"Sacred futurism views all these stories as powerfully interactive. Our ability to embrace uncertainty with imagination, compassion, and hope affects our role in the unfolding universal story. Joanna Macy has called this the time of the “Great Turning,” and invokes the powerful metaphor of three rivers: “Now, in our time, these three rivers—anguish for our world, scientific breakthroughs, and ancestral teachings—flow together” to help us face the unknown.1 Transformation tends to converge what we consider disparate: birth and death, old and new, despair and hope. Tension between opposites creates the warp and woof of life’s mysteries. Nature requires us to tolerate this tension, and as we learn to flow with it, we discover the essence of transformation."
https://realitysandwich.com/sacred-futurism-radical-enchantment/
“Berry and Swimme describe the tendency for all systems in the universe to generate a cascade of ever-expanding complexity through symmetry-breaking differentiation. As this cascading process continues, higher orders of increasing complexity self-organize, and new systems with new capacities emerge. Although the universe’s complexity expands in a dazzling kaleidoscopic of patterns, everything remains related, interconnected, and in deep communion—the sacred fundament of cosmic evolution.”
“In the 1960s, Buckminster Fuller gave a powerful call to the world: “We are called to be the architects of the future, not its victims.” To this he added an equally powerful and provocative challenge: “[to] make the world work for 100 percent of humanity in the shortest possible time through spontaneous cooperation without ecological damage or disadvantage to anyone.”
Just last night I was having a similar – parallel if you like – conversation with our lead process engineer, surrounded by a heavy industrial plant the very antithesis of a food forest. Yet the motivations were not a million miles apart. The crucial theme I would underscore from your comment is the idea that we all bring something of value to the table because of our differences.
This is the reason why I so vociferously resist the idea that the world is 'overpopulated'. By contrast I see each individual, each unique with their own experience and identity – as also being connected at a level we have yet to properly appreciate. Let me try an analogy (as risky as they are around here).
A child growing up has a sense of belonging to a family, but until perhaps their late adolescence or early adulthood, lacks the ability to understand the emotional, social and economic bonds that brought and held their family together. If I extend the this to the idea that humanity collectively sits on the cusp of a similar transition into early adulthood – then perhaps we are also just beginning to be able to properly conceive of how all humans – indeed all life at some level – shares an unbreakable bond.
Once that idea becomes more visible to more of us – then I suggest that finding common purpose, common will and action will come more easily to us.
"This is the reason why I so vociferously resist the idea that the world is 'overpopulated'. By contrast I see each individual, each unique with their own experience and identity – as also being connected at a level we have yet to properly appreciate. "
It's as if you accessed my mind and harvested one of my primary thoughts 🙂
If each individual is "unique with their own experience and identity – as also being connected at a level we have yet to properly appreciate", it does not follow that the world is not overpopulated.
Take some time to look around this source. Contrary to what many people still imagine the peak rate of human population growth was way back in 1968, We've been slowing down ever since.
It's my view that much environmental pessimism is rooted in a Malthusian bigotry, the extremes of which were openly shared by the Unabomber, the ChCh and El Paso terrorists. They all took the time to explain in writing that they believed overpopulation, mass immigration from poorer countries would destroy the environment. Not nice company – no matter how much you would repudiate their acts, there isn’t much daylight between your motivations.
And so, as you listen to the purveyors of doom on the television and the radio, and read apocalyptic predictions of humanity’s future on Twitter and in the newspapers, bear in mind that with every hungry mouth comes a pair of hands and a brain capable of thought, planning, and innovation.
But none of this was my primary point – that not only does each individual bring an arithmetic increment to the capacity of the human species – but when we understand our common bond and essential unity, our ability to work toward a common purpose expands exponentially.
I’m waiting, but maybe I should stop holding my breath?
As usual, you were very quick to respond and criticize my Moderation note. I gave you the opportunity to step up to the mike and all we hear is crickets.
So, how about it? Are you going to contribute to the debate or continue with your needling and one-liners, and spit the dummy and walk away when you don’t get your way?
You know your lack of selfawareness is quite breathtaking, you of the snarky little comments and what have to be deliberate missings of the point (because who could really be that dense?). You didn't notice the sly little implication that anyone claiming overpopulation is a bigot and against immigration?
Hi dipshit, you’re barking up the wrong tree here and wasting (my) time. You want to contribute to debate and respond to the comment by RedLogix @ 1.1.1.1.1 then go ahead, state your case, make your argument, and debate. This is the reason why I lifted your 3-day ban. Instead, you come here barking at me like an angry chihuahua, which makes me regret my reversal. If you’re too stupid to understand that you now have an opportunity to redeem yourself here then maybe I should put you back in the rabbit hole so you can whine to the Easter Bunny again.
Of course if I suggested you were a wankstain of the first water you'd act all offended and pontificate on how unacceptable personal abuse is, wouldn't you. Did you have a go at the selfproclaimed logical one over his illogical suggestion that lesser mortals disagreeing with him must be morally reprehensible? The fuck you did.
Hi ‘gain, dipshit. Ignoring your fuckwittery, for the moment, are you going to add some discussion to the thread in response to RedLogix @ 1.1.1.1.1, which you seemed to be keen on? Or were you merely pretending again? Just give me a clear signal, so that we can move on from here, one way or another, thanks. Please don’t tell me I have to do the donkey work for you and enter the discussion with RedLogix about your pet peeve, whatever that is, just because you want me to. That would be an utterly ridiculously stupid thing to even think. If you have an argument to make to a commenter about their comment then fucking make it and engage in a conversation with that commenter and possibly others. Surely, even you can manage that? You’re heading for the self-martyr cliff and you know it; in your case, it may be a free-fall into the bottomless pit of oblivion. Now, let’s see how fucking stupid you can really be. BTW, you have typed more words in your last couple of utterly wasteful comments than in ages; you must be exhausted after all that mental effort and may want to give it a break before you break down and end up in tears. Just saying, as your friend.
Well, friend, my critique of the poster was pretty clear. The aspect I engaged with, which you seem to be wilfully ignoring, is his preemptive claim that disagreement with his view, ie environmental pessimism, would be due to a Malthusian bigotry, ie a moral shortcoming. Do you think that is a valid way to present an argument? I think it's an arrogant assumption of ones own moral superiority. As to the point he seems to have appropriated, that infinite population growth is infinitely good, it's nonsense for reasons of available space. Several other posters have pointed this out. Wtf d'you need that spelt out?
Oooohhh, is that what you meant when you wrote the following one-liner and for which I gave you a long weekend off?
Did you just set up a wee racist man made of straw there?
No, that was not clear, but I had forgotten to update my Mind-Reader app, sorry.
Subsequently, you wrote this, which ended up in the Trash folder because you were already having the long weekend off:
That’s a bullshit mod note and you know it. The guy equated belief in overpopulation with racism.
Therefore, I thought I’d give you a second chance, to explain and discuss, with Redlogix, which you almost blew and you’re still not completely out of the woods.
Indeed, several others have engaged with RedLogix in a constructive way although not all agreed with him. I may have missed anybody pointing out an issue with racism in his comment to which you were replying, but I take your word for it. Overall, a good discussion thread, mostly; the only ‘outlier’ appears to be you.
Now, if you could address your comments to the right person, i.e., to RedLogix instead of to me, that would be grand. It may have escaped you, but I’m actually not participating in this thread, as such, and I have no intention doing so, even though you apparently want me to do this so badly that it hurts.
I would like to draw a line under this, not waste one more word on it, and move on, especially tonight 🙂
Again spend more time with the source I linked to – all of the developed nations now have almost zero or negative population growth rates. (And this may well be nothing to celebrate in fact.) The only place on earth where growth is not project to slow down this century is Africa. Entirely because it’s the least developed of all the continents.
