Originally posted by AThousandYoungWell, by us, I think I meant those of us who have the time and luxury to not starve to death. The number of people who can potentially starve to death this year is far greater than those that are unlikely to.
I think you're right, though I am unsure who 'we' are in your post. Everyone? The U.S.? People with more than average income?
I think however that it might be a deeper problem though; I think it may just be part of human nature, and even beyond that, a part of the nature of life. It's related to basic Darwinian principles: any organism will r ...[text shortened]... ocialism that also involved strict birth control rules. I don't know if it would be practical.
It is an interesting point you make about human population naturally expanding to exceed available resources and you may be right. However, I think that there is, at least, circumstantial evidence to suggest that the better off people are, the fewer children they tend to have. Families in third world countries have unreasonably large numbers of children, primarily to help them survive. They are cheap labour and can provide a meagre income. Also, they tend to die off fairly quickly so the long term economics tends to work out. The fact that certain regions, many of which are remarkably firtile bear the brunt of world poverty suggests to me that it isn't just natural forces at work.