"It's all very well to ridicule the various methods mentioned to reduce the population but it is still the underlying cause of all our problems as we grind to a halt on this finite world."
Ridicule the various methods I certainly do, and for good reason. Those methods are what is required if real population reduction of the magnitude required(by the population alarmists)is to be achieved. Do you think that reducing Earth's human population by 60+% won't be a messy affair? Or that you and I will get to vote on it? Those proposing these measures aren't suggesting a referendum, as in their minds the crisis is so great that the only solution is one of compulsion. So there goes democracy. You can't have people voting on things like this, especially when they realize what's in store for them. It won't stop there either. You'll need a police force capable of finding and punishing those who do not comply.You'll need to control all information that may cause doubts and breed resistance in the population. There goes the internet or at least a free internet. It just goes on. I'm not making this up as it's all been done before in China. Some people justify China's one child policy, saying it was necessary, but India has never had a similar policy despite having twice the population density and doesn't have the demographic problem that China has now. Taiwan also, has never had a one child policy yet has a higher population density, over four times that of mainland China. So, a total blunder on the part of China, stuck with an excess of 30million men after aborting 30m+ females. What would you say to a chinese man who knows that he can never find a spouse, something most of us take for granted?
I think that you are kidding yourself if you think that population is the cause of all our problems and that reduction of population will solve anything. As for the living in this finite world, I have heard that many times before. The question though is where on the continuum are we now with the world's population? How do we know that we have reached the limits, especially given that there have always been wars, famine, natural disasters, epidemics(the Black Plague and the Spanish Flu for example) regardless of population. At any given point in history, looking through a Malthusian lens it could have been argued that we were overpopulated given the above disasters and using them as evidence.
"What do you suggest we do other than pretend it's not happening or hope for a miracle?" I'd go for the pretend it's not happening, as miracles are a bad bet, sort of like hoping for Jervois Mining to fund your retirementLOL. Despite the alarmists who have managed to convince so many(at least in the Western world) that there are too many of us(not too many of them, of course)it is not proven that there is even a "population crisis" in the first place. There is more than enough food for everyone in the world now. Distribution is another matter. I said earlier that I don't believe in the overpopulation theory but rather the corrupt, malign and stupid culture and government theory. It fits the facts better and it's better karma too, you don't have to spend time imagining how to get rid of billions of your brothers and sisters. I'll believe we are overpopulated when every town and village in the world is Permacultured, when everyone has access to cheap electricity from preferably thorium reactors worldwide, when everyone has the human rights that we enjoy here now and people are still hungry and poor, but not before. Reasonable, no?
