This video takes little time to deconstruct and desensitise.
Although it remains so that Malthus did belief in the culling of the poor in order to advance the rich it is not true, as the video would make it appear, that the intension of those who believe in the dangers of overpopulation are those of Malthus. In fact this could not be further from the truth. Although history has shown attempts at culling and sterilisation, like many of the worlds evils, we have learnt from these and are either not practised or done so sporadically with great contempt from the global community. In fact, the majority of people believe the best way to deal with overpopulation is to educate about safe-sex and family planning, making the decision up to the peoples in order to limit accidental and un-planned pregnancies. This is particularly true in the case of the UNFPA which this group wrongfully categorises as promoting the denial of the women’s right to choice by simply attempting to educate them to birth control.The video goes on to complain about Ehrlich and over overpopulationists since the 60s by showing the unrealised fears of catastrophe and mass starvation coming to the theory that because these did not come true neither must the theory at its core. Of course this is an apathy of logic which focuses simply on the estimated results rather than the science from which these were found. In actual fact many of these predictions were averted not by a miscalculation but by the acts of humans to divert them, acts are no more notable then those of Norman Borlaug the father of the green revolution who won a Nobel price for his work. His most notable breakthrough came at the same time as Ehrich’s, when between the years 1965 and 1970 his high-yielding varieties of wheat managed to increase yields by nearly 100% in Pakistan and India diverting Ehrich’s predicted catastrophe. It is these acts of humanitarianism that have constantly broken the spell of overpopulation and not the fallacy of overpopulation itself that has time and time again stopped the predicted catastrophe. The problem of overpopulation is quickly transcending food as fresh food supplies and diminishing, energy demands are on the rise, and global warming is increasing.The most shocking claims of the video comes with the Texas fallacy. This is the claim that the entire population of the world could live in an area the size of Texas with a 33x33 plot of land being available for each individual. Although this claim may be true it is an extreme exaggeration of the problems of overpopulation. For one, this claim has nothing to do with water supplies, agriculture, power, or health which remain the most effected by overpopulation but rather boils the issue down to the non-issue of space. Overpopulation has never been a problem of space and this is a fact nobody has ever claimed. Although some may speak of the overpopulated cities the issue is not with the overpopulation itself but with the poverty that forces them into such areas, poverty which is affected by global and national population levels.Finally comes the claim that the earth’s population will peak in thirty years before going down with the claim ‘Do the math’. It seems odd to point out that one can not do the math seeing as how this claim comes with no figures, equations, or mathematics to claim but rather states this as a fact. These figures come from the UN Population Database which predict that the population will go down. In fact is these figures were studies they show a rise in population and then, yes, a steady decrease. However if you look closely you will see how these decreases are yet to happen and are predicted (just as the claims of catastrophe were predicted that seemed so ridiculous before). With are current rising demands on food and energy and the ever decreasing amounts of oil, coal, and gas of which we are yet to find a true substitute we are not yet aware what the implication of a rising population over the next thirty years will be. Whether or not we have had a war over oil is debatable but what is not is that with a rising demand one is not far away. This video must remind us, if anything, that simply due to some past errors in judgement and predication this does not make the science behind these causes any less real.
Link: http://www.overpopulationisamyth.com/overpopulation-the-making-of-a-myth
