RTW Sailor Bemoans State of Oceans

[anjou]

Originally Posted by David M

Is the root of the problem that we are just too horny as a species?

If that were the case, the responsible ones amongst us would and do use contraception

[capn_billl]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Maybe I should die first because I consume more than the people in 3rd world countires I visit. But then my money goes to employing more of those people... so maybe we should kill all employed people?

Don't die everytime you go to the store and buy a banana you are providing employment to a dozen third world banana pickers.

Our planet is 75% water, it is not that we will run out of water, just drinkable water. Again, I am capable of producing drinking water. I have the resources and technology to manufacture a solar powered still or RO filter to desalinate sea water enough for my personal drinking needs, or even a couple of dozen others. To make enough desalinators to provide everyone will require widespread advanced industrialization that does not exist on most countries.

The major limiting factor isn't the growth of population, it is the growth of uneducated population. The rate of reproduction is inversly proprortional to the level of education. The highest educated families, the ones who can most support and provide a baseline education for their children have the least number of them.

It isn't that we or the world cannot support a population of even 10-20 billion, it is that we have chosen a course that will not even support the current population for much longer.

[S/V Alchemy]

Exactly. Very few people, in terms of the total world population, can realistically live the Western lifestyle, and yet that is precisely the aspirations of billions of recently former peasants now working in Chinese and Indian and African factories.

[rgscpat]

I was in New York City in April of 1990 for the first big Earth Day renewal. As we watched the guys in palm-frond skirts (protesting plastic diapers) and other such participants in the parade, we could see spectators all around us dropping trash on the streets and sidewalks. Later, there was a big earth day rally in Central Park -- after which New York City had to run hundreds of garbage trucks to clean up the mess. Some people are a bit resistant to the whole personal responsibility notion.

[Doodles]

Originally Posted by capn_billl

It isn't that we or the world cannot support a population of even 10-20 billion, it is that we have chosen a course that will not even support the current population for much longer.

What course would support a population of 10-20 billion? It's been estimated by some pretty smart people that, based on worldwide GDP, for everyone to live fairly equally in terms of consumption we'd have to live on $3,000 a year. And that's based on a population of just under 7 billion!

But I agree totally with the last statement. Our chosen course certainly won't support the current population.

[capn_billl]

It is quite simple really if you abandon socialism. Russia, China, Vietnam, and N Korea all were once MAJOR food exporters. $3,000.00 a year assumes no increase in productivity just redistributing from the rich to the poor. Most people in developed countries eat around 1 gross ton of food per year, A small minority eat as much as 2 tons. Worldwide production of food is around 10 Billion tons of food per year, around 3 Billion tons is simply wasted. Add to that growing .7 Billion tons of corn for fuel, (USDA), and paying US farmers NOT to grow on a percent of their fields. Over 100 million acres of productive farmland was burned, and salted during Russia's communist revolution, (the former breadbasket of Europe). With current technology there is enough arable farmland to feed 10-20 Billion people if more resources curently being spent for other endeavors was being spent for food production.

I believe, from what I have seen 30% waste of grown and prepaired food is not only accurate, but can be extrapolated to all other produced items. That of course does not even begin to account for the tremendous manufacturing expense of war materials, who's only purpose is to destroy not only themselves, but something else produced, (houses, factories, trains, cars, people, etc...).

If everyone worldwide could just follow the rules, (don't kill, or oppress/enslave, Don't steal, Don't bother, or invade things/places that don't belong to you), the world could save more than half of it's efforts and put them to more usefull tasks, IE feeding ourselves, and cleaning up the mess from previous generations.

Our current course is to instead of working to make things better, working to take from those who have, (people/countries, races, classes, etc...), and give to those who want, but are too lazy, uneducated to produce for themselves.