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I lived in Ireland and Greece. Many regions there had population peak centuries ago and now are in decline for several decades.

by jkot 11y ago

wongarsu 11y ago
Most developed nations currently have declining populations. For now it seems like we can simply stop population growth by bringing the rest of the world to our level of wealth. Then again there's the question whether earth has enough resources to make that even possible.
- eru 11y ago
  > Then again there's the question whether earth has enough resources to make that even possible. In terms of energy: definitely. Nuclear or now solar suffices.
thaumasiotes 11y ago
I saw someone once refer to the great potato famine as a disaster from which Ireland never recovered. From an evolutionary perspective, this is far from obvious; the famine prompted a lot of emigration to the US, with the result that the world Irish population now dwarfs the old peak Irish population, even though the population of Irish in Ireland is smaller. With large ongoing emigration flows, it's hard to say that the smaller population in Ireland reflects hard times in Ireland... it could just as easily reflect good times!
- wavefunction 11y ago
  A quarter of my ancestry is from Ireland but I don't consider myself Irish. I find your post weird, how are you considering "world Irish population?" The famine was a political issue anyways, the English oppressors could have released the abundant stores of wheat to feed the starving Irish but didn't want to depress the commodity price of wheat and were also content to let the Irish die. The Irish potato famine happened during an abundance of food withheld, which is the real tragedy.
  - jacquesm 11y ago
    That same story is playing out a on a much larger stage with medication and food as the elements and much of the third world in the role of the Irish. Money is a great tool, but like any tool it has good uses and bad ones.
  - dingaling 11y ago
    > The famine was a political issue anyways No, the famine was an dietary issue. The Ulster-Scots communities in the north of Ireland and western Scotland also suffered potato crop failures but had a more balanced diet with much more wheat. Same in Germany and Denmark.

I lived in Ireland and Greece. Many regions there had population peak centuries ago and now are in decline for several decades.

by jkot 11y ago

I lived in Ireland and Greece. Many regions there had population peak centuries ago and now are in decline for several decades.

wongarsu 11y ago

Most developed nations currently have declining populations. For now it seems like we can simply stop population growth by bringing the rest of the world to our level of wealth. Then again there's the question whether earth has enough resources to make that even possible.

eru 11y ago
> Then again there's the question whether earth has enough resources to make that even possible. In terms of energy: definitely. Nuclear or now solar suffices.

thaumasiotes 11y ago

I saw someone once refer to the great potato famine as a disaster from which Ireland never recovered. From an evolutionary perspective, this is far from obvious; the famine prompted a lot of emigration to the US, with the result that the world Irish population now dwarfs the old peak Irish population, even though the population of Irish in Ireland is smaller. With large ongoing emigration flows, it's hard to say that the smaller population in Ireland reflects hard times in Ireland... it could just as easily reflect good times!

wavefunction 11y ago
A quarter of my ancestry is from Ireland but I don't consider myself Irish. I find your post weird, how are you considering "world Irish population?" The famine was a political issue anyways, the English oppressors could have released the abundant stores of wheat to feed the starving Irish but didn't want to depress the commodity price of wheat and were also content to let the Irish die. The Irish potato famine happened during an abundance of food withheld, which is the real tragedy.
- jacquesm 11y ago
  That same story is playing out a on a much larger stage with medication and food as the elements and much of the third world in the role of the Irish. Money is a great tool, but like any tool it has good uses and bad ones.
- dingaling 11y ago
  > The famine was a political issue anyways No, the famine was an dietary issue. The Ulster-Scots communities in the north of Ireland and western Scotland also suffered potato crop failures but had a more balanced diet with much more wheat. Same in Germany and Denmark.