The concept of overpopulation is the scapegoat to being held accountable for our actions.
If we blame having a large population, then we take away our responsibility for it, we make it
sound like it isn’t a problem that can be changed. Saying that overpopulation is the main issue
here, is a wicked problem. Which is what they want, to portray population as a wicked problem
because then people will not be able to fix it. But overpopulation is not a wicked problem, it is a
manageable issue that simply requires the people alive to do better. Because the problem is not in
the people on the Earth, it is what the people on the Earth are doing. Sure, our population is
massive compared to earlier years, but in the earlier years we couldn’t live the way we do now.
We are able to build tall buildings for people to live and work in. In most of the developing
world, their housing isn’t designed effectively, if we were to change that we could better
accommodate the 7 billion people we do have. 7 billion people and counting is an insane amount
of people, but our problem is the consumption rate per person. If we could reduce our
consumption, then our population will not matter as much. For instance, I understand that you
feel we need 24 acres per person, but I disagree. As part of our efforts to combat climate change,
we need to significantly reduce our meat and diary intake, which would change that 24 acres to
much smaller. Especially since farming not only takes most of our land, but also most of our
resources. To be more specific exact nearly 50% of the water used in the United States goes
towards raising animals for food.” (One Green Planet). “Farming also produces more green
house emissions than transportation (CNN). We can buy and make vegan or recycled clothing
and accessories. We can turn our technological advances towards fighting climate change,
through renewable energy, to hybrid cars. We can educate not only this upcoming generation but
everyone today about how they can create change in their daily lives. We can implement policies
and laws that hold people and industries to standards of sustainability. These are all the things
that would create change, but we haven’t held ourselves accountable to do so. Canada and The
United States are fully developed countries with the technology and wealth to create huge
change, but they don’t. I know that if the USA, Japan, Canada, and Australia were to commit to
100% renewable energy by 2050, that they could completely change our fight against climate
change. If they were to use their natural geography to strategically place wind farms, and hydro
plants it would be easy to sustain our population. It might even bring about tourism, like
Iceland’s geothermal energy plant the Blue Lagoon. As developed countries it is our
responsibility to use our wealth, resources, and technology to lead the way to a sustainable
future. It is our job to lead, and to encourage the world to step up with us. Our problem is our
consumption and if we can get that under control in our developed world, then we can address
our growing population. Which by then might even have somewhat “checked itself through
natural disasters and famine” (Malthusian Theory) and can be reassessed then.
Agarwal, P. (2018, April 02). Malthusian Theory of Population. Retrieved October 12, 2018, from
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12 Countries Leading the Way in Renewable Energy. (n.d.). Retrieved October 12, 2018, from
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Go vegan, save the planet - CNN. (n.d.). Retrieved March 9, 2018, from
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