Ken Larsen's web site - A scary graph of world population growth
I'm tempted to buy the book "101 Ways to Avoid Reincarnation". The future looks bleak.
During my high school years I read about Thomas Robert Malthus (1766-1834). He was a cleric who portended doom and gloom for mankind after calculating that population growth was outpacing the availability of food. His dire predictions were scoffed at. Some of that scoffing would prove valid as improvements were made in agriculture.
After looking at the above graph, we should again worry about our future. How can any improvements in food production keep pace? Also, why has the graph become so steep?
One of the causes is science. Science has cured many illnesses which previously killed people prematurely. Life expectancies have risen. In 1900 the average life span was just 47 years for white males in the U.S. and just 33 for black males. In 2000 they were 75 and 68. (details)
We should applaud science for prolonging our lives, but the future doesn't bode well if it's crowded beyond what the earth can support. The only recourse is birth control. If we don't practice birth control, then the graph will level off for other reasons: war, pestilence, and/or starvation. Pick your poison.
Israel is one of the frontlines of the population vs. resources war. Most people regard the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinians as a religious war, but it's actually a battle over land and water. That area of the world is very arid. Israel has done an incredible job of being able to grow crops with limited water, but even with all their skill, they need more. Their population ... and that of the Palestinians is growing. Israel's population has swollen by a factor of 10 since its birth 68 years ago in 1948. The West Bank is almost covered with Israeli settlements and roads connecting them. It's obvious that Israel plans to annex the West Bank. That infuriates the Palestinians which is why they have instigated knife attacks against Jewish settlers.
(July 29, 2016) Israel Proves the Desalination Era is Here - one of the driest countries on earth makes more fresh water than it needs
Here in the United States, the state of California has seen its population rise from 1.5 million in 1900 to 39 million in 2015. You don't need a graph to see that that's an unhealthy trend.
During 1958-1962 a scientist named John B. Calhoun conducted an experiment on rats where he gave them everything ... gave them "utopia" ... just to see what would happen. It did not go well. They bred like crazy and then social ills set in. He coined the term "behavioral sink" to describe that negativity. Utopia was no longer. Here's a video of that experiment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z760XNy4VM
Rats and people don't handle prosperity well.
To avoid a dire future, the best way forward is birth control. Unfortunately, some leaders believe otherwise. See "Turkey's Erdogan warns Muslins against birth control".
The best educated and most affluent people are the ones most likely to practice birth control. The least educated and least affluent are the ones who are least likely to practice birth control. This will resultant in a "reverse Darwinism". That's what I see.
I'm not gay, but if were, I might occasionally quip "The world needs more gay people.", because if their percentage rose, that would help curb the population growth. However, any politician who advocated that or birth control might not have a long career.