The Costs of Overpopulation (NPG Booknote)

• Donald Mann
• September 1, 1994
• Forum Papers
• Forum Paper
• 0 Comments

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An NPG Forum Paper
(NPG Booknote) 
by Donald Mann
September 1994

We at NPG believe our members should know about this book. NPG played no role in its production, but both authors have written articles in the NPG FORUM series. We think it is so important we have ordered copies to distribute to major libraries.

Too much of American population writing is about other countries, particularly those in the third world. This one is about our own country, and the authors state their message at the beginning: “First, the human race is a part of the natural ecosystem of Earth, not a privileged superspecies given the earth as its inheritance. Second, the disturbances caused by human activities have accelerated so dramatically in this half-century, driven by population growth and the technological explosion, that they threaten not only the continuation of a way of life that we have come to take for granted, but perhaps even the continuation of life systems as we understand them. Third, the United States, because of its size and consumption habits, is the most destabilizing unit of the vast ecosystem we call Earth… And fourth, the means for controlling and reversing these terrible forces lie within our hands, if only as a society we can be wise enough to understand and employ them.”

….Continue reading the full Forum paper by clicking here.