Yabby, I share your concern for the pygmies and other oppressed peoples. However that issue has nothing to do with depletion of natural resources in any country. I accept that both tribal conflicts and resource disputes can lead to war - but we are not talking about the causes of war or the effect of war on the depletion of resources. We are talking about the significance of the depletion of finite resources and what causes it. I suggest it is very significant and there are two main causes. Population growth is one cause but the more important cause is the everincreasing demand for raw materials to satisfy the demands for improved lifestyles.
For 400 years most of the raw materials needed to support Europe's advanced lifestyle have come from outside Europe. America's current living standard is also based on access to overseas resources. With about 1/20th of the world's population its economy needs about 1/3rd of the world's resources. Expansionist industrial economies are always hungry for vital raw materials. The danders always from countries that have the commercial and military might to back up their demands. I am not so concerned about the long-term unfairness of this situation as about the short-term consequences of the shortages. I cannot see any future stability without universal commitment to sustainable economies in equilibrium with the world we live in.

Instead of the best economies being judged as those with fastest growth rates we should judgee economies by their prospects of achieving stability. If China and India both both continue to expand both their populations and living standards at their present rates we are all for it.

Goforit, now you are addressing a different issue altogether.

Fact is we've gone from 1.5 billion to 6.5 billion in a hundred
years, heading for 10 billion and nobody says boo about it. Next
thing all those 10 billion want to live in luxury, well in that
case the wheels will fall off the cart of sustainability.

Resources are priced, based on what people, ie the market,
is prepared to pay for them. We Australians virtually give alot
of them away, far too cheaply, IMHO. As demand rises, so will
prices. Higher prices will lead to more careful use of them.
Have petrol go to 3-4$ a litre and watch how people adjust their
lives with smaller cars, fewer wasted trips etc. While its
cheap, they will continue with their V8s and 6s etc.

The reason that growth is pushed by policitians, is the simple
fact that if you look around, everybody wants to be rich. Note
how many buy lottery tickets every week!

Personally thats not my scene, but thats just me. I am not
about to tell others how to live their lives, or what their
values should be. Fact is however, that if we as a global
humanity don't live sustainably, in the end, dear old mother
nature will sort it all out for us. If you read an economic
theory, called the Tragedy of the Commons, its hard to dispute
that this will eventually happen.