title: The real problem.
abstract: I really was dismayed to see the basic cause of all our planet's problems buried in the September/October 96 issue: "...religious zealots might wreck the family planning needs of a billion people...."  Let's face hard facts: all these problems would go away if the planet's population were small enough.  What we really need to establish is what the population of the earth should be, and then set out to achieve that population as soon as possible.  All of our efforts to reduce automobile pollution, the amount of reactor waste, the number of species being obliterated, etc., are just postponing the inevitable.  What we need to look at, and keep track of, are those factors that encourage expanding population and discourage population control.  For example, most businesses like to see the population expand so they can have a growing customer base.  I truly appreciate your efforts.  But if we are going to get anywhere we have to clearly identify the real problem.  And then we have to break it down into manageable pieces and go to work on them.  Otherwise we are going to keep looking at the graphs and wringing our hands as this accumulation of problems builds until it sweeps over us like a giant tsunami.
mesh_terms: D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D003710:Demography; D004777:Environment; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D011153:Population; D011155:Population Control; D011157:Population Dynamics; D011158:Population Growth; D011640:Public Policy; D012106:Research; D013223:Statistics as Topic
keywords: Carrying Capacity; Critique; Demographic Factors; Environment; Estimation Technics; Natural Resources; Policy; Population; Population Control; Population Dynamics; Population Growth; Population Growth Estimation; Population Policy; Research Methodology; Social Policy