He had us breeding and starving ourselves into Soylent Green territory many years ago. Some of our more credulous citizens were even convinced to discontinue their bloodlines.
I will visit an all-you-eat buffet in his honor.
He had us breeding and starving ourselves into Soylent Green territory many years ago. Some of our more credulous citizens were even convinced to discontinue their bloodlines.
I will visit an all-you-eat buffet in his honor.
Required reading for one of my econ classes. There was indeed a dismal looking period before modern fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation systems, and high yield disease resistant seeds. Thankfully we've now expanded the carrying capacity of the planet?Originally Posted by LDAHL
"I spent the summer traveling: I got half-way across my backyard." Louis Aggasiz
My seventh grade biology teacher, a young guy out of college, was such a proponent of Erlich. That guy is still alive and breeds hostas.. Has no children.
But I don’t see how anyone can say that a huge population on the Earth doesn’t put a strain on Earth resources.
Last edited by iris lilies; 3-22-26 at 12:35pm.
I like the way the NYT referred to his predictions as “premature”. Sort of like they referred to bombs as “smoking cans and fuses”.
The other book that was required reading was The Limit's to Growth. I wouldn't say that the nearly tripling of the global population since then has been an unqualified success.
My vision of the apocalyptic future is less like Soylet Green and more like Blade Runner
Last edited by Rogar; 3-22-26 at 3:50pm. Reason: additional thought
"I spent the summer traveling: I got half-way across my backyard." Louis Aggasiz
i’ve never heard of “the limits to growth. “
I thought the other Bible of the time was Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring.
Limits to Growth by Donella Meadows. The long form of the quote by Edward Abbey: "Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell."
Yes, Silent Spring was a very consequential book in making people think about environmental hazards of then-common chemical hazards like DDT. Her legacy continues in things like the impact of neonicotinoids on the bee population, BPA in plastics on endocrine disruption, and things like that.
"Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
www.silententry.wordpress.com
The miracles of the Green Revolution rely *heavily* on petroleum. We basically convert petroleum to pesticides and fertilizer, so, while we may have raised the population for a few generations, if the petroleum runs out, I'd expect nature to takes its course...
The disruption to shipping caused by the US/Iran war looks like it will have a significant impact on the "magic sauce" we need to feed the planet.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...farming-impact
https://cen.acs.org/business/special...04/web/2026/03
https://www.npr.org/2026/03/20/nx-s1...al-food-supply
Etc. etc.
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