Rand Simberg wrote:

On Sat, 20 Mar 2004 01:16:04 GMT, in a place far, far away, Dick
Morris made the phosphor on my monitor
glow in such a way as to indicate that:

Right *now*, however, there is
a great amount of poverty, even in the wealthiest nations. Clearly,
our population is much larger than can be effectively accomodated on
Earth with our present technological level.

That is not clear at all. Your conclusion doesn't follow from your
premise.

We are presently heavily dependent on "phantom carrying capacity"
created by the one-time bonanza of fossil fuels like petroleum.

That's like saying that in the early nineteenth century, we were
"heavily dependent on the one-time bonanza of fossil fuels like coal."

We are still dependent on coal, of course, but it won't last forever any
more than petroleum.

The petroleum will probably run out sometime around the middle of the
century, and replacing it with renewable sources will be very difficult
and enormously expensive.

And as that occurs (if it does), its price will rise, resulting in
increased research into replacements.

Like fusion? I personally wouldn't count on it, and I'm not all that
thrilled with basing our survival on the production and distribution of
tons of plutonium per year either. The various forms of solar energy,
including SPS, will be available for many billions of years to come, but
they also are finite, and developing them even to the point where they
can support the present population will take a lot of time and money (if
it can be done at all). Furthermore, the rise in energy prices may not
be gradual, just like Stock Market crashes are not gradual. The point
is not that we are "doomed, DOOMED", but that there are serious problems
ahead and things cannot go on the way they are forever. Endless
population growth does not work on a finite planet.

I recommend a book called "Overshoot..." by
Catton, which may clear up some things.

I doubt it.

Of course you do: It's not "politically correct". But I've read at
least a dozen books by people like Julian Simon, Dixy Lee Ray, Ron
Arnold, etc., etc. ad nauseum, so you could read at least one that
disagrees with your position. Doesn't have to be that one. You could
also try "Betrayal of Science and Reason" or "Population Explosion" by
Ehrlich. For an excellent history of wildlife in North America and the
surrounding waters try "Sea of Slaughter" by Mowat.

Poverty is largely caused by misgovernment, not by overpopulation per
se, even at our current technology level.

I see you didn't have a response to this.

I've gotten the impression that you think ALL government is
"misgovernment", so I wasn't sure if there was any point in arguing.
Even if we could magically institute good government all over the world
tomorrow, the improvement in sustainability would only buy us some
time. Population growth would eventually outstrip the increase in
agricultural production.