-Caveat Lector-
2/28/01
9.3 billion people can be comfortably accommodated on this
planet. BUT NOT WITH CAPITALISM AS ITS ECONOMIC SYSTEM.
Get rid of Capitalism and you get rid of waste. Get rid
of Capitalism and you free up resources held and controlled
by a very few. Get rid of Capitalism and you can decentralize
economic power, thus returning democratic power to more
people in the developed countries.
Once these countries are democratically controlled, other
countries could develop as they need to and see fit.
The ONLY VOLUNTARY proven and demonstrable weapon against
overpopulation, IS ACHIEVING MIDDLECLASS-HOOD. This is
not possible in a system which encourages concentration of
wealth. Where, as in the US, 1% of the population owns 40%
of its wealth.
But the beneficiaries of such a system won't give up their
spot at the trough. So instead, they try every other available
method to reduce the numbers of poor. None of which achieve
the desired effect.
You simply can't have Capitalism AND a livable planet with
9.3 billion inhabitants. Our children and grand children.
Will they bless or curse your memory? It depends on what you
leave them.
Joshua2
Wednesday February 28 6:32 PM ET
World to Be More Crowded, Older, Poorer in 2050
By Irwin Arieff
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The world will be far more
crowded by midcentury, its people older and poorer
than they are today, the United Nations' chief
demographer said on Wednesday.
Over the next 50 years, the world's population will
likely soar to 9.3 billion from 6.1 billion, although
it could be as high as 10.9 billion or as low as 7.9
billion, said
Joseph Chamie, director of the U.N. Population
Division.
Of the total, 88 percent, or 8.2 billion people, will
live in developing nations, compared to 80 percent, or
4.9 billion people, today, Chamie told a news
conference.
Most of the growth will come in Asia and Africa, while
the world's wealthy nations, where about 1.2 billion
people now live, are expected as a group to remain
about the same size or even shrink a bit as birth
rates stay below replacement level, he said.
Therefore, the richest nations' share of the global
total will shrink to 12 percent by 2050 from the
current 20 percent, Chamie said, elaborating on his
division's latest
report on ''World Population Prospects.''
Just six African and Asian nations, India, China,
Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Indonesia, will
account for half the world's growth between now and
2050, he
said.
Within the group of industrialized nations, however,
there are sharp divergences. In contrast to most other
wealthy nations, the United States will grow rapidly
over
the next five decades, soaring to 400 million people
from 283 million last year because of a relatively
high birth rate and a steady flow of immigrants.
Canada and Australia are also expected to increase in
size, while Japan and Europe will be shrinking, Chamie
said.
Although AIDS is having a devastating impact on life
expectancy and population loss in the 45 mostly
African countries hardest hit by the epidemic, those
countries'
overall population will nonetheless grow steadily over
the next 50 years.
Growth is predicted even in Botswana, where the AIDS
infection rate is 36 percent, and in Swaziland and
Zimbabwe, where infections rates hover above 25
percent.
But South Africa, whose fertility rate is lower than
its neighbors, will shrink between 2010 and 2025
before growing again between 2025 and 2050.
Ranks Of The World's Elderly Will Mushroom
The ranks of the world's elderly will mushroom over
the next 50 years, with the number of people age 60 or
older jumping by 2050 to nearly 2 billion, 33 percent
of
the total population, from 606 million, or 20 percent,
today.
The number of people age 80 or over will rise to 379
million by 2050, accounting for 4 percent of the total
world population and more than five times as numerous
as the 69 million people aged 80 or over alive in
2000.
This trend will hit the rich nations hardest, causing
labor shortages and sending health care and pension
costs through the roof in Europe and Japan, Chamie
said.
But the labor market will be less affected in the
United States because it welcomes about 1.1 million
immigrants a year.
With the population growing so rapidly in the
developing world, Africa and Asia will be more
urbanized, ``with mega-cities growing largely in
developing countries,''
Chamie said. ``And finally, we will see a world more
ethnically and culturally diverse than today,'' he
added.
``Rapidly growing populations have less time to
prepare for change,'' Chamie said. ``These pressures
and strains are creating all kinds of challenges for
governments,'' he said, ranging from reassessments of
pension requirements and the retirement age to health
care budgets and immigration policy.
Sources: Reuters | AP | AP U.S. | The New York
Times | ABCNEWS.com
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