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[LeoLeonardoIII]

You can't reduce the number of rabbits in Australia by killing them off in Brazil ...

This just means your Area of Effect is not big enough.

Don't blame the developed nations? Some of the developed nations, regardless of population growth, are the ones sucking up the majority of the resources. The massive reproduction rate is more of a tool to ensure human survival in 2nd/3rd world countries if anything. At least one of their kids will live long enough to breed 12 more.

The trouble is that the devleoped nations create new health care technology (which can be as simple as organizing proper water resources and immunizations) which is disseminated throughout the third world. They experience much reduced infant mortality and longer life spans. But in such a short time, their culture cannot adapt to the model of "have a couple kids because they will likely survive" rather than "have 12 kids because then 2 will survive". We might find that the problem will sort itself out as people adapt to a quickly-changing world. Of course, by then China and India will have between them 6-9 billion souls.

Population control doesn't have to be about killing babies. Just getting people to have fewer babies, and assuring them that with modern medical technology they'll be fine. Italy isn't experiencing negative population growth because they love abortion. It's because not so many people want to get knocked up.

I know my girlfriend and I are pretty much anti-pregnancy, for us anyway. Eew, babies. From her perspective, too, there's the whole "human being bursting out your genitalia and ruining your shit" angle.

[Neskiairti]

heh.. death is death.. and its a pretty wonderful thing when it allows everyone else to live a little more comfortable..
sure, america's population isnt exploding like say china's or what not.. but we have more of an impact with less people.. due to our lifestyles.

[Jude]

Kiyoshi Hirasawa cancels tinker: taken by mood!

[Kagus]

What we need to do is kill all the mormons.  Not only will it cause a significant population drop to begin with, it will also take a bite out of reproduction rates.  Plus, it'll make me happy.

Then, we need to abolish the Indian laws that force children to support their parents.  With that out of the way, parents won't be able to equate children with retirement plans. 


But really, after that, the only reasonable course of action is to send your worldly value to me, so that I may build a giant spceship in the likeness of me with which I shall gather up the faithful and seek out salvation with a colony on mars!

[LeoLeonardoIII]

Then, we need to abolish the Indian laws that force children to support their parents.  With that out of the way, parents won't be able to equate children with retirement plans. 

Cultural sensitivity be damned, is anyone in the whole world actually stupid enough to institute this policy?! Talk about unintended consequences.

[Bromor Neckbeard]

Holy crap, Pastor Richards posts on this forum?

Okay, here's my solution to make nuclear power safe enough that even the most rabid environmentalist won't object to a breeder reactor being built in his back yard:

A law gets passed that requires that the twenty or so highest-ranked employees of the corporation that builds and operates the reactor AS WELL AS THEIR IMMEDIATE FAMILIES have to live closer to the reactor than anybody else.  That's all you need.  When Joe Bob McStuffedshirt's children are doing their homework on the actual grounds of the reactor instead of in a gated community thirty miles away, you can bet that the reactor will have a 100% safety record at all times.

Unless a real-life Tony Stark comes along and invents us some alternative form of energy, this is what it's gonna take.

[Cthulhu]

But ohhh the baby's gonna hit the fan if one of those kids happens to get cancer.

[LeoLeonardoIII]

I think it's a fantastic idea. Force people who want to endanger others or the environment to be the first ones to suffer the consequences.

For example, it's a rare Congressman who would vote to institute the draft if he knew his son would be the very first one drafted. You're likely to make sure all your troops have body armor if your kid is in the warzone and he's the very last one to receive armor.

The nuclear plant is an obvious one. But what about oil and coal power plants? If you want to have a business that runs one, you have to be willing to put your family and yourself there year-round, breathing the delicious air and drinking the clean frosty tap water. What's that you say? You don't want to breathe the air that's full of particulate matter, NO_x, SO_x, CO₂, mercury, lead, arsenic, etc? You say the tap water is pitch black and smells like a truck's tailpipe? Well maybe burning oil and coal for electricity isn't such a hot idea after all!

I'd volunteer for the not-for-profit that pursued this.

[Kagus]

Problem with that is, nuclear power plants no longer have a human component.  They're run entirely by computers.

The only people you could force to live nearby would be whoever built the thing.  Aside from them, all the "personnel" are already right in the middle of the facility at all times.

[Qmarx]

The only people you could force to live nearby would be whoever built the thing.  Aside from them, all the "personnel" are already right in the middle of the facility at all times.

And the people who build nuclear reactors make multiple ones.

But if it really worries people *that much* (despite the proven safety of nuclear power), why not put them out in the middle of the countryside... sure, running the power all that way is inefficient, but that's what you'd have to do for large-scale solar or wind power anyway.

[Aqizzar]

Problem with that is, nuclear power plants no longer have a human component.  They're run entirely by computers.

The only people you could force to live nearby would be whoever built the thing.  Aside from them, all the "personnel" are already right in the middle of the facility at all times.

I don't know where you're getting that from.  I sat outside the gates at Comanche Peak one time trying to find out if they offer tours.  A whole town sprung up around the place, so many people work there.  And this being Texas, watching the shift change was quite entertaining, since every one of them drove an Explorer or F-250.

[Kagus]

The Comanche Peak plant started construction in 1974.  Unit 1 first came online in 1990.  We've made a few changes since then.

[Aqizzar]

You don't think the place would have, maybe, upgraded over that span of time?  I know it has.

More to the point, it's surround by research labs and training centers.  The plant itself has safety officers, since no one's dumb enough to leave a nuclear power plant to it's own devices.  Then you've got a security staff, then medical staff, then janitors, then repair staff (you can't automate that), then you need human resources and management for all those people, so on and so forth.

Except for concrete processors and windfarms, there's really no such thing as an unmanned facility, and even then, people have to come by and make sure everything's still running right, since no facility can perform genuine inspections and repairs on itself.

[IndonesiaWarMinister]

Birth control laws. Neuter the parent once they've had their 2 kids. Stop health care research, they live well past their usefulness already. Food is only available through rations.

Bring on the soylant cola! Make Room, Make Room!

There's plenty of acceptable band aids to address the problem, but is there a pleasant solution?

EDIT:
Don't blame the developed nations? Some of the developed nations, regardless of population growth, are the ones sucking up the majority of the resources. The massive reproduction rate is more of a tool to ensure human survival in 2nd/3rd world countries if anything. At least one of their kids will live long enough to breed 12 more.

[CRAP]Communist~! The Whites (not White House, but http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammadiya) with our RPGs (your design ^TM) and tankies (from yours again)[/CRAP]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

BTW Muhammadiya, and NU, are all Green. Yes. Green here is Religionist Islamists

You don't think the place would have, maybe, upgraded over that span of time?  I know it has.

More to the point, it's surround by research labs and training centers.  The plant itself has safety officers, since no one's dumb enough to leave a nuclear power plant to it's own devices.  Then you've got a security staff, then medical staff, then janitors, then repair staff (you can't automate that), then you need human resources and management for all those people, so on and so forth.

Except for concrete processors and windfarms, there's really no such thing as an unmanned facility, and even then, people have to come by and make sure everything's still running right, since no facility can perform genuine inspections and repairs on itself.

ROBOTS AND AI RUN THEMSELF? BLASPHEMY! KILL THEMALL, before they kill us...
Too many SF movies about AI rebelling that scientist who invent them shall be attacked by ALL. Including bears, eagles, and dolphins.
 Of course Batman too

[Idiom]

[CRAP]Communist~!

I was trying to be sarcastic.