Blog #17
POP go the numbers! (Blog 3 of 9 on Population)

Written by
Lory Kaufman

What follows is a graph of human population for the past 12,000 years. It hopefully brings home how humans truly have outstripped our biology. Studying it you will notice how there was a relatively slow increase of human population until about 400 BCE, and then it increased more steadily. But then in the 18th century the increase sped up and in the 19th century it began increasing exponentially. That’s why a graph is so good at illustrating what happened. Population shot almost straight up in an incredibly short time to where it is now.

Continue Reading: 10min Read

Here’s a very short recap of the illustration in writing; About 13,000 years ago it’s estimated that there was one to five million humans. Twelve thousand years later, in 1340 AD, there were almost 450 million. Ten years later, after the Black Death in Asia and Europe caused an almost 25% drop in the population, there were 350 million. But less than 500 years later, because of many inventions, humans bounced back and reached ONE BILLION people. One hundred and twenty five years later, in the 20th century, despite many more plagues and a host of horrific wars that included automated slaughter machines, we humans doubled our breed to 2 BILLION. In 1960 we hit 3 BILLION, 1987 – 5 BILLION, AND 2011 – 7 BILLION.

Until recently I thought the idea that we need lower populations was becoming a staple of thought in liberal-thinking countries. But just the other year the province of Quebec in Canada started talking about needing an increase in population to keep their economy and their Francophonie up.

Hungry is doing the same thing, at the same time as rejecting refugees because they are not Christian.

And the biggest example, China reversing the one-child policy they implemented in 1979. It was very effective in cities, although it was not as successful in rural areas. However, in 2013 they cancelled the policy and implemented a two-child policy, stating they must keep their population up to the levels needed by economic theory for keep the economy growing. And now, in 2021, right in the middle of a world pandemic, the Chinese government has announced they will allow families to have three children. This is more proof that the Communist revolution is over and they’ve accepted Western neo-classical economic practices. There are many more examples.

As with the Chinese, most governments still promoting population growth in the 21st century comes from the dominant economic system’s observation that economic growth depends on population growth and that economic growth is a good thing.

And democratic politicians, with western political mandates lasting only 4 to 8 years, end up having to make contradictory statements to their ill-informed populations.

Politicians promise a better future because of economic growth while also promising to protect the environment. The two are mutually exclusive. You can’t have both in our present system. This, as it turns out, is a natural law! This is why the steady-state economy I modelled is based on humans’ natural physiological reaction to living in an society where there is economic safety. They naturally have fewer children.
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