Over-population is responsible for many of the ills our society and world face. From crime to global warming, the nearly 7 billion humans that occupy this planet is the cause.
I have a modest proposal for solving our problem. Unlike Swift, my proposal is not a satire but many believe is ghastly. I do not think so and suggest not taking this step will lead to ever increasing population, resulting in the eventual end of our species (along with many other species along the way).
My proposal is to limit the amount of food humanity produces.
This argument is taken from an analogy from "The Story of B" written by Daniel Quinn. This is a response I made to someone from another forum.
*As for people starving, I do not think that limiting food production would lead to mass famine.
Scientists have conducted population experiments with mice. They have put a male and female mouse in a cage with enough food for 100 mice.
Well the 2 mice become 4 and the 4 become 8 and so on. Until the mice population reaches 100. At this point, since there is only enough food to feed 100 mice, the experimenters do not witness as rash of famine or hungry mice. Indeed, the mice population stabilizes at a range of about 90 to 110 mice.
Of course mice grow old and die and are replaced by newborns. There are never 200 mice in the cage with massive amounts of starvation. New mice have to be made with food they are not produced from thin air.
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The experiment was also done another way. The scientists gave 2 mice enough food for 4 mice. When the population reached 4 mice the scientists increased the food supply by 25%. Thereafter, the scientists consistently increased the food supply by 25%. Soon the population reached 2000 mice.
When the scientists limited the amount of food to feed 2000 mice the mice population stopped its exponential increase. There was not massive famine among the population.
There is only famine when there are more mice than the food supply allowed. Not that some mice didn't starve. Occasionally too many mice were produced at one time but the population always stabilized.
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Humans are not mice but we follow the same law that the every other animal species follow on Earth. If you consistently produce more food than is needed for a population the population will grow.
If humanity does not figure out a way to control our population we will literally devour the planet.
Many people think control is the answer...birth control, increasing the standard of life in 3rd world countries, etc. etc. The simplest solution, though, is not to attack the symptoms but the root cause.
If we have enough food for 12 billion of us there will be 12 billion of us. The world cannot sustain the 7 billion we have for many more generations let alone the 12 billion that are coming.
I do not propose famine for humanity but I suggest that controlling the food supply is the way to ensure population stability. 7 Billion won't starve if there is enough food for 7 billion. They just will not continue their exponential population growth.
Of course this would require unprecedented global cooperation and may not be possible. I am not saying that this could ever happen only that it is the only choice to avoid the coming storm of over-population will produce.