And this point alone debunks the "overpopulation" myth. If we could all fit in Texas, that means the rest of the usable land could theoretically be used for the development of resources. And even with that we'd STILL be on the way to "overpopulation"? I dont buy it. As you said, I think its more about greed. But not just over consumption, but in regards to WHAT resources are getting pushed. For instance, Tesla had a model that utilized free energy. Instead of going with this, the elite went with the model in which they could make money off of. Instead of trying to develop water powered engines, we're running our oil usage up with no regard to its effects on the environment. Instead of solar powered energy, we're still going with the electric model. These are reasons we have the issues we have, not "overpopulation"...
As far as birth rates, Europe, like America, is on its last legs
Koncrete, you don't buy
gravity.
Here's something even funnier.
That you're aligning yourself with VC's resident self-proclaimed block-head is pretty funny.
Ugh.... much like the "professor", right...?
claimed back in the 70s that we would soon run out of oil but 47 years later we have more oil now than we had in the past with no end in sight.
What they were talking about was 'peak oil', as in the point at which the demand of oil starts exceeding the supply, and the cost of producing oil becomes so high that the oil we spend to get it out of the ground is almost equivalent. Here's a neat little 30 minute documentary on the concept of 'peak oil', and the danger we face in regard to it; not that it will be all be gone, but that our growing demand will eventually vastly exceed our ability to produce. I doubt you'll watch it, but I encourage you too, as it's decent and informative.
In truth, we actually have no idea how much oil we have,
True, which is why the Arctic has become such a hot-button issue between American, Russian and Canadian authorities, as both the warming conditions up there and the growing scarcity in other regions drives oil-speculators up there.
where it exactly comes from in the ground, how it's made, and or if it renews itself.
This isn't true. We have an exceedingly good idea of where oil comes from. It's ancient organic matter, mostly water-based like algae and plankton, that settled to the floor of whatever body of water it was present in and was eventually buried and compressed in conditions where little to no oxygen is present. The algae/plankton, which in life were basically floating goop, condense and fossilize into a denser goop over millions and millions of years, eventually becoming petroleum. In a sense that means petroleum is 'renewable', in that in the life-ages of the planet, more will eventually be produced. However, all the petroleum we've utilized in the last few centuries is millions upon millions of years old, and no new petroleum will be produced for millions and millions of years to come.
However, thanks to greed the corporations have decided to continue to use oil and cars have continued being made to utilize oil when in fact we could very easily be using renewable energy.
This is possibly true, but theoretical, and wouldn't prove 'very easy'.
The only thing that isn't sustainable is this consumer culture. All the problems the world faces today like the wars, famine, poverty, and etc. is caused simply by greed and not "overpopulation" but of course, the elite can't tell us that because then they wouldn't be able to own a disproportionate amount of the resources and so typically they use "overpopulation" as the scapegoat.
The massive volumes of piss and shit humanity and its livestock produce is widely documented as incredibly detrimental to the environment, and that has nothing to do with corporate greed whatsoever. I'd agree absolutely however that consumer culture is the main offender, but consumer culture is your culture and my culture, as much as you may not want to admit it. Own a home? Own a car? Own a phone? Own a computer? Congratulations, you're part of the problem. That's the issue here; we're not overpopulated if we'd all just start living like monks or surfs with strict community housing, strict community transport, strict community meals, all geared toward minimal impact on the environment... but very, VERY few people want to live that way. Our consumer culture and our quality of life go hand in hand, and sacrificing them is indeed essential if we want our environment to survive our growing population.