As of this month, the Earth is supporting 7 billion people. Some are well-off, most are hungry, but all of them should be concerned about overpopulation. At our current procreation rate, your children’s children will have over 244 billion neighbors by the year 2150. With the American consumption of raw materials rising 17-fold every year, we alone can attest that it will be a problem. And with over one third of the Earth’s current population stemming from pregnancies that were either unwanted or ill advised, it’s safe to say that the solution to this predicament lies largely in how we educate ourselves about it. The current methods aren’t working.
On paper, a revamping of pre-high school and elementary sexual education isn’t the most attractive political prospect, but time is demonstrating that it will be a necessary one. With younger generations watching the practices of their elders, and the commercialization of promiscuity resulting in booming sales, it should be no surprise that birthrates in America are showing little give in their rapidity. Having established that talking won’t lead to less doing, the least we can do is invest in multifaceted information sources, so that these reproductive extracurriculars will be done in manners both safe and sensible for all parties involved.
But the average Houstonian doesn’t have time for this. It’s too common and un-ironic for any serious consideration. Humor is sometimes the best outlet to discuss difficult situations, so here are some more humorous alternatives to ending overpopulation. Hopefully they will make you laugh, reflect and then realize that it is imperative that we find a true solution.
1. Adopt an animal. And, that doesn’t mean “Cody” the mongrel, or “Avery” the off-white tabby. A reindeer or chimpanzee in the family den would be just the thing to shed some perspective. Teenage Johnny would hardly have time to further his relationships with “Jared” the mongoose scratching at the bedroom door. And with the funds required to install a doggy door for their Bengal tiger, the Jeffersons wouldn’t even consider giving little Isaiah a baby sister.
2. Invest in Domestic Mechatronics. 125 million children will be born this year, and by the time that group is ready to start school, another 625 million will have followed. It’s an output that’s bound to make for some tired couples. Why not spend that time and energy on gifts that give back? As a nation that prides itself on Capitalism, which prides itself on efficiency, animatronic children would be the next logical step. If it makes you feel better, you could even give them real names
3. Mars. We’re running out of room. A renewed interest in the final frontier would be just the thing to put environmentalists at ease. Historically, colonization has always been the preferred route of expanding our horizons, and an expansion to an environment whose resources and territories have yet to have been defiled, overdubbed, or commercialized could be just the incentive we need to slow down.
All jesting aside, whatever angle you approach it from, our planet’s increasing population is no joke. Even if we were to sustain our current rate, Earth will be home to at least 296 billion individuals within the next 150 years. What makes the issue an even more dangerous is that it’s an unstable one, and no amount of anticipation will tell us exactly how our environment will react to the stress. We only had one planet. If we intend to keep it habitable for the next few generations, we’ll have to begin treating it as fragile as it truly is.
That said, if common sense doesn’t work out, don’t hesitate to make your shuttle reservations.
Bryan Washington is a sociology freshman and may be reached at [email protected].
People who believe that overpopulation is a crisis have no rational choice but to commit suicide. Please spare me and the rest of us your incompetence, and follow through on your beliefs. Otherwise, your hypocrisy and lack of sincerity causes me to dismiss your opinion out of hand.
People who believe that overpopulation is a crisis have no rational choice but to commit suicide. Please spare me and the rest of us your incompetence, and follow through on your beliefs. Otherwise, your hypocrisy and lack of sincerity causes me to dismiss your opinion out of hand.
This is why those Duggar people with enough kids to have a family baseball game should be fined, taxed, and fixed. For those of you that don't know, there are 9 players when a baseball team takes the field. You need two teams for a game…..Yeah, I know!
How about some real facts here. The fertility rate in america (not counting illegals) is around 1.2-1.5 births per woman. Now if we look at the total and it is about 2.1 or so for all groups in the USA. That means on the non-illegal group you are below replacement level or that your population is in decline. While the 2.1 is just above the growth level.
So if we look at it this way the overpopulation is not due to first world countries but developing and third world. But hey Your just a freshman who just got off the highschool bottle.
Hey, don't hate Mac! Freshman or not, he still has a point regarding overpopulation and the damage that is being done to our environment. Also, where exactly did you obtain your numbers from? Reality check…..like it, or not, the world is OVERPOPULATED!!!!!
Well Lizzy, the world is over populated but his gripe about america is irritating. His little article is nothing more than thinly veiled guise at a pro-choice opinion here.
But since you want facts unlike the polished "fill in the blank" opinion piece here is where I got my facts from.
Ben J. Wattenberg (1985). "Chapter 11. The Birth Dearth". The good news is the bad news is wrong. American Enterprise Institute. ISBN 9780671606411
Now a reality check for you lizzy, the US is not one of the big contributors of this problem. In fact we as a country promote the heck out of birth control across the world. Sadly with technology meeting some cultures we have the over population problem. Those places where they refuse or it is innate in the culture to have as many kids as possible. Yet that works back in the day but thanks to technology and engineering we live longer lives. Even over in those places. You want to solve the problem it is going to be a cultural change that is going to be needed in the places that have high fertility rates that far exceed the death rates.
How about some real facts here. The fertility rate in america (not counting illegals) is around 1.2-1.5 births per woman. Now if we look at the total and it is about 2.1 or so for all groups in the USA. That means on the non-illegal group you are below replacement level or that your population is in decline. While the 2.1 is just above the growth level.
So if we look at it this way the overpopulation is not due to first world countries but developing and third world. But hey Your just a freshman who just got off the highschool bottle.
And then there is Haiti….
Cheap money is the glass aquarium and we're all just flies in it.
Now you know. But: what to do?
Cheap money is the glass aquarium and we're all just flies in it.
Now you know. But: what to do?