Secondly while humanity uses roughly half the ice-free land available, our move toward urbanisation means that we actually live on about 3% of it at far higher densities than your numbers suggest.
As agriculture becomes more efficient (we've more than halved the amount of land use per head since 1960) – we're seeing in the developed world land revert back to forest and wilderness.
And finally, as the Simon-Erlich wager so vividly demonstrated, if resources were getting more scarce their price would be increasing over time. With few exceptions – they're not.
None of this means there is no shortage of specific environmental issues that demand attention, but the idea that their solution lies in a genocidal reduction of human population – however you think it might be achieved – is bunk.
I have spent time on that resource (and others like it) and it dosnt change the exponential function (as much as you wish that it would)
Yes we are only capable of using a small portion of the worlds land mass and we are increasingly reducing that which is useful…and that only makes those numbers even worse than they appear at first glance.
Using a monetary measure for anything is a fools errand when 'money' is a human construct which is manipulated for political ends.
Finally, you once again fall back on the bogus argument that anyone who points out the logical fallacy in your position is demanding humanicide dosnt change the reality of the situation…..the world is grossly overpopulated (human)
The effects of this natural 'genocide' will be disproportionally felt by those least equipped to deal with it or enact the system change needed to mitigate it; those that are already the poorest globally. It's incumbent on those of us not in that cohort to actually do what is necessary to prevent this and not wash our hands of the responsibility to help fellow humans.
…when we understand our common bond and essential unity, our [the human species] ability to work toward a common purpose expands exponentially.
Can't wait for that expanding global human population (and so our expanding ability to work toward a common purpose) to implement fixes for anthropogenic global warming and ecosystem collapse.
It's theoretically possible that the corrosive effects of civilisation on spaceship Earth's life-support systems are due to insufficient human crew. Maybe another billion is just what the doctor ordered for that "common purpose" to 'gel' (between, say, China, India and the slighly less populous combined developed world) in time to produce sustainable solutions for our many well-established problems – time will tell.
“We, the undersigned, senior members of the world’s scientific community, hereby warn all humanity of what lies ahead. A great change in our stewardship of the earth and the life on it is required, if vast human misery is to be avoided and our global home on this planet is not to be irretrievably mutilated.”
Twenty five years after this original warning, a Second Notice was published in Nature magazine in 2017, signed by 15,372 scientists from 184 nations. This Second Notice looked back at the original warning and evaluated the human response by exploring the available time-series data. It pointed out that with the exception of stabilizing the stratospheric ozone layer, humanity had failed to make sufficient progress in generally solving these foreseen global ecological challenges, and alarmingly, most of them were getting far worse.
I agree entirely that overpopulation is a Malthusian myth. Humanity has the capacity and ability to feed and house the current world population plus 20-40%. As to why we don’t manage to do it currently, despite that surplus of resources? That is a matter of ideologies.
Some would say that the current incarnation of international capitalism is demonstrating its inability to adequately distribute those resources, and is therefore woefully ill equipped to lead us through the global crises that we all face; climate change.
Overconsumption is perhaps the best way we could frame the ‘overpopulation’ arguments that are based around observations of the growing and unjust inequity across humanity?
"As the nations gear up for a World Population Conference to be held in Cairo next September, a Cornell professor has given them something to talk about. He says the number of human beings, currently 5.6 billion and rising, really should be somewhere around 2 billion."
So all the empty houses and food waste do not demonstrate the wasted resources brought about by profit motives?
That food and shelter going to waste isn’t a sign of overconsumption rather than overpopulation problem?
It is a dangerous territory to frame it as such precisely because it can be used to support ideologies that devalue human lives; to oppose that, humanity should be working so that everyone has health, home, food and education. Working towards that can begin with a voluntary reduction in consumption by those of us with the privilege to, wouldn’t you agree?
No one is denying there is overconsumption or waste (misallocation) of resources but that is not the issue…the issue is what level of human population is sustainable on this planet and what is the optimal level of consumption that enables that…those that study complex systems have determined it is considerably less than current and the limits are hard real limits of water, land fertility, biodiversity and pollution (waste)….everything else is subservient to that (in the long run).
Humans have had decades to make co-operative progress on these issues and have not only failed but made things worse.
And I do not disagree with any of what you're saying either, other than the framing as 'overpopulation'. Instead, it is lack of political will and the lack of ability for the vast majority of us to do anything to mitigate the excesses of capitalism; the machinery of the world is subservient to profit motive and status quo rather than real sustainability and the systemic change that is necessary to reach that. I think as peoples needs are met they can be trusted to reduce consumption in myriad of ways, one of which is whether they have children. This is observable already.
You can blame capitalism (or any other ism) but it dosnt change the fact that the world cannot support approaching 8 billion human beings for any length of time and therefore that number will reduce…we can engage with that process or not.
How does expressing the overconsumption of the finite carrying capacity of the earth as overpopulation engage with the process then? Overpopulation has the vaguely sinister solution in the elimination of people rather than the systemic, and not solely individual change that is needed to alter the path that we are on. While nature itself might provide the 'solution' for us, I would prefer to blame that on human systems failing those people who will inevitably hit hardest, instead of potentially blaming individuals for their own existence or seeing widespread death as nature 'healing itself'. Those are misanthropic and unhelpful views.
We are barely managing to feed the population we have; and while we could no doubt distribute food more fairly, and/or change our diet to allow for the production of more calories from our existing resources, the difficulties seem to indicate overpopulation.
There are vast food surpluses in the developed world, as well as unoccupied houses, it really is a matter of redistribution, but that aside, okay, we've done it, we diagnose earth with overpopulation; now what is the next step following that declaration?
What is the next step?….one would expect some sort of population planning (incorporating the necessary distribution) a la the Paris accord on climate….of course what is needed and what eventuates are likely two very different things, much like Paris.(indeed it could be incorporated)
So much for the increased capacity of numbers to problem solve.
'Population planning' may rub up against the UN Declaration of Human Rights and reproductive freedoms, but that aside, this planning entails what? Something akin the One Child policy? How is this enforced and by whom?
I dont think im likely to be called on to write a population strategy for the world but Im quite sure there would be plenty capable ….as to how its implemented and enforced…how are any global treaties enacted and enforced?
There comes to mind a vast number of actions and solutions to our overconsumption and distribution problems, and many have written widely about these, the global productivity and transport networks already exist.
The actions and solutions to overpopulation come to mind too, but throughout history these have been inflicted on the powerless, and IMO inaction to prevent 'nature' from 'solving it for us' is similarly inexcusable.
"From a biophysical perspective, human civilisation is a non-equilibrium thermodynamic or dissipative system that must maintain a minimum level of available exergy to avoid entropic decay and a yet higher level to permit physical growth [4]. From the ecological economics perspective, it can be viewed as an ‘economic superorganism’ that seeks to maximise energy consumption through self-organisation at a large scale [1], or the ‘megamachine’ driven to ever greater size and scope by the enhancing feedbacks of capital accumulation [5]. The Earth System is, however, finite in spatial extent, energetic capacity and overall complexity, and the ongoing expansion of human endeavours has and will continue to result in the Earth System’s limits being exceeded and the system being moved out of equilibrium. The Earth System (characterised as ‘Gaia’) is a self-regulating mechanism [6], and observable shifts in the behaviour of Earth Systems may be manifestations of balancing feedbacks resulting from the strong and growing perturbation from human activities. These may have the potential to fundamentally undermine the agriculture-based civilisation that has flourished in benign Holocene conditions."
I don't find much to agree with you Redlogix but absolutely with you 100% on this one. The best cure for any tendency towards overpopulation is to raise standards of living and increase access to free education. Its easy as that.
