We need to increase our population (!!?)

WisJim

Wednesday, July 25, there was an interesting guest on the "On Point" program on National Public Radio, Herbert E. Meyer, who took the position that we need to keep increasing the population of the USA (and other western nations) to counteract the increasing population of Muslim nations. He appeared to have no concern for (or maybe no comprehension of) peak oil, global warming, or other world-wide problems that relate to overpopulation--just that we need more people to keep our place in the scheme of things, worldwide.
http://www.onpointradio.org/shows/2007/07/20070725_a_main.asp

bshirt · Heavy Crude Joined: Dec 23, 2006 Posts: 446

It's amazing, isn't it?

I suppose, like Bush, he thinks bringing in millions of Mexicans "helps". Sad

ps...off topic....my first big, huge, blackberry showed up yesterday up here in the frozen tundra of S. Dakota.....WooHOO!

benzoil

WisJim-
I heard this program, too. I wondered what in the name of beer this guy is thinking? Talk about laser focus on one issue without looking at the big picture. The major assumption underlying this model is "things will continue as they always have." Of course, given global warming, peak oil, and a host of other issues, maybe a big population won't be a good thing....ya think?
_________________
TANSTAAFL

gg3

First of all, the average birth rate in the Middle East is SEVEN children per woman. There is no way to keep up with that.

Second, the man is obviously some kind of racist.

Third, the birth rate all over the world needs to be decreased to one child per woman or less for a couple of generations if we're to have any hope of avoiding extinction via climate catastrophe.

Fourth, anyone who advocates increasing population has a serious deficiency of Vitamin Lead and should be administered a supplement.

Lore

The problem will most likely take care of itself when the overpopulated Muslim nations, with the poorest of natural resources, are left to pound sand when the oil dries up.

Having several children with no UN aid will be a humanitarian crisis of a whole new dimension.
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The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, peace-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life.
... Theodore Roosevelt

EnergyUnlimited · Fusion Joined: May 15, 2006 Posts: 3396

Heineken

The population issue is an even bigger blind spot for our civilization than PO or GW.

Another nail in the coffin.

Another reason I'm a Doomer with a capital D.
_________________
"Actually, humans died out long ago."
---Abused, abandoned hunting dog

"Things have entered a stage where the only change that is possible is for things to get worse."
---Me and my brother

Kez

The secretary of commerce was on TV a couple weeks ago. Basically he said we need immigrants because they are mostly uneducated and therefore willing to work in the fields for pennies. Americans farmers for the past 50 years have been leaving the farms for city life & college, so there is a vast shortage of people "willing" to do the work.

So it's growth, growth, growth, to "fix" our problems. Of course most people who visit this site know differently and can see the future problems only getting worse.

TheDude

Zardoz

americandream

Lore

Battle_Scarred_Galactico · Intermediate Crude Joined: Apr 07, 2005 Posts: 970

Trust me, we'll have enough of our own problems.
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"One minute I held the key, next the walls were closed on me, and I discovered that my castle stands upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand."

gg3

Re. The Dude, "spoken like a true homosexual" Ding ding ding! Got it right on the first guess! So hey, how'bout a date? Your bunker or mine?

Re. Americandream, "planted a whole heap of Jews." Today must be weird humor day. What do you get when you plant Jews? Jewsie-fruits? (Is that where they got the flavor for the chewing gum with the similar name?) In point of fact if you look at a map, Israel is a tiny slice of land. And the A-rabs are a bunch of steenkin' hypocrites for not volunteering to take in the displaced Palaestinians.

Re. Muslims: not just Muslims, but anywhere that the population is exploding. Any country whose leaders have half a brain will crank up the drawbridge before they get hit with a tidal wave. And not to forget, pandemics brew where populations stew.

Re. that US govt official and his item about illegal immigrants taking "jobs Americans won't do." The guy is some kind of socialist, and not the kind I can occasionally get along with. If Americans won't do those jobs at the going price, that's what we call a market signal. In this case, the price needs to bid upward until the supply matches the demand. What's so hard about that? These guys are so eager to advocate market measures when the supply of labor is larger than demand, speaking of steenkin' hypocrites, but they can't tolerate it when demand for labor is greater than supply. May they all grow up to discover that their spouses have been making out with their gardeners. ("Honey, you smell like freshly-cut grass... uh, is there something you need to tell me?")

Not enough food: That was bound to happen sooner or later, and it's thoroughly predictable as per Monte's numerous posts about same. If humans multiply like mice, they're going to die off like mice. Nature bats last.

And as for the guy on the radio advocating population growth, I'll be a little more specific and say that for people like that, it's the brain that has the Vitamin Lead deficiency and is in need of direct supplementation. Maybe it'll also improve his memory, at least to the level of those guys who take the witness stand and suddenly develop complete clinical amnesia. One can wish, anyway.

EnergyUnlimited · Fusion Joined: May 15, 2006 Posts: 3396