Go forth and Populate the Earth
Our instructions from the King James version of the bible are clear:
“And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein”
The King James version of events was translated in 1611 by the church of England. Unfortunately, the instructions are remiss in citing a time frame. I suppose we have assumed that, absent further clarification, those instructions were intended to be for all time.
I do wonder about the phrase “bring forth abundantly in the earth”? One might infer that this would assume that we could stop once “abundance” is reached. Common sense dictates that our resources (even renewable resources) are limited.
Considering available resources one source, https://news.stanford.edu/pr/94/940711Arc4189.html, calculates the optimum world population at 1.5 – 2.0 billion! Even the most optimistic estimates are in the 3.5 – 4.0 billion or about ½ of our current total. We achieved the most conservative estimate in 1900, just over 117 years ago. Since that time, we have added 6 Billion more souls! According to the population clock (https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/) the 2050 census will top 10 Billion or three times what the planet is able to sustain. Like our national debt, it seems we are willing to mortgage the future of resource availability for our progeny. Are we really that selfish?
Over population is arguably the single largest problem facing all countries and yet when was the last time any of our elected representatives addressed this issue? It seems we are too busy arguing polarizing issues instead of focusing on the most important issues. Shame on us.