoughts would be on the impact on this world and the US by the increase in population.
Surely the US does have plenty of room to take more people but in the rate that we eat up resources and the amount of pollution we generate. There is definitely a environmental impact that has to go with the 3rd largest populous country in the world. After all we do use over 35% of the worlds oil. So is it good that we are breeding. Though not at the rate that india is doing so, but still?

What are your views on the population gains and the environment.

My view is that the world does have its population and a growing one at that. we cant prevent people from having sex. Its goes against nature and what men are all about. however if we can find ways to reduce our needs on resources that way our population expansion wont have that significant an effect on the environment.

Lets hear your voices..

TGG (Manjul)

Don't worry dude, I am sure OMW has already figured it out for us young and weak minded.

Have you ever noticed that the majority of people that live in countries with the highest populations live in "sub-standard" conditions?

Now, ask yourself why that is...


IMO...  The fragile US economy can't take much more pressure before it just collapses.

Relax guys.  I've got this one figured out already.  Here is my three phase plan.
Phase 1: Get certain religions to relax their views on the use of birth control.  This would have a wide sweeping effect.
Phase 2: Require anyone that receives state social assistance to submit to a yearly Depoprevera shot.  You want babies?  Show us you can keep a job. 
Phase 3: Get our government, as well as others, and all the major religions to start teaching the idea that you should only be directly responsible for the production of two children.  That means you and your wife can only have two between you.  If you only have one kid in your first marriage, only have one in your second, but then only if your second wife has only had none previously.  The Idea here people, is that if we only "replace" our self and our spouse on this planet, the population shouldn't grow.  In other words: "This child is mine.  He replaces me on the planet.  This child over here is my wifes.  She replaces her on this planet.  Two in, two out.  We're even steven, thanks for playing."

I think a quick tax reform would help too...  Rather than giving a tax break to those that cost the government MORE money (meaning people with kids and the cost of their schooling), the government should give a tax break to people without kids...

So...  They'd have to pay XX taxes per kid...



And those that voluntarily sterilize themselves should get an additional tax break.

Quote from: RVertigo on October 30, 2006, 03:06:58 PM
Have you ever noticed that the majority of people that live in countries with the highest populations live in "sub-standard" conditions?

Now, ask yourself why that is...

because their poor or their government squanders the resources and wealth on themselves.

England and much of Europe have much more population per square mile, and rural areas are dissappearing.  I feel like the same thing will happen to the US... altho i don't really like it.  I don't want to live in NYC, and don't really want NYC any closer to me, if you know what I mean.

I'm doing my part, no kids for me

Sorry All

I plan on having at least two more kids.  That makes four.   I would fight a government that would tell me I could only have two.  What is this China?

sometimes the easy answer isn't the right one. 

You know...   I don't think pop/mile² is the problem...  It's about sheer numbers...

You reach a point where volume just becomes unmanageable...   The difference between 3 people living in a studio apartment with one kitchen and one bathroom....   and 30 people living in a 10 bedroom house with one kitchen and one bathroom.

There's a point where you can no longer keep up with the basic needs of modern society.  Power generation is already being pushed to its limits in many parts of the country...  Rolling blackouts (or brown-outs) are common in very hot summers and very cold winters...  Now magnify the demand for power...

Food production and shipping...

Basic health needs...


It sounds crazy, but you can see it in L.A.  I'm used to going into a retail store and finding what I want, easily...  But in LA, the stock was ALWAYS low...  EVERYWHERE.  It's the craziest thing...  I could NEVER find clothes or shoes...  And any food that was on sale was always GONE.

Quote from: 3imo on October 30, 2006, 03:32:39 PMI would fight a government that would tell me I could only have two.

I don't think there should be a hard limit...  Just more taxes.


So...  One would cost...  Eh... Something like $1000 a year...  The second would be $2000...  Then the third would be $3000...  And so on.

So...  You could have 20 kids if you wanted...  But, you'd be dropping $210,000 a year in taxes.   

We are in a society that is eating its own foundation. no doubt, but keeping us (you and me) from procreating shouldn't be the solution.

too many people...well than lets stop making them.....  sounds like a joke to me.
That's like not planting crops cause it might not rain this year.

