Common Sense

To me it has never seemed “rocket science” to see that there would be natural consequences to rampant population growth. Our planet is a finite size. Its resources are limited. We are an island traveling through space. All beings need food and water for sustenance, need materials to build shelter, and, in turn, we create wastes that go into our environment. “Global Footprint Network data shows that humanity uses the equivalent of 1.68 Earths to provide the renewable resources we use, and to absorb our wastes.” ¹ We have long since surpassed our planet’s capacity to support healthy life . . . that is an obvious truth.

On a smaller scale, we can look in our backyard garden and see when an aggressive plant unchecked can crowd out and overcome the rest of the plants . . . so we weed, we control the growth. Imagine if we let our pets breed unchecked. One litter of pups or kittens (all of whom would also have their own litters) would quickly overwhelm our households. It is very simple to see the inherent problems of allowing uncontrolled growth in the plant and animal worlds. Looking at the earth as our garden, it is clear that humanity has grown out of control and is wreaking havoc on our “garden.”