I was not expressing an opinion as to whether the world is or is not overpopulated, but merely pointing out a non sequitur. However, our capacity to feed the the current world population seems to depend on the use of synthetic fertilizers; and, according to a recent article in New Scientist, such use seems to be upsetting nature's nitrogen balance, and will eventually lead to disaster.
I wonder if it is that any announcer saying "Russia" instead of "Russian Olympic Committee" will be sacked?
The farce of letting the Russians, drug cheats, compete but by punishing them hideously by saying they must be called the "Russian Olympic Committee" should be unbelievable. It isn't though.
What chance some small country would have been accorded the same treatment if they'd done the same as the Russians?
The stuff article is a good one. Well done to Ian Anderson for the research.
Oh dear – how sad especially for farmers whose plight was the original motivation when a NZ Government looked after the country ahead of the plunderers.
The answer would have been NZ's own shipping company as was established under the Kirk Government to prevent such problems.
Yes – undone by Roger Douglas! No doubt his mates did well out of the deal!
All eyes on NSW's bugled lockdown and a premier who is economical with the truth, a federal treasurer suggesting they'll cause a recession and a PM who's not even bothered reprimanding his own consirapacy – anti vaxxing colleagues.
Covid doesn't care and appears to have grasped the opportunity. Epic leadership failure from the ‘blue light’ state.
They have as predicted, brought in the army and hefty fines. Time is ticking. Their neighbour, QLD has closed their border and is terrified of the renegades who sneak across this huge borderline between the states.
"The fortunes of the two classes; the securely housed and the others, are intimately connected. The solution is not to rant simplistically that more supply is the only answer, or to hanker after a capital gains tax. The horse has bolted. We need to use the resources in housing more intelligently.
From an economics perspective the current situation has resulted in a gross misallocation of resources and a sharply divided society in which we are gifting the rich and their children a
reason not to contribute through useful paid work. Upgrading the family home to a mansion is a highly tax advantaged way to accumulate wealth. Developers have an incentive to produce new builds for the investor class, who can avoid the recent demand-side impositions. All these activities divert scarce building resources away from providing basic housing for low- income New Zealanders."
Thanks, pat. I enjoy reading Susan St Johns contributions.
I don't know if I agree with her solution, but she does eloquently state the problem – and why it is such a problem. Many media articles limit the housing issue to "I/We/My kids can't afford to buy a house", when we are housing many children in motels or worse. "Carring" them instead of caring.
"Conversion practices have no place in modern New Zealand. They are based on the false belief that any person's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression is broken and in need of fixing.
"Health professionals, religious leaders and human rights advocates here and overseas have spoken out against these practices as harmful and having the potential to perpetuate prejudice, discrimination and abuse towards members of rainbow communities."
Though there doesn't seem to be much room for historical redress, at least those injured by being force-fed the poisoned chalice of self hatred will be better able to seek treatment. It is weird talking to Leitis about the exorcisms trusted community leaders convinced their families to subject them to as children. Plural Leitis!
Proviso: As long as appropriate counselling and support services for children presenting with body and gender dysphoria does not fall under this large umbrella.
I'm concerned this particular law change may have long-term consequences for children if clumsily applied. (Which on reflection, probably makes it a bad law change made with good intent.)
Having lived with a national-level rower I give huge respect to the 24-7 dedication that New Zealand rowers have done for 12 years to get to this point.
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Ooh you're a cool catComing on strong with all the chit chatOoh you're alrightHanging out and stealing all the limelightOoh messing with the beat of my heart yeah!Songwriters: Freddie Mercury / John Deacon.It would be a tad ironic; I can see it now. “Yeah, I didn’t unsubscribe when he said ...
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Another Friday, hope everyone’s enjoyed their week as we head toward the autumn equinox. Here’s another roundup of stories that caught our eye on the subject of cities and what makes them even better. This week in Greater Auckland On Monday, Connor took a look at how Auckland ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking with special guest author Michael Wolff, who has just published his fourth book about Donald Trump: ‘All or Nothing’.Here’s Peter’s writeup of the interview.The Kākā by Bernard Hickey Hoon: Trumpism ...
Wolff, who describes Trump as truly a ‘one of a kind’, at a book launch in Spain. Photo: GettyImagesIt may be a bumpy ride for the world but the era of Donald J. Trump will die with him if we can wait him out says the author of four best-sellers ...
Australia needs to radically reorganise its reserves system to create a latent military force that is much larger, better trained and equipped and deployable within days—not decades. Our current reserve system is not fit for ...
Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom/$3, NZ Herald/$, Stuff, BusinessDesk/$, Politik-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT/$, WSJ/$, Bloomberg/$, New York Times/$, Washington Post/$, Wired/$, ...
I have argued before that one ought to be careful in retrospectively allocating texts into genres. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) only looks like science-fiction because a science-fiction genre subsequently developed. Without H.G. Wells, would Frankenstein be considered science-fiction? No, it probably wouldn’t. Viewed in the context of its time, Frankenstein ...
Elbridge Colby’s senate confirmation hearing in early March holds more important implications for US partners than most observers in Canberra, Wellington or Suva realise. As President Donald Trump’s nominee for under secretary of defence for ...
China’s defence budget is rising heftily yet again. The 2025 rise will be 7.2 percent, the same as in 2024, the government said on 5 March. But the allocation, officially US$245 billion, is just the ...
Concern is growing about wide-ranging local repercussions of the new Setting of Speed Limits rule, rewritten in 2024 by former transport minister Simeon Brown. In particular, there’s growing fears about what this means for children in particular. A key paradox of the new rule is that NZTA-controlled roads have the ...
Speilmeister:Christopher Luxon’s prime-ministerial pitches notwithstanding, are institutions with billions of dollars at their disposal really going to invest them in a country so obviously in a deep funk?HAVING WOOED THE WORLD’s investors, what, if anything, has New Zealand won? Did Christopher Luxon’s guests board their private jets fizzing with enthusiasm for ...
Christchurch City Council is one of 18 councils and three council-controlled organisations (CCOs) downgraded by ratings agency S&P. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories shortest:Standard & Poor’s has cut the credit ratings of 18 councils, blaming the new Government’s abrupt reversal of 3 Waters, cuts to capital ...
Figures released by Statistics New Zealand today showed that the economy grew by 0.7% ending the very deep recession seen over the past year, said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney. “Even though GDP grew in the three months to December, our economy is still 1.1% smaller than it ...
What is going on with the price of butter?, RNZ, 19 march 2025: If you have bought butter recently you might have noticed something - it is a lot more expensive. Stats NZ said last week that the price of butter was up 60 percent in February compared to ...
I agree with Will Leben, who wrote in The Strategist about his mistakes, that an important element of being a commentator is being accountable and taking responsibility for things you got wrong. In that spirit, ...
You’d beDrunk by noon, no one would knowJust like the pandemicWithout the sourdoughIf I were there, I’d find a wayTo get treated for hysteriaEvery dayLyrics Riki Lindhome.A varied selection today in Nick’s Kōrero:Thou shalt have no other gods - with Christopher Luxon.Doctors should be seen and not heard - with ...
Two recent foreign challenges suggest that Australia needs urgently to increase its level of defence self-reliance and to ensure that the increased funding that this would require is available. First, the circumnavigation of our continent ...
Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom/$3, NZ Herald/$, Stuff, BusinessDesk/$, Politik-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT/$, WSJ/$, Bloomberg/$, New York Times/$, The Atlantic-$, The ...
According to RNZ’s embedded reporter, the importance of Winston Peters’ talks in Washington this week “cannot be overstated.” Right. “Exceptionally important.” said the maestro himself. This epic importance doesn’t seem to have culminated in anything more than us expressing our “concern” to the Americans about a series of issues that ...
