Dear Jayb,

With all the casualties of war they may result in an increase in population. Birthrate goes up as those uncertain of a future wish to produce new life. It is often national policy on all sides to outbreed the enemy.

There are rational ways of curbing population growth. War is not one of them.

War often takes the fittest and best.

David f: There are rational ways of curbing population growth. War is not one of them.

A nice Politically Correct reply. But You've missed my point. I'm not advocating War. I am saying that, "War" is one way nature keeps a balance. Pestilience is another. Overpopulation is one of the causes of war & pestilence. Nature uses these tools to create a balance.

If Smith-Dorrien had not ordered the fighting on the Western front to continue, then about 1 billion more mouths to feed would be on this planet.

At this stage in human history we are barely able to sustain the 9 billion people on this planet now. Untill new energy technologies are implemented world wide & we accept Climate Change as normal & adapt accordingly this poor old earth won't cope. Nature will react accordingly. See the Black death where 2/3 of the World population perished. Population was outstriping technology. The advances in peoples & technology after the plague improved in leaps & bounds.

"War often takes the fittest and best."

Yes, & pestilence takes the weakest. What is left is the moderate who have built an immunity & learnt to improvise ways to carry on.

"Birthrate goes up as those uncertain of a future wish to produce new life."

That's a given. There is room to expand, more food to eat & times of War & Pestilence diminish, though not entirely.

Dear Jayb,

I just plain disagree. I don't know where your figure of a billion comes from, and I don't think it has any basis. I think that WW1 may have resulted in a greater rather than a smaller population.

I think the births resulting from the war outweighed the deaths the war caused. Those who went to war tried to breed to leave something behind in case they didn't come back. Those who stayed at home and prospered because of the war were better able to afford children.

We have figures about the casualties of war, but I know of no figures concerning the births caused by war. I suspect they outweigh the casualties.

I got your point but don't agree with it. War may increase the imbalance. The spread over the earth of the English speaking peoples and their great numbers is a direct consequence of war.

David f; "there are rational ways of curbing population growth."

Unfortunatley being told to, "tie a knot in it," doesn't work. It's been tried & it failed.

Yes, "about I Billion", was an arbitary figure. I don't think would be too far off the mark though. In fact, possibly a little low.

"I think that WW1 may have resulted in a greater rather than a smaller population."

Well the death toll for WW1 was about 15 million of which only about 5 million were for battle casualties the rest pestilence. These were mostly "fit young men." After the war suicide took it's toll on those that returned. (My grandfather being one) Then, after the war Influenza killed 18 million, mainly women & children. The Turkish massacre of the Albanians too more than a million. The bounce back took some time, then came the depression. So for after WW1 I think you need to take a closer look at the world situation at that time.

WW2. Different matter. There was a boom in population after that. I am one of that resultant boom. I suppose it was like when we came home from excercise. We saved all the lollies in the ration packs & threw them out into the back yard lawn , then told the kids not to come inside until they'd found & eaten every one. ;-)

"I know of no figures concerning the births caused by war. I suspect they outweigh the casualties."

Do you thing an Army spends it's time after the battle rounding up all the women & impregnating them? This is pure fantasy David, fed by some Politicaly Correct Greenie BS, get a grip. Anyone who believes that, has a cadaver short in their cemetary.

"The spread over the earth of the English speaking peoples and their great numbers is a direct consequence of war."

Eh!!? What a load of Codswollop!