Dear Mr Opinion,

I thought that I've already explained about
agriculture ie -food.

mhaze: "Its the same old Malthusian rubbish."

So, is it fair to assume that you don't believe that there are any limits to exponential human population growth? You don't accept that more people means more pressure on the environment and biophysical support systems and an acceleration of resource depletion rates? You don't accept that humanity is trashing our only planet and that more people will only make this unsustainable situation worse, not better?

All the evidence suggests to me that more is not merrier and that rapid population growth usually results in more pain than comfort. In most countries, a rapidly expanding population effectively strangles efforts to provide better per capita levels of education, nutrition, health care, employment and housing and almost guarantees enduring poverty.

As the late Garrett Hardin said about population: "The maximum is not the optimum."

the poor "Lefties
Foxy,
there's no such people.

Loudmouth: "But there does seem to be a focus on imposing 'solutions' on developing countries as if they are the problem."

Well, given that these countries are the source of rapid population growth, one cannot address the overpopulation issue without focusing on the developing world. Sorry but there is no way around that. Screaming 'racisss!' at people is just wrong and unhelpful.

"So what if a quarter of the population of some countries will be newcomers who provide the necessary labour to keep those societies going?"

I'm not sure why any country, having stabilised its own population, should be compelled to accept the surplus populations of other countries. That sounds like a form of imperialism to me. If every country took reasonable measures to stabilise its population, the world would collectively be in a much better position (and probably a lot happier too).

In any case, importing labour is not necessary to keep developed societies 'going'. Automation and the more effective use of the existing labour force will support the demographic transition. A lot of the jobs that currently exist in developed countries are BS and will disappear in a tighter labour market.

individual,

You should get out more.

Dear Mr Opinion,

Regarding food - we know that in recent decades
there's been impressive growth in food production which has been
attributed to the development of improved disease-resistant
varieties of stable crops, the increased use of chemical
fertilizers and pesticides and the expansion of irrigated cropland.

Nevertheless food production declined in many developing
countries - in some areas loses from poor land management have
erased the benefits which had been gained, consequently
developing countries food imports are rising dramatically to
compensate for local deficits.

A country's ability to feed itself very much depends on
the availability of arable land, accessible water and
population pressures. The more people there are especially
in poor countries with limited amounts of land and water the
fewer resources there are to meet basic needs. In some poor
countries attempts to increase food production and
consumption are undermined by rapid population growth, by
migration from rural to urban areas, by unequal land
distribution, by deepening rural poverty and of course by
widespread land degradation.

Lower birth rates, along with better management of land and
water resources are necessary to avert chronic food shortages.

Shadow Minister: "4 decades ago Zimbabwe was extremely prosperous. It fell into ruin not because of the incompetence of the new government, but rather its kleptocracy and greed."

Ethnically cleansing some of its most productive citizens and seizing their farms didn't help either.

Tragically, it seems the racist, neo-Marxist government in neighbouring South Africa wants to go down the same path.