The Overpopulation Myth

                                              

To my surprise, I found that resource abundance not only increased with population growth, but it also actually increased faster than the population―a relationship that they call superabundance. On average, every additional human being created more value than he or she consumed. This relationship between population growth and abundance is deeply counterintuitive, yet it is true and amply demonstrated by the data. The fundamental fact driving this phenomenon, so often overlooked by zero-sum thinking, is the value of innovation. More people produce more ideas, which leads to more inventions and new ways to use natural resources. People then test those inventions in the marketplace to separate the useful from the useless. At the end of that process of discovery, people are left with innovations that overcome shortages,  spur economic growth, and raise standards of living. 

 People, in the end,  are the ultimate resource. But enormous populations are not enough to sustain superabundance. Despite booming population levels, China and India still experienced crushing poverty before their respective economic reforms. To innovate, people must be allowed to think, speak, publish, associate, and disagree. They must be allowed to save, invest, trade, and profit. In a word, they must be free. The underlying point is not just about economic statistics. It’s about seeing the world in a way in which human beings are the ultimate producers of value, not burdens to be regretted and reduced.

 In a time of growing pessimism and zero-sum thinking, Our hitherto surplus offers an important lesson in why misanthropic ideologies are not just wrong in principle, they’re also wrong on the reality of human nature.  For more on the subject, I suggest "Superabundance" by Marian L Tupy and Gale L. Pooley.