Up until a few weeks ago, I had never heard of "Climate Fresk" and at a guess, this will also be the case for many of you. I stumbled upon it in the self-service training catalog for employees at the company I work at in Germany where it was announced ...
Japan and Australia talk of ‘collective deterrence,’ but they don’t seem to have specific objectives. The relationship needs a clearer direction. The two countries should identify how they complement each other. Each country has two ...
The NZCTU strongly supports the OPC’s decision to issue a code of practice for biometric processing. Our view is that the draft code currently being consulted on is stronger and will be more effective than the exposure code released in early 2024. We are pleased that some of the revisions ...
Australia’s export-oriented industries, particularly agriculture, need to diversify their markets, with a focus on Southeast Asia. This could strengthen economic security and resilience while deepening regional relationships. The Trump administration’s decision to impose tariffs on ...
Minister Shane Jones is introducing fastrack ‘reforms’ to the our fishing industry that will ensure the big players squeeze out the small fishers and entrench an already bankrupt quota system.Our fisheries are under severe stress: the recent decision by theHigh Court ruling that the ...
In what has become regular news, the quarterly ETS auction has failed, with nobody even bothering to bid. The immediate reason is that the carbon price has fallen to around $60, below the auction minimum of $68. And the cause of that is a government which has basically given up ...
US President Donald Trump’s tariff threats have dominated headlines in India in recent weeks. Earlier this month, Trump announced that his reciprocal tariffs—matching other countries’ tariffs on American goods—will go into effect on 2 April, ...
Hi,Back in June of 2021, James Gardner-Hopkins — a former partner at law firm Russell McVeagh — was found guilty of misconduct over sexually inappropriate behaviour with interns.The events all related to law students working as summer interns at Russell McVeagh:As well as intimate touching with a student at his ...
Climate sceptic MP Mark Cameron has slammed National for being ‘out of touch’ by sticking to our climate commitments. Photo: Lynn GrievesonMōrena. Long stories shortest:ACT’s renowned climate sceptic MP Mark Cameron has accused National of being 'out of touch' with farmers by sticking with New Zealand’s Paris accord pledges ...
Now I've heard there was a secret chordThat David played, and it pleased the LordBut you don't really care for music, do you?It goes like this, the fourth, the fifthThe minor falls, the major liftsThe baffled king composing HallelujahSongwriter: Leonard CohenI always thought the lyrics of that great song by ...
People are getting carried away with the virtues of small warship crews. We need to remember the great vice of having few people to run a ship: they’ll quickly tire. Yes, the navy is struggling ...
The Greens are calling on the Government to follow through on their vague promises of environmental protection in their Resource Management Act (RMA) reform. ...
“Make New Zealand First Again” Ladies and gentlemen, First of all, thank you for being here today. We know your lives are busy and you are working harder and longer than you ever have, and there are many calls on your time, so thank you for the chance to speak ...
Hundreds more Palestinians have died in recent days as Israel’s assault on Gaza continues and humanitarian aid, including food and medicine, is blocked. ...
National is looking to cut hundreds of jobs at New Zealand’s Defence Force, while at the same time it talks up plans to increase focus and spending in Defence. ...
It’s been revealed that the Government is secretly trying to bring back a ‘one-size fits all’ standardised test – a decision that has shocked school principals. ...
The Green Party is calling for the compassionate release of Dean Wickliffe, a 77-year-old kaumātua on hunger strike at the Spring Hill Corrections Facility, after visiting him at the prison. ...
The Green Party is calling on Government MPs to support Chlöe Swarbrick’s Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence and illegal actions in Palestine, following another day of appalling violence against civilians in Gaza. ...
The Green Party stands in support of volunteer firefighters petitioning the Government to step up and change legislation to provide volunteers the same ACC coverage and benefits as their paid counterparts. ...
At 2.30am local time, Israel launched a treacherous attack on Gaza killing more than 300 defenceless civilians while they slept. Many of them were children. This followed a more than 2 week-long blockade by Israel on the entry of all goods and aid into Gaza. Israel deliberately targeted densely populated ...
Living Strong, Aging Well There is much discussion around the health of our older New Zealanders and how we can age well. In reality, the delivery of health services accounts for only a relatively small percentage of health outcomes as we age. Significantly, dry warm housing, nutrition, exercise, social connection, ...
Shane Jones’ display on Q&A showed how out of touch he and this Government are with our communities and how in sync they are with companies with little concern for people and planet. ...
Labour does not support the private ownership of core infrastructure like schools, hospitals and prisons, which will only see worse outcomes for Kiwis. ...
The Green Party is disappointed the Government voted down Hūhana Lyndon’s member’s Bill, which would have prevented further alienation of Māori land through the Public Works Act. ...
The Labour Party will support Chloe Swarbrick’s member’s bill which would allow sanctions against Israel for its illegal occupation of the Palestinian Territories. ...
The Government’s new procurement rules are a blatant attack on workers and the environment, showing once again that National’s priorities are completely out of touch with everyday Kiwis. ...
With Labour and Te Pāti Māori’s official support, Opposition parties are officially aligned to progress Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick’s Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in Palestine. ...
Te Pāti Māori extends our deepest aroha to the 500 plus Whānau Ora workers who have been advised today that the govt will be dismantling their contracts. For twenty years , Whānau Ora has been helping families, delivering life-changing support through a kaupapa Māori approach. It has built trust where ...
Labour welcomes Simeon Brown’s move to reinstate a board at Health New Zealand, bringing the destructive and secretive tenure of commissioner Lester Levy to an end. ...
This morning’s announcement by the Health Minister regarding a major overhaul of the public health sector levels yet another blow to the country’s essential services. ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill that will ensure employment decisions in the public service are based on merit and not on forced woke ‘Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’ targets. “This Bill would put an end to the woke left-wing social engineering and diversity targets in the public sector. ...
Police have referred 20 offenders to Destiny Church-affiliated programmes Man Up and Legacy as ‘wellness providers’ in the last year, raising concerns that those seeking help are being recruited into a harmful organisation. ...
The Government’s new planning legislation to replace the Resource Management Act will make it easier to get things done while protecting the environment, say Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop and Under-Secretary Simon Court. “The RMA is broken and everyone knows it. It makes it too hard to build ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay has today launched a public consultation on New Zealand and India’s negotiations of a formal comprehensive Free Trade Agreement. “Negotiations are getting underway, and the Public’s views will better inform us in the early parts of this important negotiation,” Mr McClay says. We are ...
More than 900 thousand superannuitants and almost five thousand veterans are among the New Zealanders set to receive a significant financial boost from next week, an uplift Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says will help support them through cost-of-living challenges. “I am pleased to confirm that from 1 ...
Progressing a holistic strategy to unlock the potential of New Zealand’s geothermal resources, possibly in applications beyond energy generation, is at the centre of discussions with mana whenua at a hui in Rotorua today, Resources and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is in the early stages ...
New annual data has exposed the staggering cost of delays previously hidden in the building consent system, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “I directed Building Consent Authorities to begin providing quarterly data last year to improve transparency, following repeated complaints from tradespeople waiting far longer than the statutory ...
Increases in water charges for Auckland consumers this year will be halved under the Watercare Charter which has now been passed into law, Local Government Minister Simon Watts and Auckland Minister Simeon Brown say. The charter is part of the financial arrangement for Watercare developed last year by Auckland Council ...
There is wide public support for the Government’s work to strengthen New Zealand’s biosecurity protections, says Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard. “The Ministry for Primary Industries recently completed public consultation on proposed amendments to the Biosecurity Act and the submissions show that people understand the importance of having a strong biosecurity ...
