I think that overpopulation is a real problem. It's just another one of those things no one, especially politicians, likes to talk about. The new limits to growth scenarios seem to indicate that the human population may have already overshot the carrying capacity of the planet. We've done this using relatively cheap food produced by fossil fuel inputs in agriculture. I don't think anyone is recommending mass extermination programs. It may not even be necessary to do much intervention. In many countries, including where I live in T&T, falling sperm counts in males are contributing to much reduced fertility levels. I'm not sure what is causing this, maybe certain hormones fed to animals, or chemical pollutants like plastics.Cheap oil purchased what Ecology calls "ghost acreage," where an acre produces more than it possibly can. We have overshot our ecosystemic carrying capacity by a factor of between three and four.
I think all the things being mentioned are important to restore sustainabilty: population control, reducing levels of consumption, non-growth economics, buying locally produced foods etc etc. It may not be effective just to focus on one strategy.
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