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Overpopulation

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  • 17-04-2008 5:44am
    #1
    BraziliaNZ
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 5,671 ✭✭✭


    Am I the only one who believes this is the biggest problem on our planet? Why aren't governments taking action to curb population growth? What do you think can be done about it? As we already live in an unnatural environment with computers and cars and what have you, shouldn't we introduce unnatural reproduction rules to save the planet? We are no longer just animals!


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    #2
    TestTransmission
    Registered Users Posts: 19,106 ✭✭✭✭TestTransmission


    Ask China to use condoms??? :D:D


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    #3
    BraziliaNZ
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 5,671 ✭✭✭BraziliaNZ


    I'm talking about every country not the Chinese. Look at Ireland, no forests left, just a patchwork land of farms, and urban sprawl all over the place. Shouldn't we be aiming to keep our population (relatively) low?


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    #4
    orestes
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,972 ✭✭✭orestes


    But then Jesus and his dad would get angry with us!


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    #5
    BraziliaNZ
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 5,671 ✭✭✭BraziliaNZ


    ok wasn't sure where to post this but could someone move it to an appropriate forum?


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    #6
    TestTransmission
    Registered Users Posts: 19,106 ✭✭✭✭TestTransmission


    Our population is 4.6 million or something...
    We had a population of over 8 million people in the 1840's.
    And we have one of the lowest population densitys in Europe..IMO,there's still plenty of open space


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    #7
    Xavi6
    Registered Users Posts: 40,861 ✭✭✭✭Xavi6


    I don't think excessive ridin' as it were is the problem in Ireland.

    The EU has meant that every Tom, Dick and Harry (or there Eastern European equivalents) can come and go as they please. Ireland had a booming economy, people in poorer countries could move no hassle so they seized the opportunity. Simple really. I believe our population is now around 20% foreign nationals (the highest in Europe). It's just the way things have gone. Maybe during the inevitable recession everyone will feck off to the next booming economy and the population will go back down again.

    EDIT: Could be one for Humanities?


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    #8
    BraziliaNZ
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 5,671 ✭✭✭BraziliaNZ


    jackncoke wrote: »
    Our population is 4.6 million or something...
    We had a population of over 8 million people in the 1840's.
    And we have one of the lowest population densitys in Europe..IMO,there's still plenty of open space

    There isn't plenty of open space in Ireland. It's all farms farms farms everywhere. Our population may be a lot less but the country is a lot more developed.


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    #9
    TestTransmission
    Registered Users Posts: 19,106 ✭✭✭✭TestTransmission


    Where in ireland do u live?
    Do you consider every field a farm?


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    #10
    BraziliaNZ
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 5,671 ✭✭✭BraziliaNZ


    Sligo but living abroad now. Yes most fields are farms or owned by farmers and not forested.


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    #11
    TestTransmission
    Registered Users Posts: 19,106 ✭✭✭✭TestTransmission


    Well,i guess thats what happens when you live in NZ .You start to see what open space really is


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    #12
    Caoimhín
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,789 ✭✭✭Caoimhín


    Re the over population. Maybe we need a massive global cull. A flu epidemic or nuclear war would do the trick.
    I'll get working on that.


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    #13
    Dont be at yourself
    Registered Users Posts: 10,572 ✭✭✭✭Dont be at yourself


    Looking at the likes of Germany and Japan, it is clear that young people are needed to sustain the existing population and, in economic terms, look after a large elderly population.

    So, it seems clear to me that the solution is not birth-control, but rather a Logan's Run style cull of people over the age of, say... 55?


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    #14
    Chakar
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,033 ✭✭✭Chakar


    Looks like Garrett Hardin is still making waves with his text 'Living in the Lifeboat'.


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    #15
    Conar
    Registered Users Posts: 1,604 ✭✭✭Conar


    My parents think I'm trying to fob them off by not having more than the 2 kids already, but I'm definitely sticking to 2 so that I stay population neutral.
    Sounds stupid but I reckon its one easy way I can say that I'm not adding to a another problem.
    Now if only I could cut down on the amount of electricity all my techy stuff uses, I'd be a model citizen.


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    #16
    passive
    Registered Users Posts: 2,403 ✭✭✭passive


    jackncoke wrote: »
    Well,i guess thats what happens when you live in NZ .You start to see what open space really is

    The constant Orc attacks probably get tiring too...


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    #17
    togster
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,931 ✭✭✭togster


    According to Karl Pilkington its sea life we have to be worried about.


