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> People say this, but I'll note that humans have lived through "crippling poverty" for most of our 2 million year existence. It is only crippling poverty by to
by mftrhu 6y ago
> People say this, but I'll note that humans have lived through "crippling poverty" for most of our 2 million year existence. It is only crippling poverty by today's distortion lens (also a shifting baseline).
Humans have died through crippling poverty for most of our existence, and that baseline, however shifted, is still not enough to ensure that everyone - in both developing and developed countries - can have good health, good food, and shelter.
Sure, this is mostly due to inequal resource distribution, but I don't believe that the crisis caused by climate change will rectify that, at least by itself.
- titzer 6y agoWe are far beyond the carrying capacity of Earth at this point, I am sorry to say. Honestly, I feel horrible about the future and I get the impression I am not the only one. Please resist the urge to read more into what I wrote than what I wrote.
- pfdietz 6y agoThe estimated extreme maximum carrying capacity of the Earth is 1 trillion people. This limit is set by direct thermal pollution. If one sticks with agriculture to make food, the limit has been estimated to be around 150 billion people. Africa alone could feed 15 billion if their agriculture achieved yields already demonstrated elsewhere in the world.
- bccdee 6y agoWhat's this Malthusianism doing in the 21st century? Can you cite some data suggesting that Earth is incapable of feeding and housing a population of ten billion at least? We have a surplus of food and a surplus of living space, and despite the ongoing energy crisis, there's every indication that renewables will be able to support our entire society once we've pumped enough money into them.
- TeMPOraL 6y agoWe're not sustainably farming, though. Just because we've staved off collapse for a few decades with technological tricks, doesn't mean the argument was wrong.
- bccdee 6y agoAre you worried about soil degradation? That's a fixable problem. These aren't "technological tricks," they're solutions. We've also got lots of arable land we're not using right now. If you've got a really strong claim to make that sustainable farming at scale is unviable, then you must have a source to back that up.
- yters 6y agoI grew up in crippling poverty in a third world country, and it is not so bad. I had a lot more freedom and fun than when I moved back to the states.