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Quite possibly the most amazing TED talk ever...
Ts Stormrage:
I was wrong about religion being a factor...
However, I now understand better why people are "planning for 10 billion"...
Hans Rosling: Religions and babies
Rachellove9:
I really didn't get how religion was ever to blame. . .
This video made a lot of sense to me.
If you are poor and need to do all the work yourself you need a small army to help out.
If some of them will be dying they have more just in case to keep up to the standard of help.
I don't need a small work force but I see how it makes so much sense to help the poor get in a better place.
I give to Africa and Mexico as a mission.
Still doesn't change the fact that I am in control of my body and don't want laws or groups of haters to tell me how many children to have.
Owen:
--- Quote from: Rachellove9 on April 16, 2013, 08:23:47 pm ---I really didn't get how religion was ever to blame. . .
This video made a lot of sense to me.
If you are poor and need to do all the work yourself you need a small army to help out.
If some of them will be dying they have more just in case to keep up to the standard of help.
I don't need a small work force but I see how it makes so much sense to help the poor get in a better place.
I give to Africa and Mexico as a mission.
Still doesn't change the fact that I am in control of my body and don't want laws or groups of haters to tell me how many children to have.
--- End quote ---
I'm a strong advocate that people should be able to do as they please as long as it does not negatively affect the lives of others.
If people could have as many children as they wanted without the problems brought on by overpopulation that wouldn't bother me, unfortunately, with the way the world works, it's not possible.
If you could have 12 children and be ENTIRELY self sufficient, requiring NOTHING from an outside source, then go for it. But I don't think that would be doable, certainly not enjoyable or easy.
Say you did have 12 children, you need to feed them, provide power/water to wash, feed, entertain and possibly teach, it's not the existence of the children/people that's the problem with overpopulation, it's the resources they require, and the energy needed to provide those resources that puts the strain on the Earth. Every single person has a carbon footprint, and in a developed country, that footprint is all the bigger. If you have 12 children, that's a big carbon footprint for that family.
I feel this thread has gone very off topic, considering the speaker stated that if his plan was put into action, it would bring carbon levels down to pre-industrial revolution levels without the need for a change in industry. This could only be compounded and improved if industry changed AS WELL.
Al:
@Rachel But it's not about freedom or 'exercising' the right to have a lot of kids, it's about what the consequences are. Eg. Octomom. Raising good kids has nothing to do with it, it's about the carbon footprint humans put on our planet, and to me the ethics of it. I agree with what Gene said on how it's like trading 12 kids for 12 deaths (or however it said, sorry it's late). Humans should take accountability for the planet, or at least for the harm we have done to it.
If I took half an hour showers every day, other people in my house wouldn't get enough hot water.
Or, maybe if I drive a vehicle that has double the MPG of a typical car, I might be able to sponge the damage to the earth done by my neighbor that drives a 5 MPG luxury sports car.
Maybe I can help extend the life of this planet, habit by habit; act by act, and example after another. Isn't our planet a ticking time bomb?
I think having a ton of kids works the same way. Not all humans get a nice place to live. If I gave birth to 8 children now, EIGHT good children that I raised and that (I hope) will live in jolly good big townhouses, which unfortunately will deprive several hard-working and deserving immigrants, homeless, even my own descendants down the line won't have a place to live. Or, I could have made the easy choice to lessen my impact, and had two children, and saved space on this earth for 5 other families places to live in. I want my descendants to enjoy however much time as possible before this thing self-destructs. There is an expiration date on it right?
Like NightShade said, the way continents live right now, it'd take more than x planets to sustain, and etc. That's the point it makes...it's selfish. And it's foolish. We're running out of space. Food. Everything. Air. "The world could use one less man." What's the cost of a planet? 12 kids? But we can't trade lives for another planet, the universe doesn't care.
On a personal note...being 1st generation American-born-Chinese (ABC), most of my parents and uncles and aunts have one child because of China's one-child policy. See: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/9933468/336-million-abortions-under-Chinas-one-child-policy.html
As a child this logic drilled into my head when I was younger. My parents told me overpopulation was srs bsns. You can bet my native family's been affected by it. Like you, I thought it was "WRONG, it's very wrong...that's so horrible." Even though my parents weren't bound to these laws, I am an only child. But hey, it works. And the 'commie leaders might have shed tons of carbon footprint, maybe bought some more time for the planet. For me, it doesn't represent a right or wrong, whether I believe in abortion, whether I believe in god or not, but it makes the point that overpopulation is serious, and measures need to be taken. Overpopulation needs to be Lordship'd.
I was going to say this in the first few posts, but didn't have the time. I can never get enough of TED, or informative videos and YT channels. We can swing the topic back to how the industry would need to change...you mean cool things like:
http://blog.ted.com/2013/02/27/an-electric-vehicle-you-can-carry-in-hand-sanjay-dastoor-at-ted2013/
http://www.thetorquereport.com/tesla_model_s_rear_new.jpg ?
I'm waiting to see a car that can switch between gas and electric. The Tesla is great, I got the opportunity to tour one a few weeks ago. In a nutshell it saves 7x more money compared to a gas car. It's a 4 door that can seat 5, plus 2 baby seats in the back. Goes 0-60 in 4.2 or 4.4. But it's limited to about 250 miles, so long distance traveling imo isn't very feasible. Charge-time does its job.
Personally, another one of these little projects in the back of my mind is to start a business that sells sustainable plastic products. Or maybe...I don't know...start a company that creates, manufactures, and sell every-day products that aren't based on petroleum-based based materials :$. I grew up working in my dad's (un)sustainable plastics company. (But only because there weren't any other options!)
Graphite thing made me jizz btw.
Think of all the plastic cups (beer pong anyone?), bags, garbage bags, grocery, plastic forks and knives, etc. The process to make most these things, in a nutshell, the definition of un-sustainability. Yeah, I'd have made millions farming off the green revolution, which is something business partners laugh about all the time...because the thing is there has yet to be a practical way to manufacture these "green" products. That's why sticking tape on graphite is so important, why it won a Nobel Prize. Until the engineers invent a way, until the mechanics invent the machine, until the countries allow them to sell (overseas trade laws, business laws, intellectual property and etc.), each is a battle in itself.
There's also the politics of the plastics business. If you haven't noticed recently, your local grocery store has probably banned single-use bags and/or has made you pay a few coins for a paper bag or re-useable bag. Politics won't stop people from littering the planet with these, which science says takes about 1000 years to degrade from earth. People need to be educated about sustainability, biodegradable material, and so on. Like I said, that's only the start of the battle.
Good news is, I'm starting to see some growth overall. In the natural field (cattle pooping into desert), AND technology, that'll help us reduce our carbon footprint, save the planet. Another example is harnessing the planet's natural energy resources (wind, solar), and how it can we get it to people's houses...cause they cost a lot, etc. etc.
Ts Stormrage:
Earth day today :)