A little perspective, please.

• Author: Gumulka, Genn
• Position: Population AND ITS DISCONTENTS - Letter to the Editor

I'm absolutely astounded at the one-sided perspective of World Watch readers on the issue of population growth. My frustration peaked when one reader suggested that affluent countries "... close their borders, enjoy their affluence, and say to the rest of the world, 'Look, if you want to be affluent like we are, limit your populations like we did'" (January/February 2004). Thank you, World Watch, for pointing out that we, in the affluent world, enjoy our overconsumption at the expense of those in the "less-affluent" world. In fact, if not for our colonialist trade policies which allow us to plunder those "less-affluent" nations, we would not be able to sustain the lavish lifestyles this reader so smugly enjoys. Furthermore, let's be very clear that the most significant threat to the planet is that the rest of the world does try to attain the same level of "affluence" as North Americans. Even with zero population growth, pursuit of this foolish goal would require almost seven planets to sustain human consumption.

That said, let's put the issue of population growth into perspective. Here are my observations based on some rough calculations drawn from the footprint of nations data as reported in the WWF 2000 Living Planet Report. First, Africa could increase its population by more than six-fold before its ecological footprint would be equivalent to the footprint of North Americans. That's over...