A new independent review function will enable individuals and organisations to seek an expert independent review of specified civil aviation regulatory decisions made by, or on behalf of, the Director of Civil Aviation, Acting Transport Minister James Meager has announced today. “Today we are making it easier and more affordable ...
The Government will invest in an enhanced overnight urgent care service for the Napier community as part of our focus on ensuring access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown has today confirmed. “I am delighted that a solution has been found to ensure Napier residents will continue to ...
Health Minister Simeon Brown and Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey attended a sod turning today to officially mark the start of construction on a new mental health facility at Hillmorton Campus. “This represents a significant step in modernising mental health services in Canterbury,” Mr Brown says. “Improving health infrastructure is ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has welcomed confirmation the economy has turned the corner. Stats NZ reported today that gross domestic product grew 0.7 per cent in the three months to December following falls in the June and September quarters. “We know many families and businesses are still suffering the after-effects ...
The sealing of a 12-kilometre stretch of State Highway 43 (SH43) through the Tangarakau Gorge – one of the last remaining sections of unsealed state highway in the country – has been completed this week as part of a wider programme of work aimed at improving the safety and resilience ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters says relations between New Zealand and the United States are on a strong footing, as he concludes a week-long visit to New York and Washington DC today. “We came to the United States to ask the new Administration what it wants from ...
Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee has welcomed changes to international anti-money laundering standards which closely align with the Government’s reforms. “The Financial Action Taskforce (FATF) last month adopted revised standards for tackling money laundering and the financing of terrorism to allow for simplified regulatory measures for businesses, organisations and sectors ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour says he welcomes Medsafe’s decision to approve an electronic controlled drug register for use in New Zealand pharmacies, allowing pharmacies to replace their physical paper-based register. “The register, developed by Kiwi brand Toniq Limited, is the first of its kind to be approved in New ...
The Coalition Government’s drive for regional economic growth through the $1.2 billion Regional Infrastructure Fund is on track with more than $550 million in funding so far committed to key infrastructure projects, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. “To date, the Regional Infrastructure Fund (RIF) has received more than 250 ...
[Comments following the bilateral meeting with United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio; United States State Department, Washington D.C.] * We’re very pleased with our meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio this afternoon. * We came here to listen to the new Administration and to be clear about what ...
The intersection of State Highway 2 (SH2) and Wainui Road in the Eastern Bay of Plenty will be made safer and more efficient for vehicles and freight with the construction of a new and long-awaited roundabout, says Transport Minister Chris Bishop. “The current intersection of SH2 and Wainui Road is ...
The Ocean Race will return to the City of Sails in 2027 following the Government’s decision to invest up to $4 million from the Major Events Fund into the international event, Auckland Minister Simeon Brown says. “New Zealand is a proud sailing nation, and Auckland is well-known internationally as the ...
Improving access to mental health and addiction support took a significant step forward today with Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey announcing that the University of Canterbury have been the first to be selected to develop the Government’s new associate psychologist training programme. “I am thrilled that the University of Canterbury ...
Health Minister Simeon Brown has today officially opened the new East Building expansion at Manukau Health Park. “This is a significant milestone and the first stage of the Grow Manukau programme, which will double the footprint of the Manukau Health Park to around 30,000m2 once complete,” Mr Brown says. “Home ...
The Government will boost anti-crime measures across central Auckland with $1.3 million of funding as a result of the Proceeds of Crime Fund, Auckland Minister Simeon Brown and Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee say. “In recent years there has been increased antisocial and criminal behaviour in our CBD. The Government ...
The Government is moving to strengthen rules for feeding food waste to pigs to protect New Zealand from exotic animal diseases like foot and mouth disease (FMD), says Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard. ‘Feeding untreated meat waste, often known as "swill", to pigs could introduce serious animal diseases like FMD and ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held productive talks in New Delhi today. Fresh off announcing that New Zealand and India would commence negotiations towards a Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, the two Prime Ministers released a joint statement detailing plans for further cooperation between the two countries across ...
Agriculture and Trade Minister Todd McClay signed a new Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) today during the Prime Minister’s Indian Trade Mission, reinforcing New Zealand’s commitment to enhancing collaboration with India in the forestry sector. “Our relationship with India is a key priority for New Zealand, and this agreement reflects our ...
Agriculture and Trade Minister Todd McClay signed a new Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) today during the Prime Minister’s Indian Trade Mission, reinforcing New Zealand’s commitment to enhancing collaboration with India in the horticulture sector. “Our relationship with India is a key priority for New Zealand, and this agreement reflects our ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of two new Family Court Judges. The new Judges will take up their roles in April and May and fill Family Court vacancies at the Auckland and Manukau courts. Annette Gray Ms Gray completed her law degree at Victoria University before joining Phillips ...
Health Minister Simeon Brown has today officially opened Wellington Regional Hospital’s first High Dependency Unit (HDU). “This unit will boost critical care services in the lower North Island, providing extra capacity and relieving pressure on the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and emergency department. “Wellington Regional Hospital has previously relied ...
Namaskar, Sat Sri Akal, kia ora and good afternoon everyone. What an honour it is to stand on this stage - to inaugurate this august Dialogue - with none other than the Honourable Narendra Modi. My good friend, thank you for so generously welcoming me to India and for our ...
Check against delivery.Kia ora koutou katoa It’s a real pleasure to join you at the inaugural New Zealand infrastructure investment summit. I’d like to welcome our overseas guests, as well as our local partners, organisations, and others.I’d also like to acknowledge: The Prime Minister, Minister of Finance, and other Ministers from the Coalition ...
Asia Pacific Report A Fiji-based Pacific solidarity group supporting the indigenous Palestine struggle for survival against the Israeli settler colonial state has today issued a statement condemning Fiji backing for Israel. In an open letter to the “people of Fiji”, the Fijians for Palestine Solidarity Network (F4P) has warned “your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jennifer Parker, Adjunct Fellow, Naval Studies at UNSW Canberra, and Expert Associate, National Security College, Australian National University A report in The Atlantic today sent shockwaves through Washington and beyond: senior US officials shared military operations for a bombing campaign against Houthi ...
Ngāti Ruanui’s Crown-mandated agency said the south Taranaki iwi wasn’t opposed to improving the resource management system. But Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Ruanui kaiwhakahaere Rachel Arnott said they totally rejected not carrying over Treaty obligations. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Watson, Professor in Conservation Science, School of the Environment, The University of Queensland Hans Wismeijer/Shutterstock In 2022, Australia and many other nations agreed to protect 30% of their lands and waters by 2030 to arrest the rapid decline in biodiversity. ...
Under proposals released by the Representation Commission, the electorates of Ōhāriu, Mana, and Ōtaki will be scrapped, and replaced by two new seats: Kenepuru, and Kāpiti. ...
"Swarbrick’s bill is antisemitic as it denies Israel, the world’s only Jewish state, the right to self defense, a right granted to all other sovereign states." ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Irene Nikoloudakis, PhD Candidate in Law, University of Adelaide Getty Images Being robbed is a horrible experience under any circumstances. But being robbed by your employer involves a unique betrayal of trust. So it was a sign of real progress when ...
By Scott Waide, RNZ Pacific PNG correspondent The Papua New Guinea government has admitted to using a technology that it says was “successfully tested” to block social media platforms, particularly Facebook, for much of the day yesterday. Police Minister Peter Tsiamalili Jr said the “test” was done under the framework ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yvonne Breitwieser-Faria, Lecturer in International Law, Curtin University Only five days after the arrest warrant against former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte was issued, he was apprehended and immediately put on a plane to The Hague to face charges before the International Criminal ...
