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A dissenting viewpoint: the overpopulation scare
Jan Narveson, Vern L. Bullough, Bonnie Bullough, Margaret Gibson, Hans‐Joachim Voth, R. von Uslar, Lars-Göran Tedebrand, Jan Sundin, Lado T. Ruzicka, Alessandro Rosina
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Abstract
Claims that the world faces overpopulation are essentially bogus and ignore the fact that the world can support many times the current number of inhabitants and that all of these inhabitants can be rich in world resources. Thus there is no need for concern about the inequitable distribution of wealth. Malthus would have been astonished if he could have known that the population of the world would be 5 billion within 2 centuries of his death and that the vast majority of these people would live longer and eat better than the typical person of his day. Examples of current starvation in fact can be attributed to inhumanity cruelty imbecility and governmental incompetence rather than to a lack of sufficient resources to sustain life. By eliminating all of the socialist or other authoritarian regimes in developing countries starvation would be entirely eliminated. Advances in agricultural technology have reduced the minimum amount of land necessary to support one human to 27 meters square. Further reductions are also possible. Other resources can also be stretched by technology and the real prices of virtually all natural resources have declines steadily (which indicates that the supply is not shrinking). Children require a considerable investment (albeit a worthwhile one) to raise to adulthood and urbanization with its attendant increases in the price of housing has led to negative population increases. Only immigration keeps Canada from experiencing an outright population decline. As other countries increase their wealth their fertility will decline. Concerns about the preservation of open spaces in the face of population growth are also unwarranted. Despite unprecedented population growth in North America there is greater access to protected wilderness than ever. It is important to remember that more people means more minds and more creative energy. If the tendencies of people towards productive work are not hampered there will be more of the good things in life for everyone. This is hardly a crisis.