Are There Too Many People On The Planet?

With a population approaching 10 billion, this episode debunks the overpopulation argument and looks to the real driver of environmental degredation - overconsumption.

Guests include; Charles Mann, author and journalist and Farhana Yamin, environmental lawyer and activist

Sources:

[tiredofthebs]

Yes there too many people. Less people, less competition, less headaches and stress.

[Mc.Scrumpy]

All of humanity's problems would be solved if there were less people

[FUJIIDEW]

Honestly, working in the food industry in the US has shown me how much Americans overconsume compared to a lot of other nationalities. When an American family places an order I've noticed it consists of a lot more food compared to say, an Indian family. Time and time again I've seen this pattern and as an American myself I can understand why. Our portion sizes are outrageous yet growing up we are taught to finish every last bite instead of downsizing the portion size itself. Sad to see the consequences.

[MysteriMaan]

Way too many people here in my tiny country.

Housing prices are through the roof became its so competitive.

[ThePlantParadigm]

Consumerism is definitely an important conversation we all need to have with ourselves and others!

[StephenLeGresley]

We are very overpopulated.

Governments and companies try to promote the idea that we're not because they want more workers, taxpayers and consumers but look at the population density issues, look at the rates of poverty and homelessness, look at the traffic congestion issues and the energy consumption issues.

And yes, I know people will say we have enough food and homes for people, we just have companies and governments unwilling to act on it. But let's be honest here, that's not going to change anytime soon. We need population shrink in order to bring the population back down to a more manageable size for the world and systems we live in.

[toscagarciagil]

In my mind, Jack Harries' voice has become a symbol of hope for the future.

[JacobAndJamal]

YES. And the people like Elon Musk who argue that there is “under” population; are looking at it from a position in society dependent on workers. At the least if you want to argue about overpopulation, then we can agree that there are too many people trying to live in the same places with limited resources or resources too expensive for the majority of the population.

[katia]

Its literally terrifying. I think about it all the time

[toninof]

Based on what we're doing to the environment we depend on, and how we treat other sentient beings - yes, there are around 7.8 billion humans too many...

[nazarkonevych]

Started about the overpopulation, ended about the climate

[AlexPresa]

Love how these videos leave a hopeful end to humanity. Just gotta actually change practically but lovely work Jack and team!

[Airdash]

If people’s lives are becoming less and less meaningful then we may already have the answer

[LegendarySkyHero]

Food pricing has been rising steadily and it does not seemed to go down. I don't think we are able to feed everyone on the planet more than it is now in the next decade.

[lub]

very interesting! I like the emphasis on the root of the problem: rather than focussing on the number of people (which is difficult to control), we should focus on those people’s actions, it’s also is a way of seeing the positive of what such a vast amounts of people can do. Great!

[IAmNotABot]

Well, while it's true and important to highlight that the root of the problem is overconsumption, I think is also important to understand that the problem goes way beyong that. Because the problem is not only overconsumption, but really, with that many people, simply consumption. And western society is based on the idea of consumption. Very very hard to transform society that much to the point of deconsumption.
And then, even countries consuming the Earth resources later at the year, are still overconsuming it, and then remember, they are only ONE country. So really, even if the west/rich countries would stop tomorrow all emissions, we would still be troubled.
The solution obviously is Degrowth, but everyone needs to be onboard, and that's almost impossible.

[ragnarkisten]

Poverty leads to more environmental unfriendly living, not less!

[Iamrightyouarewrong]

All the people who think that there is, aren't willing to leave themselves though.

[LeGrandeCappucinna]

We can see the issues already... and we're only 8b. Imagine in 2050, 10b. I'm glad I didn't have kids. 10 b people is ruinous.

[jeremyncrm]

I promise you as an American there’s no way this country ever accepts environmental reparations. It would be great for the world to become fair and equal and sustainable, but I’ve seen to much of real human nature, and it’s not happening.