@Zervo Either way 3.1 is FAR above the replacement rate for a country that already had it's resources strained before a harsh drought in 2011.
In truth I feel the entire world is overpopulated but that is neither here nor there, I suppose. This is especially the case in the USA and Western Europe, since because we have the greatest wealth we consume the most resources, with Australia being #1 on a per capita basis and the US being #2.
A population decline really isn't as scary as people make it out to be. Japan is doing fine with a population decline it has sorely needed. (Japan is the size of California, has only about 20% useable landmass, and yet it holds the population of half the USA). Furthermore it would help the working people of the world everywhere, because labor could be further automated without so much demand for the few jobs that are left to begin with. Evidence? The biggest boom for the average person in the world before World War II was in Europe in the 1400s, when, due to the Black Death wiping out a large chunk of the population, laborers were a high-demand quantity and could therefore demand a better life.
Ideally, I would think the maximum world population should be at around 5 billion, with an ideal population closer to 1 or 2 billion. I know this will not happen in my lifetime (if I am lucky). I add if I am lucky because the only way to get population to fall that far is with a major war or with a massive environmental catastrophe (and as someone who has worked at NASA, that is not as far away as it may seem.)
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@Zervo Either way 3.1 is FAR above the replacement rate for a country that already had it's resources strained before a harsh drought in 2011.
In truth I feel the entire world is overpopulated but that is neither here nor there, I suppose. This is especially the case in the USA and Western Europe, since because we have the greatest wealth we consume the most resources, with Australia being #1 on a per capita basis and the US being #2.
A population decline really isn't as scary as people make it out to be. Japan is doing fine with a population decline it has sorely needed. (Japan is the size of California, has only about 20% useable landmass, and yet it holds the population of half the USA). Furthermore it would help the working people of the world everywhere, because labor could be further automated without so much demand for the few jobs that are left to begin with. Evidence? The biggest boom for the average person in the world before World War II was in Europe in the 1400s, when, due to the Black Death wiping out a large chunk of the population, laborers were a high-demand quantity and could therefore demand a better life.
Ideally, I would think the maximum world population should be at around 5 billion, with an ideal population closer to 1 or 2 billion. I know this will not happen in my lifetime (if I am lucky). I add if I am lucky because the only way to get population to fall that far is with a major war or with a massive environmental catastrophe (and as someone who has worked at NASA, that is not as far away as it may seem.)