Quote:
Originally Posted by Lauxa  If you look at it another way, every new person added increases the net creativity, imaginativeness, and production capacity of the human population of this planet. We don't really know what is "best" for humankind. |
A good book along these lines is economist Julian Simon's
Ultimate Resource:
The Ultimate Resource II: People, Materials, and Environment
from the intro:
"to a startling degree, the decision about
whether the overall effect of a child or migrant is positive or
negative depends on the values of whoever is making the judgment -
your preference to spend a dollar now rather than to wait for a
dollar-plus-something in twenty or thirty years, your preferences
for having more or fewer wild animals alive as opposed to more or
fewer human beings alive, and so on. Population growth is a
problem, but not just a problem; it is a boon, but not just a boon.
So your values are all-important in judging the net effect of
population growth, and deciding whether there are too many or too
few people.
"You might respond that additional children will never yield
net benefits, because they use up irreplaceable resources. We shall
see that additional persons produce more than they consume in the
long run, and natural resources are not an exception. But we can
agree that there is still a population problem, just as there is a
problem with all good investments. Long before there are benefits,
we must tie up capital that could otherwise be used for immediate
consumption."
Quote:
Originally Posted by Icantelleverything Oh yes we do.....we know how many people this earth will support....!!!! |
And how many is that?