Population Regulation

In the terms of modern science, a species’ population is defined as being stable if it remains about the same size. Earth’s human population is now unstable. It is growing at a ferocious rate, and may one day bring forth unpleasant natural mechanisms to reduce it.

How many humans can the planet sustain? Were Malthus, and later, the Club of Rome, right? Or will Fuller’s “increasing ephemeralization” allow virtually unlimited growth?

As Fuller himself stated, “Spaceship Earth”, despite its size, is a sealed system, with limits. The planet’s population is currently over 6 billion people (in 2008), and is expected to be over 9 billion by 2050 (per United Nations projections).

Even with increasing efficiency in food production and resource utilization, we must eventually reach a ceiling beyond which human population growth cannot be supported. And with the westernization of China, demands on natural resources will soon grow to unprecedented levels. After all, it doesn’t take a great imagination to imagine the devastating pollution that could arise if the Chinese become as industrialized as the United States – with two or more internal combustion automobiles belonging to every Chinese family, the planet’s atmosphere could quickly become unbreathable and global warming could go “through the ceiling.”

One seemingly inevitable conclusion is that birth control, while abhorrent to some, is almost inarguably preferable compared to the other option – the death of unaborted, planned or unplanned children by starvation. As a way to help eradicate hunger, birth control at least deserves consideration. After all, the biblical dictum “go forth and multiply,” which seemed logical when our ancestors were competing with wild animals for survival, seems far less relevant now that humans dominate the planet.

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