Many of the so called boffins who are for winding back Oz's pop to between 6-12 million (Flannery, John Coulter, etc) usually come from the sociobiology paradigm - often IT and genetics - which equates humans with ants.

I never had much of an interest in the anti-pops until I found out just how stupid and dangerous their economic and social programs were. Much of what they say is just blithering stupidity.

I've over done it with articles here and else where about the Sustainable Population Australia and their political wing, the Sustainable Population Party. Bit bored now.

My interest, although mild, is the psychology of these groups and the sheer depth of group think. For the record, they polled less than .02 per cent of the vote at the last election.

A bit of personal perspective:

<<Population growth has the potential to get us things we cannot obtain in other ways: better cultural goods and a more productive, more entrepreneurial culture.>>

Correct, but as far as I'm concerned, both undesirable.

I came to Australia to have a simpler life, so I can be left alone and live in peace. According to the author's formal classification I came as a skilled-immigrant, but according to my own I was a refugee.

Pericles is quite right that "the anti-growth brigade are extremely comfortable with the idea of creeping mediocrity": Yes, I actually like it, otherwise I would have chosen a different country to migrate.

He continues: "quite possibly as a result of their own life experiences, and their inability to cope too well with change."

Yes, as a result of my life experiences I decided to make a huge change - to come to Australia! Being happy with the new lifestyle, why should I seek another, unfavourable, change? There are plenty of other countries occupied by rat-race, if that's what one is after, but none as easy and relaxed as Australia used to be [at the time I came].

Australians - you are taking the wonderful advantages of Australia for granted and have no idea what and how much you are in the process of losing due to this silly desire for economic and cultural growth!

Andrew Leigh "better cultural goods, such as international sporting events and great entertainers"

And where's your per capita stats on that?

We've already provided many legendary sportspeople/events and artists/entertainers, even with our "tiny" population.

How do we compare to Mongolia and Namibia in contributions to sport and art/entertainment?

How do we compare with China and India? (Can you count their world famous "cultural" superstars on one hand?)

"if extraordinary people like Albert Einstein and Steve Jobs are one in a million then it follows that they are also an argument for another million people"

No, because that one Einstein is accompanied by 999,999 losers.

Why not wait until that Einstein appears on the world stage and invite *him*, and only him, to migrate and ignore the other 999,999.

"Some evidence suggests that bilingualism raises intelligence"

Do we need another million immigrants every decade to *learn languages*?

"a global outlook is good for business"

And has nothing to do with how many foreigners live here.

We've always been big-time exporters, no matter what our immigration policy or demographics were at any time.

"good city planning and economically sensible policies"

Don't hold your breath.

So just keep piling in the immigrants, hoping some future politicians/bureaucrats will magically find the answers nobody else could find before?

"Even if we stopped all population growth tomorrow, cars would still become cheaper to buy and use"

And that means more cars on the road?

So I can buy two cars instead of one.
Can I magically drive two cheaper cars at the same time?

"a more productive, more entrepreneurial culture"

So why aren't the economies of India and China the world's best PER CAPITA?
With those huge populations, they should have many more entrepreneurs, right?

Malcolm 'Paddy' King "I've over done it with articles here and else where about the Sustainable Population Australia and their political wing, the Sustainable Population Party. Bit bored now."

Nobody mentioned them.
Until now.

The important thing about growing population sociologically is differences in family size - this is not our own population size, but tomorrow's. Groups with family sizes of six to ten upward will be bigger than other groups with family size of one to three, and our society will be different accordingly. We could have any number of migrants with 0-3 in family size without it making any difference to us tomorrow.

<< I've over done it with articles here and else where about the Sustainable Population Australia and their political wing, the Sustainable Population Party. Bit bored now. >>

Haaaa hahahaaa!

Oh come-on Paddy. Don’t stop now. You’re doing the poppos (antipops to you) a great service by continually raising the debate.

It’s a great tactic actually – to come out as strongly as you can against them, which really does prompt strong debate, and helps get SPA and SPP known in wider circles.

<< My interest, although mild, is the psychology of these groups… >>

Well, YOU present an interesting psychological study, with your articles and posts on OLO! ( :>)

Your interest certainly is with the psychology of the poppos, and not at all with their arguments! It seems that you really can’t be bothered assessing the veracity of their principles of a stable population or a sustainable society.

Here you go Luddy,

Here's a sample below. Your silly anti-people/sociobio 'argument' never amounted to much. Pretty much the same as it was to support sterilisations of poor people in the 60s and 70s. As for promoting the anti-human league, ask your candidates in Penrith and Adelaide if I helped their campaign. You're a very silly boy Luddy.

http://indaily.com.au/opinion/2013/11/05/no-growth-lobby-dominates-community-groups/

http://www.theage.com.au/comment/fortress-australia-green-washing-the-future-20131021-2vwzy.html

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/comment/population-alarmists-disregard-human-feelings-20131010-2vb5y.html

http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=15382

http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/54774

http://www.penrithcitygazette.com.au/story/1625627/malcolm-king-population-growth-in-penrith/

http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=15206

http://newmatilda.com/2013/06/07/stop-breeding-nations-sake

http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=14617

http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=13640

http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=10403

http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=9819

http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=8990

http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=8838