by Jack Macaluso

Created on: November 03, 2011   Last Updated: November 04, 2011

Are 7 billion humans a threat to the planet? Do we even need to ask this question? We're already a threat and that number is growing exponentially. All the problems that science, technology, and sociologists want us to debate; sustainability, global warming, loss of habitat, depleting the oceans of fish, pollution...are moote points next to the white elephant in the room: there are too many people and there is no end in sight.  

The subject won't even be discussed because of 3 basic reasons: religious doctrine, political cowardice, and a world economy based on growth. One of the few details of my college education that made a major impression on me was a concept taught in environmental science: the J curve. If memory serves, uncontrolled growth is unnatural and will eventually collapse or crash.  

Supporters of technological solutions believe we can prevent this and the corporations that benefit from such technology hide the dark side of these solutions. Who wants to know about torturing animals for mass-produced food, hospital-born infections and medical mistakes, unnatural chemicals that permeate every living thing on earth. Overpopulation is too big of a concept for the average western citizen to grasp because it's not personal. It's those people in India, China, Africa that are causing the problem.  

Let's make it personal. Do you have any children? Do you think about their impact on the world or even your own locality? Each child will most likely grow up to drive and own a car. That's good news for the auto and insurance industries but not so great when you're sitting in gridlocked traffic that seems to be getting worse every year. Every time you're standing in line for something, a movie, dinner, the post office, the bank, do you notice those lines getting longer over the years? Is this the quality of life you want?  How much energy will your child consume in his or her lifetime compared to that African child? How much waste and pollution will each child generate and for how many years?    

We were so judgmental toward China when it instituted it's one child policy. How dare they? Maybe they were trying to proactively save their society. One billion people in one nation? Should they wait until it's 2 billion, 3 billion? How often have you even heard anything about population in the media or a political debate? You won't. That white elephant will keep growing until it smashes us all against the wall and we can't move enough to do anything about it. 

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