Population Overshoot

Population Overshoot, the idea that we may have already passed the Earth's sustainable carrying capacity- and may be in the process of devouring the biological capital that allows life to continue, is a terrifying and increasingly unavoidable topic. But how one addresses this topic depend upon how one views humans and their society in relation to the rest of Planet Earth. Depending on how long energy remains abundant and cheap, and depending on how much people all over the world are consuming, we may be near or past overshoot right now. But, of course, since these and other relevant variables are subject to outside pressures (such as our actions), nothing is decided yet.

Add to this problem other problems equally as scary: such as peak oil, climate change, species extinction, and resource depletion, and you start grasp the magnitude of the situation. We have to be heroic in order to surmount the challenges that previous generations have left for us. Nothing less and amazing will do the job. Right now we are watching bureaucrats and politicians walk around being mediocre, spouting meaningless platitudes. We need to be better than that. If we want to be buried in soil that is still capable of supporting life, we need to step up to the plate and be radically better than the generations that came before.

And even if we do all this, it still may not be enough. That is the reality, and I'm not to lie to you or hide that behind mumbo jumbo and fuzzy thinking. The number of challenges piling up in front of civilization is getting pretty intimidating. We may be fine without doing anything, although this outcome is increasingly doubtful. We may be fine after some hard work, although this too is increasingly doubtful. We may be fine after a lot of monumental work, but it may also be that no amount of work will be enough to save our civilization.

Rome fell, Greece fell, Egypt fell, the Ottoman Empire fell, the British and Spanish Empires fell, so did Napoleon's France, so did the Mayans and the Aztecs. Some fell on the own. Some fell because of outside forces. We may not be able to our civilization, just as so many other peoples could not save their civilizations. But despite the odds, we certainly must try.