Apocalypse Not - At Least Not Yet

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Population_Bomb

Since a certain amount of memory loss is normal at our age, I thought I should look this up to make sure that I knew what I was talking about.  I have never read the book, but I remembered the title because there was a lot of talk about it back in the day.  It was actually published in 1968, but it drew on earlier publications from the 40s and 50s, so I wasn't far off when I said that we were all warned back in the 50s.  Like a lot of dire predictions, this one hasn't exactly come true, but the argument could be made that it might have come true if the alarm had not been sounded when it was.  One thing the predictors didn't take into account was the dramatic improvements in agricultural productivity that have been made since then.  They didn't know that was going to happen, but they should have considered that it might, since science and technology have been advancing at an ever increasing pace in modern times.  That has bought us some time, but it has also enabled the population to increase even faster.

It's not just about food anyway.  Studies have been done with non human animals which found that overcrowding causes them to get cranky and pick on each other, even when abundant food is provided.  I have not heard about any similar studies done on humans, but I don't see why it wouldn't apply to them as well.  One could argue that most of the wars in history, even ancient history, were at least partly caused by competition for land and resources.  There were less people then, but their options were more limited since they were more dependent on agriculture and didn't have the ability to go on a ski trip to Aspen when their neighbors got on their nerves.

Uncle Ken makes a good point when he says that rich people generally have fewer kids than poor people, but correlation does not establish cause and effect.  It could just a easily be said that having too many kids is at least one of the primary causes of poverty.  Somebody should do a study about that.

While most of the old growth forests in the US have been logged off, trees grow back eventually if you leave them alone.  Last I heard, the trees in Michigan were growing faster than they were being cut down.  Even the Rain Forest will regenerate someday, unless of course they cover it with condos and parking lots, which they will have to do if they keep making babies like there's no tomorrow.

Meanwhile, back at the border:

https://a.msn.com/r/2/AAGv40h?m=en-us&referrerID=InAppShare