Eric G Hurley wrote:
> To achieve a sustainable agricultural system we must deal with both
> the total population and high levels of consumption among
> some people in the population. To ignore either issue would not lead to a
> sustainability.
>
> To put it another way, if we drastically increase the efficiency of
> sustaining each person on the earth and do not control population, the
> system will not be sustainable. If we control population, but continue to
> utilize more and more ecosystem resources for each human, the system will
> not be sustainable.
>
> Eric G. Hurley
> Ames Iowa
>
> ------- Forwarded Message
>
> Six Billion People and Counting!
>
> Walker Bennet brought to our attention the matter of sixth billionth
> person to the planet, and I have a few comments. As I agree that
> population and access to appropriate contraceptive methods is a very
> important topic, I am usually frustrated by the direction that
> discussions of world over-population take. It is usually argued that
> it is the sheer number of people that is depleating our resources and
> increasing contamination and poverty. But I think this is only a
> small part of the issue. I think that the real issue is the
> amount of resource depleation and pollution PER person. The
> statistic that sticks out in my mind is that an average person
> (whatever that is!) in a "developed" country uses 12 (that's TWELVE)
> times the resources of an average "developing" country person. In
> other words, if I have one child, that child is the same as my
> counterpart in Bangladesh or Nigeria having 12 children. Wow. Now,
> one wonders, who is *really* overpopulating the earth?
>
> Another part of the story... Statistics also clearly show that as
> infant mortality rates decline and the opportunity for education
> increases, fertility rates decline (much more so than the
> availability of contraceptives alone). That is, when people can be
> sure that a given child is likely to survive to adulthood and they
> are willing and able to invest in that child, they are likely to have
> fewer children. (The move from agrarian society to non agrarian is
> also an important factor.) Having lived in and married someone from
> a "third world" country, I live somewhere between the two realities,
> and I experience the differences everytime I try to explain to
> my in laws (for example) why we haven't had children yet... In most
> countries of the world, the potential benefits an additional child
> are felt to be much greater than the cost of feeding one more mouth.
> But that's because they don't agonize over how they will buy more
> health insurance (no one can afford it anyway), how they will pay for
> a decent education (doesn't seem attainable anyway), how they will
> afford to add another bedroom, another bed, baby seats, cribs, toys,
> clothes, a new minivan and on and on. The things that seem to us in
> the US to be basic needs when raising a child are just not reasonably
> attainable realities in most countries. So another child just seems
> like it requires a bit more food, a few more hand-me-down clothes,
> and a few more prayers. (Small price to pay for gaining another
> possible source of family income.) Of course, this is much less
> resource-intensive!
>
> So the issue is more than just that some parts of the world are
> reproducing too often. Other parts of the world are also consuming
> too much. And declines in reproduction are usually met with
> increases in consumption. So what's the answer? Well, there's
> obviously more than one answer, but a big chunk of the solution is
> related to why this thread has a place on this list.
>
> Anita
>
> ------- End of Forwarded Message
>
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