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Originally Posted by Lisnaholic
^ Yes, I agree that a generation of single-child families should halve the world pop, bringing it to a still-worrying 3.5 billion. If that report you quote turns out to be accurate, I would applaud a reduction in world pop. I guess we have to wait and see, though I worry about various news items that indicate how some populations are deliberately manipulated to overproduce.
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I'm not expecting the population to shrink. I'm expecting the growth to continue to slow down.
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In Africa, systematic rape has been used as a way to subdue locals, causing a population spike. In America, the mormons are the fastest growing religion and their beliefs encourage families of 10, 20 kids.
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lol
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^ This is an unusual argument; "Don't look at the big picture". Unusual, perhaps, because it's about as wise as saying, "Let's put our heads in the sand."
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uh no I wasn't saying don't look at the big picture I was explaining the big picture from my pov. The population boom caused by the industrial revolution is most notably observed in third world/industrializing countries. Rich, industrialized countries trend towards lower birth rates. That's a simple fact.
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^ That kind of solicited immigration is, afaik, because the economy of every industrialised country is based on the desirability of endless economic growth. Big picture stuff, but a planet of limited size cannot sustain limitless growth.
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No. That's incorrect. Because guess what? Industrializing countries also rely on economic growth. In fact, they grow even faster. Germany's native population is aging because they aren't having many kids as they used to. And when you have an aging population who are exiting the work force quicker than the younger population entering it, that's a problem. Especially in a rich welfare state like Germany.
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This is a point that ties into Anteater's comment about improving food production. Yes, that might help short-term, but unfortunately, there is a drawback: food production generates methane and food consumption generates methane. Methane levels are set to jump to historically ( and pre-historically) high levels, quite possibly outranking CO2 as the biggest driver of global warming.
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they need to develop methane and carbon trapping technology in addition to cleaner energy or else we're probably ****ed