People of the future will wonder about how we did not eat insects, prohibited weed, treated incest as bad, enjoyed zoos and how we could let it happen that history repeats itself.
Really tried to sneak the incest one in there huh?
People of the future will wonder about how we did not eat insects, prohibited weed, treated incest as bad, enjoyed zoos and how we could let it happen that history repeats itself.
Slowly and ineffectively trying to limit the obvious ecological collapse of our planet
This is a good read with valid points, but I still feel that overpopulation is an eventuality, isn't it? While it may not be the cause of today's issues, the thread is more aimed at future ones. There is only so much space and resources on Earth (less if we wanna keep natural ecosystems intact) and our population will only keep growing so at some point we'll all have to have that discussion. It's probably much further off than I originally thought though.Humanity produces enough (and more than enough) food to feed literally every single person on earth, and that capacity to feed will increase as technology moves forward. The issues of hunger and inequality are more essentially issues of capitalistic and political systems. Overpopulation is indeed a major factor in climate change as well, but it's impact is much decreased when weighed against the effects of uncontrolled industry. And then you get into the racial, eugenist, and xenophobic politics of controlling population, and eesh.
Be careful when thinking that overpopulation is the main cause of our existential threats, especially when it is oftentimes capitalistic interests leading us to those thoughts (I was in that mindset for a while myself until my economist friend called me out and I read more on the subject).
It is not. The birth rate of developed countries are gradually falling below replacement levels. It is actually starting to be a problem in countries like Japan and Italy, among others. Most births in the world happen in the undeveloped world, because of lack of affordable birth control, cultural attitudes toward birth control, and child mortality. When you're not sure which child you have will survive childhood, you tend to have more. Similarly, wealthier people in developed nations tend to have less kids because they're sure their child will survive, and they have consistent access to birth control. It is also difficult to afford raising multiple children in developed countries so large families are rarer unless there are cultural/religious factors at play. Demographers believe world population growth will level off around 10-12 billion as long as we keep improving the material conditions of developing countries. That is the main challenge, not overpopulation.but I still feel that overpopulation is an eventuality, isn't it?
I think employment will be one of them. It will be seen as a kind of slavery.
Another good read. I wonder if these same current population trends will continue well into the future though. Like, say we start to see it become easier for people to raise children in the future with things like universal healthcare/education, reasonable work hours, etc. would we still see a declining population in developed countries with a lot of the hardships of raising children being removed?It is not. The birth rate of developed countries are gradually falling below replacement levels. It is actually starting to be a problem in countries like Japan and Italy, among others. Most births in the world happen in the undeveloped world, because of lack of affordable birth control, cultural attitudes toward birth control, and child mortality. When you're not sure which child you have will survive childhood, you tend to have more. Similarly, wealthier people in developed nations tend to have less kids because they're sure their child will survive, and they have consistent access to birth control. It is also difficult to afford raising multiple children in developed countries so large families are rarer unless there are cultural/religious factors at play. Demographers believe world population growth will level off around 10-12 billion as long as we keep improving the material conditions of developing countries. That is the main challenge, not overpopulation.
Overpopulation – The Human Explosion Explained
In a very short amount of time the human population exploded and is still growing very fast. Will this lead to the end of our civilization? Check out https:/...www.youtube.com
Do not trust anyone who bangs the overpopulation drum. They are either ignorant of demographic trends, or getting very close to ecofascism, the idea that we should preserve the environment by depopulating "undesirables" (read: non-whites).
Aging is just a mechanical function of our bodies. If we can engineer our bodies on the appropriate level, then presumably we should be able to alter how aging functions and potentially slow down or stop it or invoke some other adjustment that alters it.This is an interesting one. Are you starting from the assumption that there's a "cure" for aging?
This is an interesting one. Are you starting from the assumption that there's a "cure" for aging?
Animal rights. People in the future will be disgusted and shocked on how the meat industry works.
Islamophobia.
Muslims being murdered all over the world and nobody cares. There are genocides happening right now, today.
this and fighting against robot slavery
Also, probably this.
The only way this will become a mainstream progressive issue is if capitalism suddenly stops existing. It won't.I think employment will be one of them. It will be seen as a kind of slavery.
I am thinking 100s of years in the future, not the next few decades.I unfortunately do not see us moving past racial and gender inequality anytime soon.
The only way this will become a mainstream progressive issue is if capitalism suddenly stops existing. It won't.
I still think Earth may be federated but people will be against these silly ideas of nationalism.
The silence is deafening
People have been saying animal rights, which I feel mostly pertain to slaughterhouses and eating animals, but I've thought for a while about how future generations might look back on pet ownership. Like, when I'm an old person, my bleeding heart progressive grandkids will be grilling me on why we thought it was okay to enslave pets for our own amusement back when I was their age, and asking why didn't I recognize how inhumane it was. Even funnier is that I can see people who consider themselves deeply progressive today finding it hard in the future to agree with all the young kids calling their generation heartless and cruel for having a pet kitty when they were young, and said older generation will be howling back about how things were different back then.
While I 100% corps will start doing downsizing as automation increases but my question with this is to what end? Eventually if things go down the path you're thinking there won't be people who can afford to buy these products built by automation, what's the point of building a PS5 with robots if nobody has a job to pay them enough to buy one?That one won't be a hot button political issue that people debate and campaign on, it will just be corporations unilaterally firing everyone and replacing them with AI/robots, then the government using drones to do violence on the millions of angry unemployed people. It will be an extremely one sided aspect of the descent into global fascism.
Automation will be on a company/industry level and we'll see it happen in chunks. Fast food franchises going fully human-free in an increasing number of locations, trucking/logistics companies replacing large portions of their fleets with self-driving rigs, etc. Every one will be devastating but it won't happen all at once. Maybe it'll be piecemeal enough that there's some way to slow its progress but I'm not counting on it.While I 100% corps will start doing downsizing as automation increases but my question with this is to what end? Eventually if things go down the path you're thinking there won't be people who can afford to buy these products built by automation, what's the point of building a PS5 with robots if nobody has a job to pay them enough to buy one?
Ah, that far in the future haha.I am thinking 100s of years in the future, not the next few decades.
I guess I have been watching too much Star Trek where people don't need to work. If it doesn't happen then the least that will happen is certain forms of today's employment (very long hours on low wages) will be treated in the same way we treat slavery.
While I 100% corps will start doing downsizing as automation increases but my question with this is to what end? Eventually if things go down the path you're thinking there won't be people who can afford to buy these products built by automation, what's the point of building a PS5 with robots if nobody has a job to pay them enough to buy one?
Pretty much this + probably moral debates around the justification of different levels of violence against upper classes during revolutionary periods
- Vegetarianism/veganism.
- Putting limits on mass/personal consumption.
- How to deal with the mass migration of billions of people.
- Gene splicing and designer babies.
- Privacy issues in an age when most people's entire lives are documented on the internet and social media.
- Dealing with automation and the loss of billions of jobs. Debates about the merit of work and UBI.
- The acceptance of otherkin, furries and other more niche sexual identities.
- What to do with conservative/religious people, whose beliefs are getting ever more out of whack from general society as time moves on.
- Nuclear power and its place in a world without fossil fuels.