Opinion of our pro-eugenics socialist newbies

[Joe Republic]

Eugenics may not be the right answer, apparently, but eventually people are going to need to understand that the human race can't just keep growing unsustainably forever.

[Joe Republic]

Eugenics may not be the right answer, apparently, but eventually people are going to need to understand that the human race can't just keep growing unsustainably forever.

War is the only noble way. Give our race a patriot's death.

EDIT: Well, one of only two noble ways. It just happens to be easier to motivate people to go to their death in the name of killing others than themselves.

I for one eagerly await the arrival of the Yuuzhan Vong, tbh.

[Joe Republic]

Even if if we never get to this point there's no real reason to believe that the population is growing unsustainably. Overpopulation does not appear to be a serious problem.

Honestly, the amount of time wasted worrying about overpopulation when we have so many actually pressing issues at hand is pretty ridiculous.

I agree, when/if this problem ever starts happening, we should do something to address it, but that doesn't look like anytime remotely soon.

Okeydokey.  I guess we can cover our eyes and ears for a couple more generations, and hope for the best.

Incidentally, when was Earth Overshoot Day this year, btw?  A month ago?

I know misanthropy is hip and kewl and edgy, but if there is even the slightest bit of genuine sentiment behind the snark in these posts, that's utterly vile.

Is it as hip and kewl as being reflexively offended by everything?  Or to react to any differing viewpoint by assuming it must be a joke?

[Joe Republic]

EDIT: Actually, on reflection, I was probably being unfair. At least climate change deniers and anti-vaxxers aren't primarily motivated by racism.

  Please explain why I'm now a racist.

The societies which contribute the most to the "overshoot" are generally not those with high rates of natural increase in population.

I know; it's the areas that do contribute most to it that need to slow down their increase.

It's a very long-term problem that there are no short-term solutions to, anyway.

[Joe Republic]

The societies which contribute the most to the "overshoot" are generally not those with high rates of natural increase in population.

...but it's easier to blame some anonymous farmer in Ethiopia or whatever than it is to ride your bike to work or move into a smaller house. And only someone with a rich sense of irony could complain about overpopulation while living in Nevada, which might be the only place on the planet that nuclear detonations actually made more suitable for human habitation.

Please don't let your hatred for me form any more misconceptions about my positions.

To your first point, you did see my response to shua, yes?  I have no issue with the places in the world that contribute most of the population increase while also living within their means w.r.t. natural resources.  It's the places that don't that I take issue with.  And yes, that's most of the Western world, particularly us.  If the human race were actually willing to make lifestyle changes in order to live better within our means, we would be.

To your second point, there is no irony.  It's living here that has in fact shaped my current view, not contradicted it.  I personally witness on a daily basis why any effort for humanity to even attempt to reduce its insatiable thirst for finite resources is completely pointless.  For your bike ride to work, I'll show you all the air-conditioned Humvees and F-150s commuting for a five minute journey.  For your effort to recycle, I'll show you the hundreds of people here who've never even attempted it because who wants to sort through their own garbage?  For your concern for conserving energy and water, I'll show you a hotel that points a 315kw beam of light directly into the sky every night, and a manmade reservoir that reached its lowest level ever this past July (due to a combination of the house-building industry restarting with gusto, and not refilling quickly enough due to climate change reducing annual snowmelt).  To me, Las Vegas is a symbol of an American Dream that revolves around conquering the empty landscape and setting up a life of luxury, with little regard for the long-term question of 'how?'... and frankly there aren't many other places in this country that are much less guilty.

[Joe Republic]

Incidentally, this discussion reminded me of a gif I made a few years ago:

[Joe Republic]

Funny, in addition to the cognitive dissonance of being a liberal Democrat who supports social justice and economic fairness, while also believing that the human race is on average pretty fucking terrible, I also have to battle the conflicting feelings of my adopted hometown being an unsustainable sprawl, while also defending it from arrogant snobs who consider it 'beneath' them...

Plus, it's pretty depressing if your idea of a "life of luxury" is Las Vegas.

$400k will just about buy you a tiny studio apartment in Manhattan.

It could also buy you a 4,000 sq ft, 5-bed house in Las Vegas, with a pool to cool off from the sun that shines 300 days a year.

Yeah, i dislike misanthropy as a rule, but I imagine if I lived in Nevada I might reconsider my instincts.

I've visited the UK.  I've used the public transit system in London, and the trains to and from it.  I also have the 'pleasure' of meeting British tourists out here nearly every day.  If living in Nevada has made me a misanthrope, I'd hate to think what living in your country might do to me.