Throughout the existence of planet Earth, the human population has reached approximately 7.5 billion. By the year 2050, experts predict the population will reach 9 billion humans. Unfortunately, the optimum world population level ranges from 1.5 billion to 2 billion humans (Vidal). Therefore, as a species, humans have tripled the number of people necessary to “guarantee the minimal physical ingredients of a decent life…[for] everyone .” (Vidal) Throughout “The Tragedy of the Commons”, by Garrett Hardin, it becomes apparent that “a finite world can support only a finite population.” As a result, the exponential population growth will eventually level off and the Earth’s resources will not be able to provide for every human. The annual population growth is approximately 1.7%, and therefore either the population or human consumption need to be limited in order to
…show more content…
Due to the fact Hardin’s theory of tragedy of the commons remains accurate, we must ensure that self-interested people don’t get rewarded for producing children. If the average birth rate became a single child per woman, by the year 2060, the global population would drop by one billion. By the year 2100, our global population will fall below three billion which would bring the human population closer to the earth’s optimum level (“Overpopulation”). Educating the masses on the seriousness of overpopulation will also help many people realize that the best thing to do for the planet is to have one or two children at most. However, there will always be greedy people throughout the world and therefore tax incentives will prove critical if we want the population growth to reverse itself. With the implementation of tax incentives for having fewer children, self-interested, greedy people will now be helping the population normalize to its optimum
Due to the fact Hardin’s theory of tragedy of the commons remains accurate, we must ensure that self-interested people don’t get rewarded for producing children. If the average birth rate became a single child per woman, by the year 2060, the global population would drop by one billion. By the year 2100, our global population will fall below three billion which would bring the human population closer to the earth’s optimum level (“Overpopulation”). Educating the masses on the seriousness of overpopulation will also help many people realize that the best thing to do for the planet is to have one or two children at most. However, there will always be greedy people throughout the world and therefore tax incentives will prove critical if we want the population growth to reverse itself. With the implementation of tax incentives for having fewer children, self-interested, greedy people will now be helping the population normalize to its optimum