Please, stop having children. (Discussion about overpopulation)

[NghtRppr]

If everyone on Earth lived in a typical 2000 square foot home on a typical sized plot of land, we could fit the entire world population inside of Texas. Please stop claiming there are too many people. The planet is mostly empty. The issue is there isn't enough food. We need more food grown more efficiently. We also need more people! I love people! I may be biased though. Want to solve really tough problems? We need more Einsteins. How do you get more Einsteins? You grow the population to support a few more billion people. Eventually, a few of them will be exceptionally brilliant and break through these tough problems.

If you want to reduce the population, kill yourself. The fact you're still alive reading this means that even you don't believe your stupid theory.

[TheGer]

Or clean Water.  This is ofcourse by design.  What more effective way to kill people off than starvation or thirst.  Lower the global food output by say 20%.  How many millions would this kill worldwide?  GMO crops, contaminated water.  Elites buying up what's left to reap the biggest profits ever.  They are trying to kill us and have the planet for themselves.



"The issue is there isn't enough food"

[bitcoin0918]

This not true at all.  The Renaissance stemmed from people being released from the confines of a Feudal/Monarchical system of control.  In 13th century Italy, where it had it's beginnings(and spread over centuries from there) people were experiencing Political and Social freedoms.  This intellectual awakening flowed into more than just the Political and Social realms.  When people are free you will see them reach far beyond their grasp and accomplish amazing things.

I don't think we are in disagreement here. With political/social freedom comes economic freedom. Feudal lords and monarchs stopped taking and wasting people's money/resources/labor/time. People are allowed to keep more of their money/resources, save it for emergencies/retirement, invest it in productive endeavors, etc. Savings allows for free time - to become entrepreneurs, and push the limits of our knowledge. How can you say "this is not true at all" when we are in perfect agreement?

[TheGer]

You are putting the Cart before the Horse friend.

[chickenado]

No, stop having children because it's idiotic.

Kids means sacrificing and compromising at least part of your dreams and goals.

But you are sacrificing your life for what? So that your kid can sacrifice her life for her kids, ad infinitum?  That's absurd.

When having kids, you are not acting in your own best interest, you are acting in your genes' best interest.  

Well guess what, your genes are not conscious or capable of reason or compassion.  They are completely "dumb" and they will discard your body as soon as they have fulfilled their primitive mission.   You are just the sucker who they need for replication.  They have no "deeper purpose" other than replication for the sake of replication.  

That's why I say: Outsmart your genes and don't waste your resources on kids,  use them to attain immortality instead (or at least life extension and human enhancement).

[chickenado]

Want to solve really tough problems? We need more Einsteins. How do you get more Einsteins?

We're not gonna create more Einsteins by producing another billion people living in abject poverty.  Einsteins aren't born by chance. Well, at least the Einstein creation rate is very low if you just rely on chance. No, Einsteins are made.  Einsteins are created with the correct stimuli and environment.

There are just 13 million Jewish people in the world, yet they have produced almost half of all Nobel prize winners. How many Nobel prize winners came out of ethnic groups with high birth rates, that far outnumber Jewish people? Culture and education is everything, not brute force numbers.

Well perhaps the world needs more Jewish people. It's a shame they are a "by invitation only" club. Or at least the rest of the world should emulate whatever they are doing right.

In any case, scarce resources should be spent on giving fewer children a quality education, not on quantity. That way we could easily go from 1 Einstein per century to 10 Einsteins per century.

[RodeoX]

Bio 101 Species always grow in population until they surpass carrying capacity. Then they crash. Humans are just another animal and will pass "K" in our lifetime. Be ready or be eaten.

[evoorhees]

Humans are just another animal and will pass "K" in our lifetime. Be ready or be eaten.

So said Malthus. There is a very important distinction - animals can't increase their "K," while humans do it in perpetuity. We MAKE our "K"... it is not a set limit.

[RodeoX]

Humans are just another animal and will pass "K" in our lifetime. Be ready or be eaten.

So said Malthus. There is a very important distinction - animals can't increase their "K," while humans do it in perpetuity. We MAKE our "K"... it is not a set limit.

I have to disagree. We can increase or efficiency but that will only lead to more population growth. In the end there is still a limit that can not be exceeded.

[benjamindees]

Of course animals increase their K.  Every time a cow or chicken poops out a grain seed, it increases it's carrying capacity.  But there is always a limit.

[Algochain]

The New York Times had an interesting article about the effects of negative population growth in Germany (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/14/world/europe/germany-fights-population-drop.html?_r=0&pagewanted=all). Several countries in Europe, as well as Japan, are facing similar issues. The problem is that the labor force cannot expand without growth.

I think your issue is not that people should not have children, really - its more that people should understand the economic and parental responsibility of having a large family.

[jeffprovenHQ]

What is your proposing is against the view if human rights which is the right to live
This problems that we have is not because we are overpopulated,
It is because of the failures of the government and state to provide all access to live decently

[w0tur675]

Europeans should have at least 3 children per couple, because we're slowly getting replaced in our homelands by migrants.

[simpleholmes]

If you could provide them a solution of who is gonna look after us when we are old and sick than it maybe would work. (consider the whole world not just the developed countries)

[Elporkours]

As an inhabitant of the Earth, I hereby ask my fellow Humans of the Earth to consider stopping having kids.

Here's why:

1. The world population keeps growing
1950: 2.5 billion people
2011: 7 billion people
And it's not going to stop (the world population is estimated to reach 9 billion by 2050)

2. We are already too many
A non-negligible portion of the world population lacks access to adequate housing, basic sanitation, or even food and clean water.
How about improving the condition of existing humans, before thinking about creating new ones (who will consume resources)?

Not to mention our impact on the environment (global warming, pollution, extinguished species, shrinking forests...)

Here's a pretty informative image:
http://www.upack.com/images/info/population600.jpg

Now, even if you don't think there are too many of us, you can probably agree that there are enough of us.

3. Having 2 kids is too much right now
In the long term, if every couple has 2 children, there will be no population growth.
However in the short term (next few decades), due to population momentum, and increasing life expectancy, having 2 kids (or even 1) is going to increase the population size.
For example, China has a fertility rate of 1.5, but isn't expected to reach zero population growth before 2030.

Also, remember that raising kids:
- is expensive
- will eat up most of your free time
- will increase your impact on the environment.


So, please:
- use contraception
- if you really want to raise a child, consider adopting one.


See also:
- The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement (very rational).
- The Church of Euthanasia (Sense of humor required)

This problem might get sorted out sooner than you expected. These times are one of the best times imo.

[konteskarlo]

the importance of using a condom..

[skymia]

One need to be responsible enough to take care of their kids that they bring into this world!

[Cath0Vic]

Yes though we gotta stop population growth, but it is practically impossible to stop having children. Because people may adopt childre but no couples wants to

[AtomicDoge]

Start with yourself

[BADecker]

God's first command to mankind was, "Don't eat the fruit," (paraphrased). Mankind didn't obey, and the world fell into all kinds of turmoil, sin, pain, and death.

God's second command was, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth," (paraphrased). Only places like Bangladesh and some parts of India have done this. The rest of the world has less than 1% of the people in it that it could hold.

Then, God gave the 10 Commandments, which people didn't obey. And look at all the trouble, and wars, and fighting, and death that have come about... just because people won't obey God's commands.

Isn't it about time that we obey all of God's commands, including to fill the earth with people, so that things will go well for us?

Let's get out there and procreate as fast and as much as we can!