Jun 12, 2017
In this video I share the main concepts from the 1980 book Overshoot by William R. Catton Jr.
I address the issues of overpopulation, resource depletion, and what we can do about it from a permaculture perspective.
Essentially, the human population is not something we can simply ignore, or leave to “natural patterns” if we care about preserving resources for future generations and reducing unnecessary suffering.
One way or another the human population will be “managed” ie; kept in check. Without any intentional management on our part, it’s likely that the population will grow until it hits resource shortages that cause a population collapse. This would be a chaotic way to allow the population to be managed by the environment. (Which is what happens with most other living organisms)
Another option is to control the population through some central governing body, like China’s one-child policy. This also has disastrous consequences, and takes away a fundamental human right of planning your own family, and number of offspring.
The ideal way to manage the population is through educated individuals and families being free to make their own choices about such matters. However with this right comes great responsibility, because that means it’s up to US to be aware of the lands carrying capacity and voluntarily choose to not exceed it.
So, that’s partly why I’m sharing this video, to help spread awareness to you all, so you can make more educated informed decisions about your family, and how you consume resources in your daily lives. If we step up to this responsibility, and respond appropriately, then we can avoid the pains of either resources scarcity or oppressive governmental programs.
Transition Studies 