The new campaign features an AI customer clone ‘to keep prices low’. But what is the real cost? Everywhere I look at the moment, I see her. She lurks on The NZ Herald homepage, her digital grin jarring with the horror-filled headlines about Destiny Church protestors and missing women abroad. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben McCann, Associate Professor of French Studies, University of Adelaide The Divine Sarah Bernhardt. Memento This year’s Alliance Française French Film Festival showcases a diverse selection of films from blockbusters and biopics to comedies and gripping thrillers for Australian audiences. I’ve ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nick Fuller, Clinical Trials Director, Department of Endocrinology, RPA Hospital, University of Sydney Maria Symchych/Shutterstock If you’ve ever picked up your child from childcare and wondered if they’re living a double life, you’re not alone. Parents often receive rave reports ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mike Climstein, Associate Professor, Faculty of Health, Southern Cross University Cottonbro Studio/Pexels You’ve got a new brown spot on your face, but is it a freckle or a sunspot? Or perhaps you’ve found a spot on your back that looks like ...
The New Zealand Security Intelligence Service has been warning Pacific partners that China's growing influence in the region presents foreign interference and espionage risks. ...
An 11-year-old was taken to a mental health facility after being mistaken for a 20-year-old. The PM wants to know why it took two weeks to tell the minister. ...
As hundreds marched to parliament to protest possible restrictions on gender-affirming care for youth, NZ First leader Winston Peters promised his party would continue to fight against the use of puberty blockers.In his state of the nation speech in Christchurch on Sunday, Winston Peters used the term “woke” about ...
An 11-year-old was taken to a mental health facility after being mistaken for a 20-year-old. The PM wants to know why it took two weeks to tell the minister. ...
Liv Sisson reviews a milestone gig for an ascendant New Zealand act. On Saturday night, Fazerdaze headlined Auckland’s Powerstation for the very first time. “This is my favourite venue in the whole world,” Amelia Murray (aka Fazerdaze) told the crowd. Playing it clearly meant a lot to her. During the ...
An 11-year-old was taken to a mental health facility after being mistaken for a 20-year-old. The PM wants to know why it took two weeks to tell the minister. ...
From its humble beginnings to becoming the world’s largest Polynesian cultural festival, ASB Polyfest has shaped generations of young people, strengthened cultural connections, and fostered community resilience. I remember being a fresh-faced 13-year-old as the smell of dry cow dung – used to dye the fibres on our piupiu – ...
In early March an 11-page letter sent shockwaves through media giant NZME. Duncan Greive analyses its withering critique of the business, and the plan to redirect its news direction after ripping out the board. New Zealand’s sharemarket is typically a fairly sleepy place. Stocks rise and fall, sometimes abruptly – ...
We’re pleased to see the government working from the basis that the clear allocation of property rights is a fundamental tenet of a well-functioning economy. This is critical to unlocking the investment we need to thrive and grow. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Brodribb, Professor of Plant Physiology, University of Tasmania Stomata – the breathing ‘mouths’ of leaves – under the microscope.Barbol / Shutterstock Plant behaviour may seem rather boring compared with the frenetic excesses of animals. Yet the lives of our vegetable friends, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lucy Montgomery, Dean of Research, Humanities, Curtin University Mykhailo Kopyt/Shutterstock In December 2024, the editorial board of the Journal of Human Evolution resigned en masse following disagreements with the journal’s publisher, Elsevier. The board’s grievances included claims of inadequate copyediting, misuse ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sam Whiting, Vice-Chancellor’s Senior Research Fellow in Music Industries and Cultural Economy, RMIT University iam_os/Unsplash The Australian Music Venue Foundation launched this month to advocate for and potentially administer an arena ticket levy to support grassroots live music venues. Funds would ...
Sacred futurism.
"Sacred futurism views all these stories as powerfully interactive. Our ability to embrace uncertainty with imagination, compassion, and hope affects our role in the unfolding universal story. Joanna Macy has called this the time of the “Great Turning,” and invokes the powerful metaphor of three rivers: “Now, in our time, these three rivers—anguish for our world, scientific breakthroughs, and ancestral teachings—flow together” to help us face the unknown.1 Transformation tends to converge what we consider disparate: birth and death, old and new, despair and hope. Tension between opposites creates the warp and woof of life’s mysteries. Nature requires us to tolerate this tension, and as we learn to flow with it, we discover the essence of transformation."
https://realitysandwich.com/sacred-futurism-radical-enchantment/
“Berry and Swimme describe the tendency for all systems in the universe to generate a cascade of ever-expanding complexity through symmetry-breaking differentiation. As this cascading process continues, higher orders of increasing complexity self-organize, and new systems with new capacities emerge. Although the universe’s complexity expands in a dazzling kaleidoscopic of patterns, everything remains related, interconnected, and in deep communion—the sacred fundament of cosmic evolution.”
“In the 1960s, Buckminster Fuller gave a powerful call to the world: “We are called to be the architects of the future, not its victims.” To this he added an equally powerful and provocative challenge: “[to] make the world work for 100 percent of humanity in the shortest possible time through spontaneous cooperation without ecological damage or disadvantage to anyone.”
Just last night I was having a similar – parallel if you like – conversation with our lead process engineer, surrounded by a heavy industrial plant the very antithesis of a food forest. Yet the motivations were not a million miles apart. The crucial theme I would underscore from your comment is the idea that we all bring something of value to the table because of our differences.
This is the reason why I so vociferously resist the idea that the world is 'overpopulated'. By contrast I see each individual, each unique with their own experience and identity – as also being connected at a level we have yet to properly appreciate. Let me try an analogy (as risky as they are around here).
A child growing up has a sense of belonging to a family, but until perhaps their late adolescence or early adulthood, lacks the ability to understand the emotional, social and economic bonds that brought and held their family together. If I extend the this to the idea that humanity collectively sits on the cusp of a similar transition into early adulthood – then perhaps we are also just beginning to be able to properly conceive of how all humans – indeed all life at some level – shares an unbreakable bond.
Once that idea becomes more visible to more of us – then I suggest that finding common purpose, common will and action will come more easily to us.
"This is the reason why I so vociferously resist the idea that the world is 'overpopulated'. By contrast I see each individual, each unique with their own experience and identity – as also being connected at a level we have yet to properly appreciate. "
It's as if you accessed my mind and harvested one of my primary thoughts 🙂
If each individual is "unique with their own experience and identity – as also being connected at a level we have yet to properly appreciate", it does not follow that the world is not overpopulated.
I'll indulge your little derail this far:
But none of this was my primary point – that not only does each individual bring an arithmetic increment to the capacity of the human species – but when we understand our common bond and essential unity, our ability to work toward a common purpose expands exponentially.
Those are awesome websites. Thanks
Did you just set up a wee racist man made of straw there?
[Take a long weekend off for your ongoing needling here with your dimwitted one liners that add nothing to (the) debate – Incognito]
See my Moderation note @ 11:07 am.
Ok, you want to debate? Debate then. Make it work or have a break!
I’m waiting, but maybe I should stop holding my breath?
As usual, you were very quick to respond and criticize my Moderation note. I gave you the opportunity to step up to the mike and all we hear is crickets.
So, how about it? Are you going to contribute to the debate or continue with your needling and one-liners, and spit the dummy and walk away when you don’t get your way?
You know your lack of selfawareness is quite breathtaking, you of the snarky little comments and what have to be deliberate missings of the point (because who could really be that dense?). You didn't notice the sly little implication that anyone claiming overpopulation is a bigot and against immigration?
Hi dipshit, you’re barking up the wrong tree here and wasting (my) time. You want to contribute to debate and respond to the comment by RedLogix @ 1.1.1.1.1 then go ahead, state your case, make your argument, and debate. This is the reason why I lifted your 3-day ban. Instead, you come here barking at me like an angry chihuahua, which makes me regret my reversal. If you’re too stupid to understand that you now have an opportunity to redeem yourself here then maybe I should put you back in the rabbit hole so you can whine to the Easter Bunny again.
