OVERFLOW

Overpopulation is a serious issue for mankind, and in my opinion, it may even be our most serious one at that. Multiple issues stem from overpopulation, poverty, sanitation, hunger, social equality etc. If our population was safely managed, then we would assist in cultivating a more sustainable existence for mankind. The only dilemma is that we already have over 8 billion people on earth, and are constantly growing. So, decreasing the population would either include killing innocent people, or limiting birth rates for the future. Both in which you could argue are morally, and ethically wrong solutions. Humans are in what I would call, the most crucial dilemma that mankind has ever faced. If we continue to grow in size the sustainability of our world will dwindle. Poverty will increase, disease will run rampide while quality of life will be futile.

(Model sustainable values: Take time to have values-based discussions before determining actions.) I think before we take actions in solving this critical issue we need to sit down as a collective unit and come up with a reasonable solution. The solution doesn’t have to be as drastic as the Georgia guide stones proclamation to keep the population at around 500,000,000 individuals but maybe we can possibly come to a more plausible solution. It all comes back to communication. We are not 8 billion individuals trying to get “our own” we are 8 billion humans sharing the same earth. We are all one. We came to this earth as one and we will all leave this earth as one.

(Respect and integrity: Think through short-term and long-term goals and consequences over time, value the systems harmony over individual convenience.)

The system that we have in place right now as a society is not sustainable. If we continue like this, we will perish. I don’t have a solution for overpopulation but if the solution means some sort of sacrifices that we all have to collectively make then we need to come to that decision as a unit. We need to create a new system, and infiltrate the problems in the existing one. We are already experiencing consequences from the current systems and will continue to experience more as time goes along. Everything is interconnected; everything is affected by each other so many of the interventions lie in the very issues that overpopulation creates.

(Humility: The earth doesn’t belong to us, we belong to the earth.) Humans are essentially parasites sucking up all the natural resources from the earth. We give very little back to the environment. The earth has literally no use for us in theory and if the earth was alive which many scientists think it is. then it has every reason to kick us off at the very moment. We need to have a greater respect for our planet and not consume ourselves with our selfish ways. We need to keep a balance with humanity and nature, which we do not have at the moment. Our egotistical way and our synthetic ideologies will be the death of us. We are more concerned with inanimate objects that mean very little to the longevity of our society and less about natural resources.

(Learn and understand: Understand the nature of ecosystems and biomes.) With that being said we need to dedicate our existence to learn about the very entity that gives us the power of existence “Nature” mankind and nature are not separate entities they are intertwined with each other. When a human said I’m “One with nature” it’s kind of ironic because they say it as if they weren’t before however they were a part of nature before and always will be even after he dies. Nature is an all-encompassing entity that embodies all of us and we need to start noticing that.

(Do No Harm: Don’t do anything that depletes Earth’s Physical, chemical, and biological capital.

Give the system time to replenish and restore depleted resources and living systems.) This seems like a no-brainer but like I mentioned before that’s exactly what we have been doing to the earth as a society. When we take something from the earth we should give back. Although we have been doing this a lot more recently, it’s still something we need to collectively work on. Overpopulation falls into that problem. We keep taking space on the earth and we don’t leave room for nature. We as a society want drastic change and growth to happen overnight, however, that’s not how nature works. If it remotely works like that we would have been gone centuries ago. We as a society do forth with how we see that we can increase our own personal gain rather than what’s beneficial for all of us, including the environment.

(Grow like a tree not like an invasive species:)

The most important thing to take away is that change happens over time. The remedy to Overpopulation will not be concocted in one year, two years or even a decade. Just like how the problem arose, the solution will take even longer. We need to be patient and diligent as a collective society. With our egos aside we can do anything. If anybody should have an ego it should be earth because he’s the only one in this equation that has a say. I have faith in humanity.!!!