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accustomed to (and that all others on earth are aspiring for) and that our level of civilization
demands, we have no choice but to drastically reduce our numbers to a level that is within the
earth’s ability to regenerate.
Merely halting the global population at 7 billion, therefore, is not a solution. How well we want
to live will determine how many of us the earth can accommodate. And since human nature
demands constant improvement in our way of life we can only fulfill our personal and
civilizational needs by further reducing our numbers.
Long Life Spans
Not only is the earth overpopulated and straining under our ever-growing demand for resources,
we now also live longer than ever before. Life expectancy has risen dramatically over the
course of the past 100 years. While at the beginning of the 20 th century one could expect to live
about 35 years, at the beginning of the 21 st century one can expect to live nearly 70 years. This
doubling of our life spans means that modern human beings not only consume substantially more
resources than people in the past, but that they also consume them for twice as long as their
forefathers.
Overpopulation, overconsumption and long life spans are polar opposites of the conditions under
which man lived in the distant past, when he was at the mercy of nature, was scarce in numbers,
lived from hand to mouth and died young.
We have overturned the natural equilibrium that keeps species in symbiotic relationships and in
so doing we have become a threat to the natural environment that sustains all life on earth,
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