Of course if I suggested you were a wankstain of the first water you'd act all offended and pontificate on how unacceptable personal abuse is, wouldn't you. Did you have a go at the selfproclaimed logical one over his illogical suggestion that lesser mortals disagreeing with him must be morally reprehensible? The fuck you did.
Hi ‘gain, dipshit. Ignoring your fuckwittery, for the moment, are you going to add some discussion to the thread in response to RedLogix @ 1.1.1.1.1, which you seemed to be keen on? Or were you merely pretending again? Just give me a clear signal, so that we can move on from here, one way or another, thanks. Please don’t tell me I have to do the donkey work for you and enter the discussion with RedLogix about your pet peeve, whatever that is, just because you want me to. That would be an utterly ridiculously stupid thing to even think. If you have an argument to make to a commenter about their comment then fucking make it and engage in a conversation with that commenter and possibly others. Surely, even you can manage that? You’re heading for the self-martyr cliff and you know it; in your case, it may be a free-fall into the bottomless pit of oblivion. Now, let’s see how fucking stupid you can really be. BTW, you have typed more words in your last couple of utterly wasteful comments than in ages; you must be exhausted after all that mental effort and may want to give it a break before you break down and end up in tears. Just saying, as your friend.
Well, friend, my critique of the poster was pretty clear. The aspect I engaged with, which you seem to be wilfully ignoring, is his preemptive claim that disagreement with his view, ie environmental pessimism, would be due to a Malthusian bigotry, ie a moral shortcoming. Do you think that is a valid way to present an argument? I think it's an arrogant assumption of ones own moral superiority. As to the point he seems to have appropriated, that infinite population growth is infinitely good, it's nonsense for reasons of available space. Several other posters have pointed this out. Wtf d'you need that spelt out?
Oooohhh, is that what you meant when you wrote the following one-liner and for which I gave you a long weekend off?
No, that was not clear, but I had forgotten to update my Mind-Reader app, sorry.
Subsequently, you wrote this, which ended up in the Trash folder because you were already having the long weekend off:
Therefore, I thought I’d give you a second chance, to explain and discuss, with Redlogix, which you almost blew and you’re still not completely out of the woods.
Indeed, several others have engaged with RedLogix in a constructive way although not all agreed with him. I may have missed anybody pointing out an issue with racism in his comment to which you were replying, but I take your word for it. Overall, a good discussion thread, mostly; the only ‘outlier’ appears to be you.
Now, if you could address your comments to the right person, i.e., to RedLogix instead of to me, that would be grand. It may have escaped you, but I’m actually not participating in this thread, as such, and I have no intention doing so, even though you apparently want me to do this so badly that it hurts.
I would like to draw a line under this, not waste one more word on it, and move on, especially tonight 🙂
Which all ignores the exponential function….until such time as population growth turns negative any growth rate is problematic.
1968 growth rate 2.09%…additional annual population 73 million
2020 growth rate 1.05%…additional annual population 81 million
but even more apparent…
Population density 1968 24 people per km2
Population density 2020 52 people per km2
A mere 50 years
And co-operation goes out the window when theres a dearth of resources
Again spend more time with the source I linked to – all of the developed nations now have almost zero or negative population growth rates. (And this may well be nothing to celebrate in fact.) The only place on earth where growth is not project to slow down this century is Africa. Entirely because it’s the least developed of all the continents.
Secondly while humanity uses roughly half the ice-free land available, our move toward urbanisation means that we actually live on about 3% of it at far higher densities than your numbers suggest.
As agriculture becomes more efficient (we've more than halved the amount of land use per head since 1960) – we're seeing in the developed world land revert back to forest and wilderness.
And finally, as the Simon-Erlich wager so vividly demonstrated, if resources were getting more scarce their price would be increasing over time. With few exceptions – they're not.
None of this means there is no shortage of specific environmental issues that demand attention, but the idea that their solution lies in a genocidal reduction of human population – however you think it might be achieved – is bunk.
I have spent time on that resource (and others like it) and it dosnt change the exponential function (as much as you wish that it would)
Yes we are only capable of using a small portion of the worlds land mass and we are increasingly reducing that which is useful…and that only makes those numbers even worse than they appear at first glance.
Using a monetary measure for anything is a fools errand when 'money' is a human construct which is manipulated for political ends.
Finally, you once again fall back on the bogus argument that anyone who points out the logical fallacy in your position is demanding humanicide dosnt change the reality of the situation…..the world is grossly overpopulated (human)
We don't have to resort to genocide. Nature will accomplish that for us.
something some appear unwilling to understand
The effects of this natural 'genocide' will be disproportionally felt by those least equipped to deal with it or enact the system change needed to mitigate it; those that are already the poorest globally. It's incumbent on those of us not in that cohort to actually do what is necessary to prevent this and not wash our hands of the responsibility to help fellow humans.
Can't wait for that expanding global human population (and so our expanding ability to work toward a common purpose) to implement fixes for anthropogenic global warming and ecosystem collapse.
It's theoretically possible that the corrosive effects of civilisation on spaceship Earth's life-support systems are due to insufficient human crew. Maybe another billion is just what the doctor ordered for that "common purpose" to 'gel' (between, say, China, India and the slighly less populous combined developed world) in time to produce sustainable solutions for our many well-established problems – time will tell.
I agree entirely that overpopulation is a Malthusian myth. Humanity has the capacity and ability to feed and house the current world population plus 20-40%. As to why we don’t manage to do it currently, despite that surplus of resources? That is a matter of ideologies.
Some would say that the current incarnation of international capitalism is demonstrating its inability to adequately distribute those resources, and is therefore woefully ill equipped to lead us through the global crises that we all face; climate change.
Overconsumption is perhaps the best way we could frame the ‘overpopulation’ arguments that are based around observations of the growing and unjust inequity across humanity?
Those that study it dont agree with you
"As the nations gear up for a World Population Conference to be held in Cairo next September, a Cornell professor has given them something to talk about. He says the number of human beings, currently 5.6 billion and rising, really should be somewhere around 2 billion."
https://donellameadows.org/archives/the-most-undiscussable-topic-in-the-world/
So all the empty houses and food waste do not demonstrate the wasted resources brought about by profit motives?
That food and shelter going to waste isn’t a sign of overconsumption rather than overpopulation problem?
It is a dangerous territory to frame it as such precisely because it can be used to support ideologies that devalue human lives; to oppose that, humanity should be working so that everyone has health, home, food and education. Working towards that can begin with a voluntary reduction in consumption by those of us with the privilege to, wouldn’t you agree?
No one is denying there is overconsumption or waste (misallocation) of resources but that is not the issue…the issue is what level of human population is sustainable on this planet and what is the optimal level of consumption that enables that…those that study complex systems have determined it is considerably less than current and the limits are hard real limits of water, land fertility, biodiversity and pollution (waste)….everything else is subservient to that (in the long run).
Humans have had decades to make co-operative progress on these issues and have not only failed but made things worse.
And I do not disagree with any of what you're saying either, other than the framing as 'overpopulation'. Instead, it is lack of political will and the lack of ability for the vast majority of us to do anything to mitigate the excesses of capitalism; the machinery of the world is subservient to profit motive and status quo rather than real sustainability and the systemic change that is necessary to reach that. I think as peoples needs are met they can be trusted to reduce consumption in myriad of ways, one of which is whether they have children. This is observable already.
You can blame capitalism (or any other ism) but it dosnt change the fact that the world cannot support approaching 8 billion human beings for any length of time and therefore that number will reduce…we can engage with that process or not.
