The actual movie did kind of point that out in a roundabout way. And I agree.

@oldFloyd I also agree that over population has to play a tremendous role.

@OldMetalHead Finally! A voice of reason in this insane thread. Soylent Green is a (good) movie. But it's just a movie. Heston made a bunch of'em back then. Omega Man is another dystopian sci-fi flick I really enjoyed. The repeated commentary in this thread calling Human beings a cancer is far more dehumanizing than anything. One commenter said we should have a global population of 2B tops. Seriously? Humans are conscious beings. We have beaten the odds and used our rational, creative minds to improve our lives. Virtually all of that improvement is due to Capitalism by the way, regulated or not. Capitalism is what raises the standard of living of everyone. It provides you with everything you want or need. Nothing disgusts me more than people who bitch and moan about the evils of Capitalism from their smartphones while eating a $2 hamburger living in a home filled with an array of technology and convenience, all provided by Capitalism. With that said, I completely agree with you that crony capitalism is the real issue. It is grossly misunderstood, if people are aware of it at all.

@IAMGROOT What about the destructive effects of Capitalism on the environment. Do fish-factory boats sailing into the Gulf of Mexico improve things? To my mind this is capitalism gone berserk.

@Unpretentious LOL! No, not much of a burger (I was thinking fast food). My point was inexpensive food is the result of Capitalism.

@Aristippus Nobody ever said Capitalism was perfect, but it is not the evil thing it is made out to be. And there is no better "system" for creating opportunity for wealth and benefiting others at the same time.

Interesting thought. We also might have started the virus by the ways we slaughter animals and it is all for profit. It is horrific.

@DenoPenno Check out Terence's video. We need a new operating system.

@Aristippus
"Well, it's dumb".. love me some McKenna.

If I believed in god(s), I would say that. But the earth just wants to purge humans. Humans have been cruel to the planet.

@SKH78 The earth does not want anything. It just goes on doing what it does, and will do so after we wipe ourselves out.

Yep, once every century or so, the earth does a purge. COVID is the present purge. Humans have not been kind to the earth, so the earth tried to get rid of some of us. If only the idiots could be purged, that would be good. But purges kill the smart as well as the stupid.

Homo Dues is a good book, indeed!
So is his "Sapiens."

@SKH78 The purge I am referring to will be the permanent one. It could be a pandemic like we've never seen, a biological agent produced by a terrorist, a nuclear was, whatever. Species like ours do not stick around forever, especially if they are destroying the host.

@BirdMan1 I prefer Homo vacuous

@Mitch07102 Keep an eye on global warming, and methane released from formerly frozen tundra.

@BirdMan1 Yep. And the long-dormant pathogens this may release in addition to the climate effects.

Extinction has occurred five times in the history of the planet. But thought has only evolved once and it took four billion years. George Carlen said the same thing as you. But it's a different ballgame now.

Thanks for such a well-written and intelligent response to my post. Here's a very apt and pertinent video you might like that deals with this issue. In younger days I was so impressed by Terence McKenna that I dedicated my book to him and even made him a character in the story.

[amazon.com]

My main character Cynthia does psilocybin and enters a more privative state of mind.

@Aristippus I have those tools on hand, but life changes have been too troubling to indulge. It was fun to see the shaman with the Ayahuasca stalk. I got a 12" cutting about 16 years ago. It grew up into a dying apricot tree, and when the tree finally died, the vine had a ready made trellis. Two years ago, the trunk finally toppled, so I designed a tensile structure prototype for the vine to grow up into again. I'm training the tendrils now, but have put a sail over the structure for shade. You can see the Ayahuasca in the center left of the attached picture.

Thanks.

No, but how about some info on this.

Two billion?

Around there. The guideline should be, how much human life can the Earth support without being depleted and used up?

I'd guess around a billion.

Take Haiti. It's the western third of the island of Columbus' Hispaniola. Today the population is around ten million, but the fish and arable land can only support one million. That means Haitians have to rely on foreign aid by being beggars.

@nyrdybyrd Or ONE billion?

@Storm1752 It would help if the pope told them having more than one kid per person is a sin!

@Bobbie63 Nope. "Be fruitful and multiply," remember? Might as well tear up the Bible. Plus, no birth control, no abortion. As you know, Catholics practically invented huge nuclear families. We must keep up with Muslims, after all, who crank 'em out faster than rabbits.

We need a change of consciousness.

For some reason population control has been a taboo subject for the movies. Only one or two others, yet it remains an extremely important subject. The future of the world is at stake.

To tell the truth I'm glad I'm in the 70s. I feel sorry for today's children and teenagers. Maybe that's why they're so neurotic and escapist.

The destruction of the environment is the main result of overpopulation ,so how can you not be worried about it .

@HarrySlick not being prepared is the issue here. I firmly believe scince and engineering can more than just solve the problems, but actually make the environment better.

If we don't invest and follow the science to understand our effects on the enviroment and implement corrective measures then thats not an overpopulation issue! Thats a following-through issue. It would be incorrect to blame overpopulation as that cause of the problem.

We have the solutions or should be developing them but we sure aren't implementing them: nuclear power; carbon extraction; synthetic meats; universal healthcare, housing, and basic needs; colonizing space; colonizing the oceans or the air, free education, telecommuting work, delivery, hydoponic vertical farmingn We see tiny pockets of these technologies but have almost negligible dollars investing these.

Let take carbon emissions for example, I feel its the height of stupidy to expect 8 billion people and a handful of selfinterested corporations and governments to change. They too busy surviving to pay attention to reducing the carbon footprint. Aint gonna happen. Assume they will do the worst now plan to mitigate the effects through carbon extraction. And lo, NASA finally puts out a $2 miillion carbon extration prize to get attention to this type of solution, one that requires no fundamental change in behavior. 10 years late and a pitiful prize amount but progress, I guess.

Only science and technology will solve environmental issues. Social, corporate and governmental change will never be enough, and relying on it will be an assured disaster. Only Science can save us.

I think I disagree here. To maintain your position you should at least state the point where birth control has to kick in. Surely population growth can't do on forever. Catholic sages suggest the total should reach 50 billion. Doesn't anybody ever ask, "What For?" I guess they figure the more clasped hand praying to God the more pleased He is.

@Aristippus im not sure how birth control fits it. I'm just talking about the conceptal problems of overpopulation is really a problem of proper use and protection resources and technology.
Birth control is part of that trchnology sure, and one can say it reduces the population some. However at the same time one should also admit advanced pediatrics and medicine and psyhciatry saves a lot of lives of those who likely would have died without passing their genes, thus significantly raising the population.

Consider making living in space as easy as living on earth. Consider making entering earths orbit safe and easy. Now space is quite big. Remember all of the material of the people of the Earth came from only its surface. The entire surface material of earth not fill space completely. So I feel space colonization is the solution for over population.

And life on Earth will be allowed to return to its old random self.

I'll have to disagree with you on this. Human overpopulation has already caused the sixth major extinction in the history of the world -- the first in 65 million years. Half the vertebrates alive when I was born during WWII are now extinct. Fragmentation of habitat is cited as the major cause.

& Soylent Green may as well've been written and directed by John of Patmos.

@nyrdybyrd I wrote a short story about this guy once. How would you like to go through like with the name John the Divine? The leather apron wearing slave master on the island said, "Why do I get all the nuts?"

[amazon.com]