How can resource management address the issue of population control?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the relationship between resource management and population control, exploring whether population density is a problem or if it is primarily a matter of resource distribution. Participants examine various living arrangements and the implications of urban planning on resource allocation.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Exploratory

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants argue that the population issue is more about resource management and distribution rather than sheer numbers, citing that the entire world population could fit into France at a manageable density.
  • Others propose a vision of future living arrangements where people reside in well-planned cities with efficient transportation systems to farms, suggesting this could simplify logistics.
  • Counterarguments highlight the impracticality of living in very small lots, questioning the sustainability of such arrangements and emphasizing the need for adequate space for families to thrive.
  • Some participants reference the environmental impact of high population densities, suggesting that living like Americans would require multiple Earths and would lead to resource depletion and ecological instability.
  • There is a discussion about the reality of families living in smaller apartments, with some suggesting that multi-story buildings can accommodate more people than single-family lots.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the feasibility of high-density living and the implications for resource management. There is no consensus on whether population density itself is a problem or if it can be managed through better resource distribution and urban planning.

Contextual Notes

Participants reference various assumptions about living conditions, resource availability, and environmental sustainability, but these assumptions remain unresolved and are subject to differing interpretations.

e.coli
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There are some who have a political or other agenda motivating them to make a hue & cry about population control.

The http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html" is 6,903,465,258.

The http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France" (for example) is 260,558 sq. mi.

That means you can fit the entire population of the world into an area the size of France, at a population density of just under 26,495 people per square mile. At 640 acres per square mile, that's just over 41 people per acre (or an average family size of 4.7 people per 50'x100' lot)

That's not a population problem, that's a resource management/distribution problem.

Thoughts?
 
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If everyone lived in a single (well planned) city, with high speed electric trains shuttling people out to work on farms, logistics might be simple? Perhaps this will be the formula in the future - on new planets?
 
Not this argument again... A family can't survive on a 100' x 50' lot. Even if they could, I'd imagine they'd drive each other crazy and kill themselves.

I will refer you to this page, just because I don't feel like searching for journal articles about this subject: http://ingles.homeunix.net/rants/density.html

To sum it up, it would take 3 Earths for everybody to live like Americans. This also does not take into account resource depletion, environmental/soil degradation, the need for stable ecological systems, etc...
 
ektrules said:
Not this argument again... A family can't survive on a 100' x 50' lot. Even if they could, I'd imagine they'd drive each other crazy and kill themselves.

I will refer you to this page, just because I don't feel like searching for journal articles about this subject: http://ingles.homeunix.net/rants/density.html

To sum it up, it would take 3 Earths for everybody to live like Americans. This also does not take into account resource depletion, environmental/soil degradation, the need for stable ecological systems, etc...

Aren't there families living in 100' x 50' apartments (or much smaller)?
 
WhoWee said:
Aren't there families living in 100' x 50' apartments (or much smaller)?

Yeah, but they don't live off 5000 sq. ft. They don't get their fuel, food, and building materials from 5000 sq. ft.
 
ektrules said:
Yeah, but they don't live off 5000 sq. ft. They don't get their fuel, food, and building materials from 5000 sq. ft.

Of course not - were you responding to my post originally?

"If everyone lived in a single (well planned) city, with high speed electric trains shuttling people out to work on farms, logistics might be simple? Perhaps this will be the formula in the future - on new planets? "
 
WhoWee said:
Of course not - were you responding to my post originally?

"If everyone lived in a single (well planned) city, with high speed electric trains shuttling people out to work on farms, logistics might be simple? Perhaps this will be the formula in the future - on new planets? "

Oh. No, I was responding to the OP originally. Yeah, that might be good formula on new planets (if we ever get that far) where building self-contained environments in hostile environments would be expensive. I'd think it would be uncomfortable living that close together to other families in small quarters though.
 
ektrules said:
To sum it up, it would take 3 Earths for everybody to live like Americans. This also does not take into account resource depletion, environmental/soil degradation, the need for stable ecological systems, etc...

I hardly want to live like an American.
 
StevieTNZ said:
I hardly want to live like an American.

LOL. Well, substitute just about any "first-world" country for the word American, and the results are the same.
 
  • #10
WhoWee said:
Aren't there families living in 100' x 50' apartments (or much smaller)?
You failed to consider multi-story buildings currently seems to be comprised mostly of apartments. It makes the actual amount of area accommodate a number of people quite flexible in practice.
 

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