March 2nd: Population, Consumption & Sustainability

• Textbook, Ch. 6
• World Population Clock;
• U.S. Population Clock;
• World Death Rate Clock;
• The Impossible Hamster–What’s Wrong With Endless Population & Consumption Growth;
• The Good Life and Ecosystem Services;
• Center for a New American Dream;
• Steady State Economy;
• Degrowth Movement.
• Photographic Art: American Consumerism Self-Portrait; Portraits of Global Mass Culture
•  Textbook Ch. 22;
• Case Study: NYC Sustainability Plan, “PlaNYC”;
• Transition Towns Movement

Word Count: 1080

Our current system is unable to adequately ensure a continuation of human life on earth. While technological innovation may be able to slow the issue, it can only do so much for a growth driven society. Realizing and accepting this concept is the only way future generations will be able to maintain a standard of living that is sustainable for the long-term despite the effects of entropy. This viewpoint does not imply change on a mass scale should occur tomorrow, next week, or even next year. Capitalism and capitalist practices have existed since the Ancient World and have been nearly omnipresent since the sixteenth century (Encyclopedia Britannica). Arguably, it has been the most successful economic and social system in our history; however, human success is far removed from planetary success. Our survival depends on a widespread and staggered approach to rethinking both growth and the idea of sustainable. Therefore, this week’s focus is how the growing population necessitates better urban and suburban planning as well as a change in consumption capitalist economics.

            Overpopulation is a key focus for climate change advocates as the growing population results in growing environmental stressors. According to Chapter 6, there was 88 million new people just in 2015, 98% of which were added to the world’s developing countries. While technology has overall improved quality of life, technological advancements have allowed humans to overcome factors that limit the growth of every other population. These limits occur for a reason, and our surpassing them puts human life on the precipice of an unprecedented collapse due to ecological erosion. Fortunately, there are three solutions to the overpopulation crisis: economic development, empowerment of women, and promotion of family planning; however, these are all easier said than done. As of when this sentence was written, the world population was at 7,633,848,670 people and rapidly growing while our death rate, even at 1.8 people per second, was far behind. These statistics were put into perspective by the fun, yet morbid video of the Impossible Hamster. Although absolutely adorable, the hamster was a good reminder that nothing can increase infinitely without consequences, despite unfounded beliefs by politicians and economists. This video reminded me of the YA book, City of Ember who tackled a similar finite supplies will not last forever issue, even if it once seemed infinite (while throwing in a nice young love story arc for good measure). Another example of quantifying mind-numbing statistics is through the Portraits of Global Mass Culture and Photographic Art: American Consumerism Self-Portrait, both by Chris Jordan. These works of art were not only good marketing for the sustainability movement as a whole, but also showed the need to bring together various disciplines such as science and art in order to bring awareness and tackle the issue. Overpopulation is a particularly contentious issue because of the ethical concerns associated with rapid population curbing. While bringing awareness to the issue is certainly important, the best moral way to address it actually hinges improving quality of life for people around the world, a problem we have been unfortunately struggling with for the better part of modernity.

            The ratio and practice of urban, suburban, and rural population planning needs to change if sustainable practices are to be effectively implemented. More than 50% of the world’s people lives in urban and surrounding suburban areas. While growing city populations have increased access to better working and housing conditions including better sanitation, clean public water, expanded medical care, as well as helped to protect biodiversity, they have also let to a plethora of other problems including urban sprawl. This concept refers to the growth of low-density development on the edges of cities and towns which destroys forests, wetlands, prime cropland, and increases greenhouse gas emissions due to increased reliance on automobiles. There are several proposed solutions including new urbanism and transition towns. New urbanism, also know as old villageism is using cluster/mixed use development to encourage self-sufficient communities near cities i.e. creating organized and low-emission urban sprawl. Transition towns refer to grassroot community projects initially created by Rob Hopkins that aim to increase self-sufficiency to reduce the potential effects of peak oil, climate destruction, and economic instability. While these new living situations are promising, refining current cities is also beneficial as seen by PlaNYC in which Mayor Bloomberg released a strategic plan to prepare the city for the influx of one million more residents. The plan’s three major components – 2/3 of which were achieved – included preparing for a sharp rise in population, updating city infrastructure, and reducing carbon emissions. Urban planning is an often-underutilized climate change combatant as changing where we live could make almost as big of a difference as how we live.

            Reconstructing our entire economic system may sounds feasible on paper, but while this overhaul is necessary in the long run, it is nigh-impossible to conceive within our lifetime. In our current society money is inextricably tied with happiness in an exhaustive push to grow, grow, grow (The Good Life and Ecosystem Services). This mentality puts an unsustainable strain on earth’s resources and has created the Degrowth Movement, a political, economic, and social movement based on ecological economics, anti-consumerist and anticapitalistic ideas (Degrowth Movement Wikipedia). Their three goals are to: reduce the environmental impact of human activity, redistribute income and wealth both within and between countries, and promote the transition from a materialistic to a convivial and participatory society. This idea is similar to the Steady State Economy theory in which the economy does not grow over the course of time thus preventing resource exhaustion. They propose three more stringent government regulations including complete equitable wealth distribution, controlling population with reproduction licenses, and stabilizing the level of capital by restricting the economy (Steady State Economy Wikipedia). The Center for the New American Dream proposes another set of solutions for our current unsustainable growth patterns by reducing worktime and raising the number of employees per business. While this video was outdated (2011) and did not anticipate an economic rebound from 2008, their core idea that American work life is flawed is an important point to both conversations about mental health and environmentalism. While scientifically it is easy to understand that earth’s resources will not last forever, putting restraints on the economy, people’s living situation, and rights to reproduce lead into ethically ambiguous territory about personal freedoms versus the greater good. While changes are certainly necessary, they must be gradual, non-elitist and culturally sensitive if they are to succeed.

Questions:

1. Do you think Americans will ever willingly change their population distribution i.e. urban sprawl?
2. How do the ideas of freedom and liberty for all both pertain to and potentially limit climate change initiatives?