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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: The Philosopher who wrote (60566)10/1/2002 5:38:49 PM
From: Neocon  Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 82486
 
Sure, but you have no idea whether we are at all close to the limit, and, in any case, it is more humane to promote birth control than to leave billions in poverty, or to take away the amenities to which we in the West have become accustomed......



To: The Philosopher who wrote (60566)10/4/2002 6:19:54 PM
From: TimF  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 82486
 
The predictions of Malthus and the Club of Rome were wrong in their calculations, but not in their principles.

I'm not sure I agree with that statement.

Ok sure there is a limit to the amount of matter and energy in the universe and some level less (probably much less) then that would be a limit on what we could use for human needs but that limit is so far out that I think it might be considered a difference in principle not just calculations.

If someone in the 1960s predicts disaster by the end of the 1970's and the disaster really happens in the 80s I might agree that its just their calculations being off. If the limits of growth and disastrous consequences are reached in 2050 I might still agree. But if they are reached in another billion years then I would say that it is more then just a matter of their calculations being off.

Tim