I realized that most of the poor, rapidly reproducing nations were on the same track; they were cranking out more people than they could maintain. Those poor folks would be migrating toward wealth.

When I was born there were 2 billion people on this planet. Now there are over 8 billion. We humans have been ever so clever in solving short term crises, but when it comes to thinking really long term, we're not so good.

Yes, all my life I've heard the arguments in favor of population growth, but they mostly come down to economic policies...more young workers to support the old folks and keep the gears of capitalism grinding.

As someone who was worried about overpopulation, I was also against immigration to the US. But sano's point quoted above is what resigned me to its seeming inevitability. Like osmosis, the prosperity differential was going to make it hard to stop illegal immigration.

It may be true that the planet can 'support' twice the current population, but at what cost? That seems insane to me. And while I won't be around to see the consequences, my descendants will be.