Chapter 15: MOC

CHAPTER 15 INTRODUCTION Metaphor of the tragedy of commons Human life increasing, expending more of non-renewable resources, competition for resources becoming more intense Biggest danger faced by humankind is overpopulation Forced Ride, Externality Forced Ride: force others to suffer part of the consequences of actions; i.e. hurting the environment(imposing cost on global community; forced to incur a negative externality: an external cost or benefit of an action; i.e. pollution, or even cleaner air Tragedy of Commons Communal property in which every villager has a right to use it; commons has a finite capacity Every villager has the incentive to take advantage of the public property; taking advantage of public property causes ruin for all, communal ownership encourages abuse Carrying Capacity Commons/public goods has a finite capacity Earth has a finite capacity Intrinsic Responsibility Everyone faces benefits of responsibility; if you screw up, individually by the price as well Need to face consequences of individual actions Lifeboat Ethics Fortunate people, the world can only support a certain amount of people, what do you do to the others: Help, give aid Do nothing, no welfare, etc. Self-sufficiency, ?fortress America,? cut self off from outside world Ecological Footprint How much impact an individual has on his or her environment 12/3/08 Demographic Transition: all societies when start out in very primitive state, have high rate of birth, but high number of infant mortality; when population is too big, famine ensues, nature begins to inhibit growth As society develops/industrializes, life becomes better; better sanitation, nutrition, medical care; fewer babies now die, death rates fall Western world has a population explosion during this demographic transition; people could then migrate, colonialism; many parts of the developing world are beginning to experience Developed countries are shutting doors, controlling immigration If economy is not growing as fast as population growth, falling behind Global economy now shrinking, yet population is growing Most population at the Bottom Of Pyramid, life span very short Realist: People need to take more responsibility when having a child; many countries have limited child policies; best way to enforce, letting the child starve, most effective contraceptive Liberal: Best contraceptive according to liberals is education, especially for women; as education increases, number of child goes down For every two years of elementary/primary education, one less child Having a child becomes a hindrance to developing a career in developed nations Age Structure, Replacement Rate: More people at the bottom of the pyramid, this population is growing the fastest Replacement Rate: in poorest countries, 4.5 meaning each family has 4.5 children per every two parents; specifically the ability of the population to replace itself, 2 kids for every 2 parents, if more pop. Increases Exponential Growth, Equilibrium (w/ replacement rate): Growth is increasing at an increasing rate, equilibrium will occur, if replacement rate is 2, in 80 years Population compounds, more population, faster it increases Widening gap between the rich and the poor Sustainable Development Population: Earth cannot support massive increase in population, currently the biggest problem humanity as whole faces Less jobs, more competition, social turmoil, political instability; becomes recruiting grounds for terrorists Development needs to be sustainable, lessen overconsumption; need better quality of people, not quantity; development that prepares for the future and sustains itself Spaceship Earth: Human beings are all in it together, need to work together; we are all passengers in the same spaceship; Earth is the one thing that we have Underproduction Too many people, cannot produce enough food for them all There should be enough food, need to have more productive farming 2% of US population are famers, able to produce enough food for the US population and enough to export Malthus: argues there will be an ecological and agricultural collapse, Earth?s arable land will not be able to support the population Counter Argument: Technology can save us, efficiency, productivity (cornucopian) Complexity: phenomenon of over consumption: 1/5 of the world?s population, consume 70% to 80% of resources