'Our homes, too, are much bigger, and food is more plentiful than ever. There is no reason why these trends cannot continue as the population rises ... Even at 300 million, the United States is not "overpopulated." We remain a vast country with lots (and lots) of open space. One need only gaze out the window at 30,000 feet while flying cross-country to appreciate how much of America remains rural or unpopulated. We could give every American household an acre of land and still fit all 300 million of us in the states of Illinois, Iowa, and Missouriwith the rest of the country set aside as one giant national park.' (http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=6729)
What a denial of reality. Yes, America sure does look empty from the air and often looks very empty even from land. There is no way that Americans can sustain their current lifestyle on one acre of land per household. This article ignores the very real poverty present and growing inside the US and the effects of America's economic imperialism on the rest of the world (i.e. the US is like a black hole, sucking nutrients and resources out of the rest of the planet). American population size may not be a problem, but American consumption certainly is. Because of the 'economics solves everything' perspective of the Cato Institute, I'm not sure how to communicate with them. Frankly, the problem is even more fundamental. Here is one person's response to an 'Inconvenient Truth' type lecture in Louisville, KY: 'the solutions need to taste better than cod liver oil. "Where's the seamless and easy way to live a carbon-free life?"' (http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061013/NEWS01/610130360&SearchID=73259773778191) CL J. Michael Nolan wrote: > These are serious questions, no sarcasm intended. > > Is this something we should be concerned about? > > If so, what should we or can we realistically do? > > http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=3D6729 > > Source: Cato Institute ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cara Lin Bridgman P.O. Box 013 Phone: 886-4-2632-5484 Longjing Sinjhuang Taichung 434 Taiwan http://web.thu.edu.tw/caralinb/www/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