How does expressing the overconsumption of the finite carrying capacity of the earth as overpopulation engage with the process then? Overpopulation has the vaguely sinister solution in the elimination of people rather than the systemic, and not solely individual change that is needed to alter the path that we are on. While nature itself might provide the 'solution' for us, I would prefer to blame that on human systems failing those people who will inevitably hit hardest, instead of potentially blaming individuals for their own existence or seeing widespread death as nature 'healing itself'. Those are misanthropic and unhelpful views.
You may choose to take that intent of meaning from the term 'overpopulation' it dosnt mean it is there.
I would suggest it is difficult to address something if its existence is denied or it is misidentified…..as it has proven to be.
We are barely managing to feed the population we have; and while we could no doubt distribute food more fairly, and/or change our diet to allow for the production of more calories from our existing resources, the difficulties seem to indicate overpopulation.
There are vast food surpluses in the developed world, as well as unoccupied houses, it really is a matter of redistribution, but that aside, okay, we've done it, we diagnose earth with overpopulation; now what is the next step following that declaration?
What is the next step?….one would expect some sort of population planning (incorporating the necessary distribution) a la the Paris accord on climate….of course what is needed and what eventuates are likely two very different things, much like Paris.(indeed it could be incorporated)
So much for the increased capacity of numbers to problem solve.
'Population planning' may rub up against the UN Declaration of Human Rights and reproductive freedoms, but that aside, this planning entails what? Something akin the One Child policy? How is this enforced and by whom?
I dont think im likely to be called on to write a population strategy for the world but Im quite sure there would be plenty capable ….as to how its implemented and enforced…how are any global treaties enacted and enforced?
There comes to mind a vast number of actions and solutions to our overconsumption and distribution problems, and many have written widely about these, the global productivity and transport networks already exist.
The actions and solutions to overpopulation come to mind too, but throughout history these have been inflicted on the powerless, and IMO inaction to prevent 'nature' from 'solving it for us' is similarly inexcusable.
"From a biophysical perspective, human civilisation is a non-equilibrium thermodynamic or dissipative system that must maintain a minimum level of available exergy to avoid entropic decay and a yet higher level to permit physical growth [4]. From the ecological economics perspective, it can be viewed as an ‘economic superorganism’ that seeks to maximise energy consumption through self-organisation at a large scale [1], or the ‘megamachine’ driven to ever greater size and scope by the enhancing feedbacks of capital accumulation [5]. The Earth System is, however, finite in spatial extent, energetic capacity and overall complexity, and the ongoing expansion of human endeavours has and will continue to result in the Earth System’s limits being exceeded and the system being moved out of equilibrium. The Earth System (characterised as ‘Gaia’) is a self-regulating mechanism [6], and observable shifts in the behaviour of Earth Systems may be manifestations of balancing feedbacks resulting from the strong and growing perturbation from human activities. These may have the potential to fundamentally undermine the agriculture-based civilisation that has flourished in benign Holocene conditions."
https://www.interest.co.nz/sites/default/files/embedded_images/sustainability-13-08161.pdf
Lovely links cheers
I don't find much to agree with you Redlogix but absolutely with you 100% on this one. The best cure for any tendency towards overpopulation is to raise standards of living and increase access to free education. Its easy as that.
[I’ll indulge your little derail this far:]
I was not expressing an opinion as to whether the world is or is not overpopulated, but merely pointing out a non sequitur. However, our capacity to feed the the current world population seems to depend on the use of synthetic fertilizers; and, according to a recent article in New Scientist, such use seems to be upsetting nature's nitrogen balance, and will eventually lead to disaster.
Tell me they are a drug cheat without saying they are a drug cheat lol
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/olympics/300365971/rowings-surprise-package-the-main-obstacle-to-emma-twiggs-olympic-redemption
I wonder if it is that any announcer saying "Russia" instead of "Russian Olympic Committee" will be sacked?
The farce of letting the Russians, drug cheats, compete but by punishing them hideously by saying they must be called the "Russian Olympic Committee" should be unbelievable. It isn't though.
What chance some small country would have been accorded the same treatment if they'd done the same as the Russians?
The stuff article is a good one. Well done to Ian Anderson for the research.
Huge shoutout to Portia Woodman and team for going deep into a 21 point hill, and still coming back with the win.
Outstanding mental toughness there team.
Incognito
My question is why does the curser go back to an already filled in space,with out pointing out the that most go to comment,tap away and hit sent
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Oh dear – how sad especially for farmers whose plight was the original motivation when a NZ Government looked after the country ahead of the plunderers.
The answer would have been NZ's own shipping company as was established under the Kirk Government to prevent such problems.
Yes – undone by Roger Douglas! No doubt his mates did well out of the deal!
What is this about? What has upset the farmers that causes this comment today?
Sorry, didn't check that the link had attached.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/125900465/pressure-ramps-up-for-nz-to-charter-its-own-ships
All eyes on NSW's bugled lockdown and a premier who is economical with the truth, a federal treasurer suggesting they'll cause a recession and a PM who's not even bothered reprimanding his own consirapacy – anti vaxxing colleagues.
Covid doesn't care and appears to have grasped the opportunity. Epic leadership failure from the ‘blue light’ state.
They have as predicted, brought in the army and hefty fines. Time is ticking. Their neighbour, QLD has closed their border and is terrified of the renegades who sneak across this huge borderline between the states.
QLD should be worried, it's got George Christiansen (one of barnaby's lot) attending rallies and whipping up the Qanon'ers etc in Mackay last weekend.
There's a t-shirt about with Barnaby's 'I don't care about melbourne' comment on it dated and attributed to him.
These are members of federal parliament ! Pretty sad.
Military on the streets of Sydney sounds like a terrible idea. Surely this will only heighten the fear and mistrust. smh.
"The fortunes of the two classes; the securely housed and the others, are intimately connected. The solution is not to rant simplistically that more supply is the only answer, or to hanker after a capital gains tax. The horse has bolted. We need to use the resources in housing more intelligently.
From an economics perspective the current situation has resulted in a gross misallocation of resources and a sharply divided society in which we are gifting the rich and their children a
reason not to contribute through useful paid work. Upgrading the family home to a mansion is a highly tax advantaged way to accumulate wealth. Developers have an incentive to produce new builds for the investor class, who can avoid the recent demand-side impositions. All these activities divert scarce building resources away from providing basic housing for low- income New Zealanders."
https://www.interest.co.nz/opinion/111527/susan-st-john
An excellent piece by Susan St John that identifies the heart of the problem and offers a potential solution.
Thanks, pat. I enjoy reading Susan St Johns contributions.
I don't know if I agree with her solution, but she does eloquently state the problem – and why it is such a problem. Many media articles limit the housing issue to "I/We/My kids can't afford to buy a house", when we are housing many children in motels or worse. "Carring" them instead of caring.
Good call on criminalising gay conversion therapy! Common sense and well overdue.
+2
Though there doesn't seem to be much room for historical redress, at least those injured by being force-fed the poisoned chalice of self hatred will be better able to seek treatment. It is weird talking to Leitis about the exorcisms trusted community leaders convinced their families to subject them to as children. Plural Leitis!
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/448077/conversion-therapy-widely-discredited-by-science-faafoi
Proviso: As long as appropriate counselling and support services for children presenting with body and gender dysphoria does not fall under this large umbrella.
I'm concerned this particular law change may have long-term consequences for children if clumsily applied. (Which on reflection, probably makes it a bad law change made with good intent.)
Having lived with a national-level rower I give huge respect to the 24-7 dedication that New Zealand rowers have done for 12 years to get to this point.
Huge well done both men and women's teams.