Is overpopulation and the human breeding the root of all evil on the planet ?

[HagridOfTheDeep]

I think it's a mistake to disregard the fact that land has a carrying capacity. Technological innovations can stretch it out, but at the end of the day, access to those technologies is not equal and fair, and in some places the increase of people outpaces the spread of technology. Yes, the issue often fixes itself (people die), but that doesn't do much for local quality of life.

So I'd summarize my opinion like this: Looking at the Earth from space, I wouldn't say that overpopulation is, on average, a massive problem. Looking at it in specific places, it really is.

I mean, look—death rates have dropped in the developing world with the spread of Western medicine. Infant mortality is down. Life expectancy is up. The trouble is, cultural disparities have prevented birth rates from similarly dipping. One example is that parents still hold onto the idea that they need to make more babies so that the kids can go out and earn extra money for the family. Couples have many babies as a sort of insurance policy... they expect some of the children to die. What's happening now though is that they actually aren't dying, so we end up with all these families living in arid places with piss-poor access to decent farmland and too many mouths to feed. Here, overpopulation is a problem because access to vital resources sucks and too many people are competing for the same stuff. How can you honestly say that's not a problem? It would be okay in a place with wealth, access to food and water, and good infrastructure, but not everywhere has that.

So yeah, the developing world would be better off with less people. This is where I think empowering women would really make a difference. Let's actually educate women so that having eight kids is no longer necessary or common. Let's make sure the caretakers of the family—the "mothers of the nation"—actually know a bit about family planning.

Anyway, I've gone off topic, but I think expecting the problem to solve itself or waiting on "the inevitable spread of technology" misses the mark. There are unique factors that make overpopulation a problem in certain places, and we shouldn't approach the issue as if the silver bullet is "we need more food!"