Man, noted to be the most intellectual living being walking the planet. Top of the food chain and creator of renowned inventions. Today, not many humans live in the raw like our homo sapiens ancestors did but instead live in innovations that have been peaking for centuries. The building of exquisite shelters such as castles, paving of roads and today’s soaring skyscrapers housing hundreds of bodies in an artificially illuminated cube. As civilization becomes more and more prominent throughout the world, the growth of the population is also becoming prominent and maybe even a little over-bearing. It’s a balance, too many is too much and too little is not enough. Where is the the perfect bowl of porridge for population Goldilocks? What are the negative effects of too many and are there any positives?
As population growth rises, the measures that are being taken are almost non-existent in Western civilization. There are no restrictions on how many children a family can have or any type of regulations to control population numbers. Single and divorced parents make up over 50% of the population, more open to having children in extended and blended families. Moreover, some areas have no restrictions on building or no preservations protection in certain regions, therefore, developers who are well funded can just develop which in turn attracts more people in small spaces that eventually grow in numbers as they continue to reproduce and satisfy their needs for easy survival. For instance, when items are easily accessible to people like manufactured goods, it makes it easy to survive and thrive and attracts more people to the area. Those people that are in the area mate and reproduce at faster rates because it’s easier to do, even if they can’t necessarily afford it. As we create a common use of land, sea and other resources, we use up a limited supply. This essay will cover population issues parallel to Garett Hardin’s take on The Tragedy of Commons.
The Tragedy of Commons
Pollution
There is deep and even philosophical thought put into The Tragedy of Commons. Garret Hardin writes on pollution about how free enterprise is a bottomless pit of business even though the pit is not really bottomless. “Fouling our own nest” states Hardin, as he pounds on man in indulging business practices that are primary for individualist and financial gain rather than the benefit and sacrifice, if you will, for the environment. Hardin goes on to state that political intervention is really more of a cost effective and favorable approach towards the entrepreneur for quick fix solutions that will flash money savings rather than completely look at the conflict and searching for a well thought out, real solution.
In my opinion, freedom is exercised by the government and the government gives the rights to man and the man acts on his own behalf, paying the government tax and other fees that allow man to operate lucratively. The more lucrative the operations, the more money the government gets. Thus feeding the beast in the bottomless pit that really isn’t bottomless. As operations flourish and cut corners to produce, more is produced, flocking people to consume those productions and creating waste. It’s a balloon that keeps expanding until one day, it may just explode. The explosion is the depletion of resources, the contamination of land and the clearing of natural terrain. The list goes on and as more development, construction, manufacturing and free enterprise continues to flourish, humanity loses more and more of the lands that otherwise would be plentiful. I do believe free enterprise is not as glorious as business institutes and the government claims it to be. Sure, it can make an entrepreneur money but what is the real impact of an infinite array of products on the market? Maybe it’s the sloths losing their homes because canals are being built for the import and export of goods. And how essential are these goods as cargo being transported in large ships, plaines and trucks filled with propane and gasoline. Whilst we cargo products and goods, more fracking into the ground using toxic chemicals and loads of water is needed to feed the tanks. Does a human really need another version of chap stick shipped and trucked across the country and overseas? Corporations are ruling the planet. They are taking over and not all of them follow sustainable practices or even have environmental responsibility. As corporations are running the show, the government is supporting their efforts. Overall, this is a fast paced, highly driven method, driving traffic and gravitating many people to depend on such a lifestyle when almost anything they need is a car ride away. According to Paul Collins, “Business wants to maintain consumers for goods and services, regardless of the pressure this puts on local environments.” Because the government significantly protects businesses, because businesses are a prominent money source, ethics and morality takes a back seat.
Media even controls a hypnotizing effect on the public by deterring critically important news and drowning that in news that really is not as important. For example, while rich oil and gas companies are fracking in regions throughout the country, they are contaminating the water and poisoning the land with toxic chemicals, these chemicals are soaked up and people live and drink in that region everyday. Now, a heinous crime in another state makes headlines or gay rights are mentioned almost everyday but most of us are not gay. What we really should be concerned about is news about our everyday needs, like the water we drink or the air we breath. The media puts focus and snowballs interest and passion on a subject that we really don’t have to deal with on a daily basis other than reading it in the news. This is not to say that that news is not important, but the media propaganda gets the public worked up on issues that really are not as necessary, while corporations slide under and continue to contaminate our environment. Just look at the exciting commercial between breaks. GMO infested cereal that is really not healthy to eat, more products to hypnotize the public to consume. The public in Western civilization is programmed to consume and live primarily off corporations.
Today, our population is using up resources at an alarming rate and population issues are a critical component to why this rapid consumption is occurring. Immigration, mixing of cultures, reproduction and no regulation. Paul Collins goes on to say “There are powerful vested interests maintaining high rates of immigration in Western countries which are zero population growth” In essence, opening up the borders to more immigration than the country can handle feeds the need to support their lifestyles and add them to the consumer list.
Civilization is not all bad, there have been monumental break throughs in quality of life and liberty. All races and genders are able to function independently and make their own choices in their quality of life. The feminist movement has put women in the workforce and has given them more power in their choice in reproduction. There are cures and vaccines to help save the lives of our loved ones and ourselves. And there are miracles that happen everyday. But we must remember that our planet is a miracle and extremely rich with beauty.
As the human minds thinks of new ways to make life better, as a species we really need to think about the future generations and think above and beyond just capital gain. Money is important in life but it’s also a necessary evil. As modern society jet sets, drives luxurious vehicles and consumes products that can actually be lived without, we are diminishing those resources for our future generations. As a species, we have a moral responsibility to pass on to our kin and we truly must ask ourselves, are we consuming too much?
Since population growth is a critical factor in how society uses up resources, environmentalists have been and are continuing to push for solutions. “Because population growth cannot continue indefinitely, society can either voluntarily controls its numbers or let natural forces such as disease, malnutrition, and other disasters limit human numbers. Either way, Mother Earth, will find a solution. Nature is beauty but do not underestimate the power of nature. One storm can wipe out an entire city if powerful enough. Though nature is paramount, we should still carry a respect for it and unfortunately a large portion of the population even leaders do not carry such respect. The world needs real leaders, not leaders of war and fighting over land, but leaders who reflect respect of the land.
Discussion
In my opinion, I think industrialization, governmental interventions and free enterprise are poisonous to the planet. Freedom is a quality that we can not take lightly but it’s a minefield to dictate the morality of freedom. There are so many different perspectives on what’s best. With that said, the most important act I believe should be to decrease development. As areas begin to develop with a shopping center, followed by a nail salon and followed by a fast food restaurant, more people flock to consume. As people congregate, they breed and thus more consumption. An average American wouldn’t know what to do with themselves if they were put out into the wilderness and had to survive. The average American would probably starve to death because we are not trained to work hard and ethically for our nourishment, we are trained to purchase that from corporations who are for the most part in it to make a quick buck.
Bibliography
Bartlett, A. A. (1997-98). Reflections on Sustainability, Population Growth, and the Environment —Revisited. Renewable Resources Journal 15(4): 6–23.
Collins, P. (2009, December 17). The morality of population control. Retrieved July 19, 2016, from http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=18362
Hardin, G. (1968, December 13). Tragedy of the electronic commons. Science, 277(5325). doi: 10.1126/science.277.5325.453e