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    #18
    SimpleSam06
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,048 ✭✭✭SimpleSam06


    BraziliaNZ wrote: »
    Am I the only one who believes this is the biggest problem on our planet? Why aren't governments taking action to curb population growth?
    The world is not overpopulated. You could comfortably fit the entire population of the planet in an area the size of Texas, and I mean with a house and small garden each. Likewise for food supplies and resources, we could merrily support many many billions more people. That social and economic reasons cause famine in some countries and shortages in others does not detract from this fact.
    BraziliaNZ wrote: »
    As we already live in an unnatural environment with computers and cars and what have you, shouldn't we introduce unnatural reproduction rules to save the planet?
    Lets get this straight. There is nothing "unnatural" about what we do. We are products of nature and live within nature, so nothing we can do can be considered unnatural. We might destabilise the status quo a bit, but hey, 99% of life on the planet has already been wiped out four or five times already, so its hardly a new thing.


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    #19
    Abi
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,058 ✭✭✭✭Abi


    Conar wrote: »
    but I'm definitely sticking to 2 so that I stay population neutral.

    I agree. Ive two and thats my lot. Makes no financial sense for me to have anymore either. But I think our line of thinking is lost on those on losers whacking out the kids because all they see is child payments and 3 and 4 bedroom social houses.

    Ive heard some really skin-crawling conversations in my local post office, somewhere I avoid like the plague. Thats if you can get in for all the buggys.


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    #20
    Pherekydes
    Registered Users Posts: 16,125 ✭✭✭✭Pherekydes


    Abigayle wrote: »
    I agree. Ive two and thats my lot.

    You need to have 3. Not every woman can have children, so the ones that can have to take up the slack. The fertility rate in Ireland is already 1.8 and dropping.


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    #21
    Conar
    Registered Users Posts: 1,604 ✭✭✭Conar


    Slow coach wrote: »
    You need to have 3. Not every woman can have children, so the ones that can have to take up the slack. The fertility rate in Ireland is already 1.8 and dropping.

    Possibly so, but we can always allow more people in.
    I think of it more on a global scale.
    I think its a bit rich to say that India or China need to stop having children but we can cos we have more space.
    Anyway, I'm not ruling out adopting.


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    #22
    judas101
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,581 ✭✭✭judas101


    Ethnic cleansing ftw


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    #23
    Kev_ps3
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,604 ✭✭✭Kev_ps3


    China has a 1 child policy so lets not attack them.
    The big problem with having lots of people on the planet is resources. We in the west will have to realise that we will have less resources as the 2nd and 3rd world counrtys want their fair share.


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    #24
    Sherifu
    Registered Users Posts: 17,727 ✭✭✭✭Sherifu


    Kev_ps3 wrote: »
    China has a 1 child policy so lets not attack them.
    We all know you love them! Don't worry.


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    #25
    funk-you
    Registered Users Posts: 2,743 ✭✭✭funk-you


    Kev_ps3 wrote: »
    China has a 1 child policy so lets not attack them.
    The big problem with having lots of people on the planet is resources. We in the west will have to realise that we will have less resources as the 2nd and 3rd world counrtys want their fair share.

    And then they get nuked for being cheeky trying to get our stuff. Where's the problem? Do you not know it's us white western men keeping the third world and wimmen folk down. As it is now, has and ever shall be life without conscience amen. :pac:

    -Funk


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    #26
    Affable
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,212 ✭✭✭Affable


    Ireland can't be anywhere near as over populated as England, escpeically the south-east.
    BraziliaNZ wrote: »
    I'm talking about every country not the Chinese. Look at Ireland, no forests left, just a patchwork land of farms, and urban sprawl all over the place. Shouldn't we be aiming to keep our population (relatively) low?


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    #27
    Cormic
    Closed Accounts Posts: 818 ✭✭✭Cormic


    Ireland is not overpopulated. It was at over 8 million before the famine. If all you care about are forests then I suggest you go live in the Amazon basin.


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    #28
    Black Swan
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 47,231 CMod ✭✭✭✭Black Swan


    The trend is for countries to reach zero or negative population growth after they have reached a certain level of development. Look at Japan, Sweden, and especially Germany for instance. The Germans are having to import labor to run their factories because of population decline. The USA continued to grow past 300 million, but would have reached zero population growth if it hadn't been for a reported 3 million illegal immigrants crossing their borders every year from the south. You should check out the population pyramids site online and compare underdeveloped, developing, developed, and highly developed countries, which go from a pyramid shape (high pop growth), to a column (zero or declining).


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    #29
    Canaboid
    Registered Users Posts: 1,641 ✭✭✭Canaboid


    Global population has tripled in the last 70 years.
    This doesn't strike me as sustainable.


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    #30
    Kev_ps3
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,604 ✭✭✭Kev_ps3


    Sherifu wrote: »
    We all know you love them! Don't worry.

    I dont love them, its just I hate those attacking them. If they were attacking mars then id stand up for mars!!


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    #31
    Kev_ps3
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,604 ✭✭✭Kev_ps3


    Canaboid wrote: »
    Global population has tripled in the last 70 years.
    This doesn't strike me as sustainable.

    Of course its not. In Haiti they are rioting because of the price of staple foods, they are even eating 'mud cakes'.


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