Eventually we will face something as a united society of humans and come up with a plan that works. Probably because we as a whole have no choice.

either that or we will all die or kill each other off.  Either way, I plan on giving my kids that chance as bleak as it is.

Quote from: 3imo on October 30, 2006, 03:32:39 PM
Sorry All

I plan on having at least two more kids.  That makes four.   I would fight a government that would tell me I could only have two.  What is this China?

sometimes the easy answer isn't the right one. 

No.  China has three times the population the U.S. has.  
If you want to live in China, or a place like China, just keep having babies, just wait.  If everyone that lives in the U.S. has 3 kids, we will have 1,000,000,000 people here too.  And it will only take one generation.   Seems like having kids to spite your government is dumb.  Having kids because you like kids is one thing.  But if you do that, you can't complain about the population growth.

Quote from: 3imo on October 30, 2006, 03:46:42 PMEventually we will face something as a united society of humans and come up with a plan that works.

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

Are you not  American? 

Quote from: 3imo on October 30, 2006, 03:46:42 PMeither that or we will all die or kill each other off.

There we go...   The American way!

Quote from: 3imo on October 30, 2006, 03:46:42 PM

too many people...well than lets stop making them.....  sounds like a joke to me.
That's like not planting crops cause it might not rain this year.

Here is a different analogy.
3imo, go buy some 2x4 and some chicken wire.  Build a cage.  Then buy 2 rabbits.  A boy and a girl.  Keep buying food and feeding.  Buy lots of food because they are going to reproduce.  And fast.  When you have 10 rabbits, your cage will likely be full.  Don't fret.  Build another cage.  You'll probably need more than one.  Build four.  If you don't have room for four, buy your neighbors house or rent a part of his back yard.  Soon, you'll need more cages and keep the food coming please.  In a few short generations, you have 400 rabits, 200 cages, and a lot of small, round poop. 
If this is a problem, you can always build more cages.  After all, we're talking about rabbits.

Earth is different than a rabbit cage.  Our only neighbor is the moon. 

What is the answer?  Well, short of living on the moon, I'd say slow the rate of growth of our population.  What is the best way of doing that?  Replace only yourself on this planet.  Two in, two out.    

Can the government get us to only have two?  No.  But religions could help.  And the government could encourage.  If they can encourage us to just "Say No" to drugs, they can encourage us to just say no to that third child. 

Quote from: Jake D on October 30, 2006, 03:47:05 PM
  Seems like having kids to spite your government is dumb.  Having kids because you like kids is one thing.  But if you do that, you can't complain about the population growth.

your right, that would be dumb.  I want kids cause I love my kids and I want the best for them.   AND I wasn't complaining.

Quote from: 3imo on October 30, 2006, 03:46:42 PM
either that or we will all die or kill each other off.  Either way, I plan on giving my kids that chance as bleak as it is.

RV, I can see the reality of it, I am American.  But I hate to think that I might not have been here if someone convinced my parents to not have more than two. I was the fourth.  or my parents parents. my father was the eighth of ten.

Quote from: Jake D on October 30, 2006, 03:58:33 PM

  Our only neighbor is the moon. 

What is the answer?  Well, short of living on the moon, I'd say slow the rate of growth of our population.  What is the best way of doing that?  Replace only yourself on this planet.  Two in, two out. 

Can the government get us to only have two? No. But religions could help. And the government could encourage. If they can encourage us to just "Say No" to drugs, they can encourage us to just say no to that third child.

how much would it cost the World as a whole to construct a place to live on the moon?  we will never know because %99.33  of the worlds population is too worried about themselves.
I can accept that.

Please don't think I don't see the problem.  I am not blind nor stupid.  I understand and appreciate your analogy. You are right on.

try this one.   20 families living in a geodome on planet xraythia.  no supplies and they must grow thier own food. they have the technology and the manpower to conserve their resources and make life less taxing on their environment.

those twenty families have a greater chance of survival in a tiny geodome on a distant planet..than all of us do on this planet.

the answer is not that they would stop having children.  They would communicate and work to gether to expand or become more efficient.  Their population will continue to grow and they would work to gether to manage it.

Us here on earth we are all doomed untill something really drastic happens to make us change our ways and learn to communicate and work together as equals.

