Birth Control

Even if we live tribally (in the sense you use the word in Beyond Civilization), aren’t we still going to crash just as fast as if we work for a hierarchical corporation? We’re still dependent on agriculture. What is to stop the new tribalism from damaging the planet just as much as civilization, provided that we’re still dependent on growing all of our own food?

Categories: I Have a Bone to Pick with You!, I Need Some Clarification|Tags: Agriculture, Birth Control, Famine, Population Control|

When I talk to people about controlling the population of the Earth, the subject of birth control often comes up as a potential solution. I can say all I want that “birth control might work on an individual level, but it doesn’t work on a group level,” but I don’t really have any facts to back up this claim. What arguments can I put forth to back up the claim that birth control won’t work to control our population as a whole?

Categories: I Have a Question On a Specific Subject, I Need Some Clarification|Tags: Birth Control, Education, Population Control|

Human population demography indicates that the global human population growth rate is decreasing. So what’s the problem? Human population size is going to stabilize all by itself without us doing anything more than we are doing now.

Categories: I Have a Bone to Pick with You!, I Have a Question On a Specific Subject, I Need Some Clarification|Tags: Agriculture, Birth Control, Population Control|

With regard to population, when the 6 billionth person was born, one of the writers for National Review tried to put this into perspective and reveled that if all 6 billion people lived in the state of Texas, each of them would have an eighth of an acre to him/herself. This doesn’t seem like too many people to me. Any comments?

Categories: Here's My Opinion; What's Yours?, I Have a Question On a Specific Subject, I Need Some Clarification|Tags: Agriculture, Birth Control, Education, Famine, Population Control|

Yes, but how are the strategies proposed in Beyond Civilization supposed to eliminate pollution, overpopulation, crime, teenage pregnancy, substance abuse, poverty, police brutality, political corruption, racism, child abuse, violence against women, homophobia, pornography, violence in film and music, exploitation of the elderly, date rape, judicial malfeasance, insider trading, road rage, and media bias?

Categories: I Have a Bone to Pick with You!, I Have a Question About the Books/the Characters, I Have a Question On a Specific Subject|Tags: Agriculture, Animals & Animal Rights, Beyond Civilization, Birth Control, Education, Evolution, Extinctions, Famine, Hunting, Leavers & Takers, Medicine, Priorities, Religion, Revolution, Technology|

OK, I understand that there are biological mechanisms that are inherent in species that allow them (via instinct, not awareness) to keep their populations at levels that tie in with the availability of their food supply. But what about the notion that humans can consciously choose to have or not have children as a way of population control? I contend that if we don’t use conscious awareness as a means of limiting our population, the mechanisms that other animals use (ie, those animals who do not have the same level of conscious awareness as humans) may not work or be enough.

Categories: Here's My Opinion; What's Yours?, I Have a Question On a Specific Subject, I Need Some Clarification|Tags: Birth Control, Education, Evolution, Extinctions, Famine, Population Control, Revolution|

It seems to me that you’re advocating a return to living by natural means—but it also seems to me that it’s simply impossible to feed six billion people by natural means. How do you resolve this dilemma?

Categories: I Have a Question On a Specific Subject, I Need Some Clarification|Tags: Agriculture, Birth Control, Famine, Population Control|

What are your thoughts of on solving world hunger? Do you think that the earth is near reaching its carrying capacity? One view is that population growth is more in the hands of family planning organizations than in the hands of farmers because world grain outputs, etc. have not drastically increased in recent years. Do you have any resources you recommend for me looking further into possible solutions to alleviating world hunger?

Categories: Here's My Opinion; What's Yours?, I Have a Question On a Specific Subject|Tags: Agriculture, Birth Control, Famine, Population Control|

Population control through conventional means is useless, as said by you and others. So how do we bring our population down to a sustainable level, without starving billions of people, and without resorting to the solutions that china found, which are very unpopular.

Categories: I Need Some Clarification|Tags: Birth Control, Population Control|

I think you’ve answered this question, but inadequately: There is a well-established correlation between standard of living and population growth. The higher the standard of living (and hence the more food produced locally) the lower the birth rate. This flies in the face of your contention that population growth is tied to food production. Taking this down to the microcosm – when you see a picture of people starving in Ethiopia, what is ALWAYS in the picture? A LOT of infants and children. They’re not producing any food, but . . . .

Categories: I Have a Bone to Pick with You!, I Have a Question On a Specific Subject|Tags: Birth Control, Famine, Political Correctness, Population Control, Vegetarianism|