Overpopulation?

I can't find the thread where we discussed the world's lack of food and overpopulation so here is another.

I mentioned that overpopulation will not be an issue when the whole world is developed and here is further proof ...

Germany passes Japan to have world's lowest birth rate
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-32929962

You will see that once a country is at a particular stage in it's social development the birth rate falls dramatically, even alarmingly and only the underdeveloped countries continue to have high birth rates.

If we were to stop eating meat and only produced grains we could quite comfortably feed the whole wide world.

The future does not look as bad as many think, well with regard to the population and food anyway .

Re: Overpopulation?

We do need to stop people having so many children, I am not against everyone becoming vegetarian but I would like to think it happens gradually and when people want to do it rather than they be forced. I am not sure grain should be the base of our foods either, far too many people cannot digest it and it causes them horrible problems.

Also I think cheese and eggs are very necessary for a protein source so we would still need animals for that.

I think leaving vegetarianism aside it should be possible to bring down the population with education and making it easier for people to access good contraception, and making it more accepted that couples can have a life without children. At the moment the pressure is on as soon as people marry with people asking when they will have kids, I know a few couples who have no intention of having children who are still feeling that pressure from parents and family.

Re: Overpopulation?

There are all sorts of foods that provide protein so to provide a protein that everyone can eat shouldn't be a problem. You have nuts, beans, pulses etc that are able to be produced in abundance and have lots of proteins in them.

It has been found too that eating animal based protein is very bad for you.

As I have mentioned once a country is developed the birth rate falls dramatically so there isn't really a need to do anything unless, of course, it 'pays' to have lots of children, such as where the benefit system is all to hell.

Re: Overpopulation?

I am not sure the benefit system is the problem what is a problem is lack of education and organised religions telling people they must reproduce also as I said tradition. We need to address all of those things IMO.

Re: Overpopulation?

I just wonder whether Thomas Malthus will be proved right after all.

Re: Overpopulation?

I'm seeing the opposite in some ways - ie my daughter & DIL's leaving having kids til their mid 30's then having terrible probs with the whole thing - miscarriages tho not that unusual can then set you back years which you hadn't taken into account when leaving it so late. My DIL needed IVF, my daughter had 3 miscarriages then her 1st baby had big probs - she is 4 now and still they are dealing with the little girl's issues, + she has a 2y/o. She always wanted 3 but she is nearly 40 & its probably not feasible now. She says she wishes she'd started earlier but girls are so discouraged from having kids in their 20's now. Youngest son gets married this week, his girl is also early 30's .. they're putting kids off for a few years ! seems they are not learning what what's been happening ..

Re: Overpopulation?

I'm not opposed to vegetarianism, but neither would I discourage anyone from eating meat. Leaving aside the problems of needing more suitable land to grow crops, not eating meat would result in most farm animals becoming virtually extinct (except for a few in zoos - and there are people who would have them banned).

Not only food, what about all the other resources - water, energy, waste disposal, transport, housing, work etc etc....

MJK, I will agree with you on the point of 'developed countries' and many places may need help in improving healthare, reducing child mortality etc before population control will be effective.

Re: Overpopulation?

This man talks a lot of sense

Re: Overpopulation?

That is so true, it's the same with my children, in their 30's now and only starting to think about having children.
If there are any problems as you say time can run out quickly.

MKJ is right about developed countries and birth rates, I wonder how long it will take for the rest of the world to catch up.
Also some underdeveloped countries are huge with huge populations already so a lot of people will be born before the issue is resolved.

Re: Overpopulation?

This is where I think people have got the wrong end of the stick. Masses of land is put aside for the cultivation of cattle feed - crops! It makes no sense at all to grow crops to feed cattle to obtain protein whereby we could just grow crops: end of! By growing crops only we would be able to grow far more crops / protein than we need to feed everyone. Imagine how much one single cow or bull needs to eat in a year of grain and the like? Year in and year out.

There is no need to eat animal protein. It is just a misguided notion we need to eat such stuff to remain healthy. If a steak was made out of plant protein yet looked the same and tasted the same then no-one would have cause to complain; therefore we are only eating such stuff to satisfy an ingrained psychological disposition, one of which we could easily alter. We need to retrain our brains: not mine I might hasten to add as I can easily adjust either way.

Once a country is 'developed' not only are people wealthy financially but also considered 'wealthy' in knowledge. They are then able to fight back against indoctrination and social pressures; in other words they are able to make up their own minds about lots of things including whether or not to have children at all: they no longer accept anything at face value be it even advice from their parents, which is the key to stifling the birth rate. This newly adopted attitude can be taken too far though and the birth rate falls off completely, especially when you consider the 'drive' for most economies is based on capitalism which is ruthless by nature, but mainly because people become far more responsible.

As for animals dieing off entirely that ain't going to happen overnight. There are probably billions of cattle on the planet at this moment in time.