I know it won't work and it won't happen that way, but it might. And I am willing to give my children that chance. Better that than nothing at all.

Jake that means we need to Start eating our Weakest Young.Man I love Rabbit.

One otherway to Get the Population Down is let the Stronger Sibblings Eliminate the Weaker without Jail Time.

I have some Friends (I guess I can call them that  ) that Actally Got married and they're not much Smarter than Forrest Gump  (Seems that way anyway) they had there First Kid 12 Years Ago when she was 18 and they're on Number 5 Now and she's not even 30 Yet.I don't think #4 is His but They don't work and are Taking a Free Ride off of the Government and their Parents.The Guys Dad has Paid for all 5 and the Government is Supporting them.I've Had the Guy Working For me several times and at the End of the Day His Wife would come and Talk the Boss into Paying Him for the Work that he did that Day. All because she wanted to go to McDonalds to get the Kids Happy Meals. It makes me Mad everytime they come Around.

or like japan, we can try an keep the population increasing.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003315543_japanbirth21.html?syndication=rss

Quote from: 3imo on October 30, 2006, 04:16:43 PMBut I hate to think that I might not have been here

Dude...  Think about what you just said...  You wouldn't be here...  So, how would you know?

You wouldn't be here to know that you're not here!




I honestly don't give a shaZam! if the world gets so over populated it turns into "Welcome To The Monkey House."  Just as long as it happens after I die.

All of these look like a "If I were King" situation and I'm not really answering his question but here goes what I think. Well, here's the way I'd start "looking at the problem". I'd divide the population into groups on paper (and this would be an ardous task to be sure) firstly at the most prominent locations (states and large metro areas and "attack it" from that angle. They'd be divided into Elitists (and their associates), Producers (and their families), Retired Producers (and spouses), ILLEGAL Immigrants, Habitual Parasites (and their families), and Evil useless elements/predators of society (realizing that a couple of these groups might overlap).
As to what should be done to each group, well, that could range from an all expenses paid  2 weeks trip to Las Vagas or Rome or Florida, to being forcibly sterilized, to being thrown into the most massive prison on the earth, to being dragged from your home in your Guicci pajamas and being hung from the nearest lamp post or tree limb kicking and screaming, to extremely HARSH repatriation to wherever you came from, to "terminal relocation". But one thing is certain. The population WOULD decrease. Then, then........... I am somewhat of an isolationist but I would allow trade BUT I would take OUR interest to heart FIRST. I would need the very best Minister of Propaganda ever known for starters! More to come later. Need to eat and go to beddy. 5 comes early!
Nighty nite, sleep tight, and don't let the bedbugs bite!

World over population, hmmm hard to fix even if we had 1 government controling the whole earth, but we don't so it would never work.   In the States we could never get it to work unless the government takes away our liberties and freedom.  We are supposed to be the land of the free.  Do what we want when we wan't too.  How would it look if these new law's were put into effect to curb over population?

1.  If your a murderer, habitual criminal then no jail for you, electirc chair.  That would help alot right there.
2.  Until your 18 required birth control, if you do become pregnant then automatic abortion.
3.  Want to have a child that can enroll in school?  Fine you have to apply for a permit to get pregnant and have
     children.
4.  No more welfare or whatever they are calling it these days.  Set up government daycare centers, if you
     work then you can leave your child there,  during your working hrs.  Otherwise stay home and starve.
5.  If your child is born with a defect they don't get to live.
6.  Free abortion's nation wide.

Any of the above would not fly in America and most of the countries in the world.  Until something drastic happens and we as Humans ( not differnt countries or different races) have to do something about it.  It's sad but true.  Every government in the world would have to agree to controling populations in order for anyting to be done.  And thats not going to happen anytime soon.

All you need is a government willing to pay people money to become sterilized.  Can you imagine how many people would line up for tubal ligation or vasectomies for $10,000.  Make the reversal a more expensive proposition ($10,000 + cost of original surgery + compounded interest + cost of reversal).  That would save a crapload of resources in the long-term.  

The problem is that all of our economic models are based on growth, growth, growth!  Your stock doesn't go up if your sales stay the same.  You! must! sell! more!  To do that, you either take away sales from others (causing their stock to go down for no net economic growth) or you have more people to sell to!  Sell!  More!  Grow!