Earth's Carrying Capacity


NrrdGrrl! Discussion Forum: Vent: Earth's Carrying Capacity
By Alexis on Monday, September 28, 1998 - 09:42 pm:

Lately, i've been struck by how careless people are with the limits of this planet. People don't understand that if every couple had three children, they would be doubling the population in two generations. You know that saying, "Quality, not quantity"? Parents should focus on the quality of their children's lives, not a quantity of children. In stead of working to feed and clothe five children, why don't parents have two children, and then be able to afford karate lessons, or trips hawaii or europe, or summercamp?
And don't even get me started about recycling and pollution.


By Anonymous on Thursday, October 1, 1998 - 04:25 am:

Many people operate under a sort of simplistic tunnel vision logic which goes something like the following: People are beautiful, therefore it automatically follows that the more people on the earth, the more beautiful the planet becomes. The idea was raised that adults should not have babies unless they can afford them. Keep in mind that a affluent western family uses up vastly more natural resources than a poor third-world family. Most women eventually come to feel that to not have experienced having a child is a tremendous loss and this is almost like not being a whole person. When you look at a cute baby, what role do you think that warm fuzzy feeling you get may have something to do with your hormones effect on your brain? In a zero population growth world, for every woman who insist on having four or more children, other women will have to have none. Consider the option of voluntary human extinction. Perhaps the rest of the life forms on this planet might be better off and more secure in the absence of humans who have convinced themselves that they have Godly powers. A cancer cell may not consider itself a threat but its behavior is likely to eventually result in the destruction of its life support system. Few people seem to understand that there may be a connection between the desire to hold a cute baby in their arms and crowded highways. Ask yourself this rather simple question, does the WORLD really need my baby added to the already nearly 6 billion soals that inhabit it? How many people do you believe consider this when having their first child?


By Shampoo on Friday, October 9, 1998 - 03:13 am:

if the human population got too big, i think that natural selection and stuff like that would bring it down. over-population happens in all species, and nature has a way of dealing with it.

but still, i wish there were less people as well. and it's so annoying when you see a mother in the mall with like, 5 young children and she's stressed out and they're screaming... it's so sad!

and there are so many babies and children without parents, and they're just being cast aside and ignored because people want babies of their own!

anywayz, the main thing is that we have to remember that humans are nothing more then another organism. a pile of cells, just like the birds and pigs and worms. no much more important to the earths survival then like, say, protazoa. we're not that great! we're just members of a species who happen to have intelligence. and not even that much of it, either! i mean, sure we're huge in technology and stuff, but it looks to me that we're too stupid to see what we're doing to our environment. if we were that great and that smart, we would have known enough to know that you have to live *with* nature instead of *on* it!!

most of the time, the kid grows up to be a teenager and becomes bitter and resentful anyways. not only that, but there are so many people, and those on the other side of the world don't have enough to eat, while we just throw away food!!

that's what i think. mostly about the humans not being so great thing. we're just a link in the chain of life, and like in that poem "there will come soft rain", if we were removed from the planet, no one is gonna care. in fact, it would probably be best. us humans think we can go against nature, but we're just leading up to an eventual extinction of our species.


By Ayelet on Saturday, October 10, 1998 - 02:44 am:

While I absolutley agree with you that we are not good for this planet, I still think we're more than "just a link in the chain". We are a species that is destroying this planet- we can make animals extinct (forgive grammar/spelling mistakes, English is not my first language), pollution the air, take down huge amounts of forests down every day, poison the water, harm the ozon layer and the list goes on and on... I think that in order for us to undo, or at least stop, those horrible things, we must acknowledge that we are capable of ruining this planet. Saying: "Evolution will take care of it" means we can stop worrying, somehow, because it will be ok at the end. And that's not true.


By Carol (Unt_) on Sunday, October 18, 1998 - 02:05 pm:

Maybe Natural Selection will take care of it, but instead of having it KILL OFF YOUR FRIENDS AND RELATIVES lets just try & make a few less people, ok? I don't plan on having ay of my own kids. Of course, i'm gay, so this will be an easier task for me :) But still, I've wanted to have no more then one of my own kids even when I thought I was str8. I just want to adopt...now *hopefully* they will allow gay people that right!! If they nationally make a law against this, there will be so many unwanted babies not having anywhere to go at all and spending their lives in transience going from foster home to foster home with never a place to settle....
anyway....


By Rebecca on Tuesday, November 3, 1998 - 12:58 am:

This is my solution- my mom says I sound like a crazy Nazi, though-
The most well-intentioned, intelligent and knowledgeable people would decide whether or not a parent would end up abusing their child or not, and give parenting licenses out. That applies to gays and singles, too. I mean, of course they would get licenses, too.
If it was determined that someone was having too many children, their parenting license would be taken away, and they would be required to take contraceptives or be abstinent by law.
I honestly think that we should all move underground to save the planet from ourselves, and find alternatives to all industries that pollute, and better energy sources, but I think we could get by with underground water power and desert solar power if they were placed where no animals were in the dunes.
Then, we will spread out to more planets, and the moon, and colonize the underground there as well, and perhaps cultivate them to be earthlike so that we could breathe outside (I'm not sure), and that will solve the population problem for a long time. There are plenty of other planets out there, you know, and no conclusive signs of aliens yet. J


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