No More Either Or!

The problems Chris described are some of the most pressing issues facing our society. Since the late 18th century scholars have been predicting that the earth cannot sustain an increasing population. There have been countless maximum population figures predicted since this time. Today there are largely two sides to the population debate: 1 the Neo-Malthusians and 2 the Cornucopians. The Neo-Malthusians believe that the earth has a limited amount of resources and thus can only sustain a limited population (the food supply increases arithmetically but population increases exponentially). The Cornacopians believe, however, that technology is consistently improving and thus will overcome the earth's scarcity. It Cornacopian scholars that argue the validity of the Kuznets curve. The curve or theory that predicts as societies gain wealth the they will cause more harm to their environment until they reach a tipping point, where serious technology and legislation kick in, when the society decides to improve their environment. Therefore these individuals basically believe at above a certain income a society will begin to actively improve their environment instead of continuing to harm it. Of course neither of these theories helps our environment now.

The problem with the Neo-Malthusians is that they do not really provide a viable solution to the population problem. Yes- its great to know that there is a problem. Yes- we all need to recognize that there are limited resources. But how are we going to tell the millions of people in Africa to have only one or two children? How are we going to stop people in the western world from having more than one child?

The problems facing the Cornacopians are obvious. We clearly do have a limited number of resources that are being destroyed every day. From the air we breathe to the water we drink to the food we eat human activity is poisoning our environment. This decay is or will soon will be to the point where we harm our ability to succeed and grow economically. Clearly something needs to be done because we may never reach the tipping point.

What then should we do? I believe we need a combination of these two beliefs. First we must recognize that our resources are scarce and take significant governmental and international action to protect them. Second, we must develop the technologies that will allow human life to continue and improve on earth. This means more governmental intervention and stimulation of research.