DeclineoftheRationalAnimal:

ProtectingtheFutureofthe
HumanRace

ArielTorres
BrandonMedina
GabrielleLuna

TableofContents

1. TheProblemWithPeople
2. TheCapacityCeiling
3. PeopleForLessPeople
4. Laws&Treaties
5. WhyItAllBegan
6. GivingYourKidsRoomtoGrow
7. HowWeShouldH.E.L.P.
8. OverpopulationisNottheProblem(&WhyTheyre
Wrong)
9. WORKSCITED

Overpopulation is an issue which has impacted

Homo sapiens sapiens since the end of
the nineteenth century and will continue, indefinitely, to be detrimental to our survival. It is of
top prioritythatwe,ashumans,takestepstoensurethefuture
of our species through reducing the rate by which we
populatetheworld.
Since the advances in medical science and increased
agricultural productivity brought about over the last three
centuries, the global population has been rapidly expanding.
The renowned intellectual, Thomas Robert Malthus, is
credited withwritingoneofthemostinfluentialpapersonthetopic,
AnEssayonthePrincipleof
Population
. He described the relations between population growthandqualityoflifeovera vast
number of years, coming to the conclusion that in order to sustain a viable economy and high
standard of living we must keep check on our population. Early attempts to solve the issues of
unchecked population growth had translated into legislations such as the PoorLawAmendment
Act and decreased responses on disasterssuchasthatoftheIrishPotatoFamine.Inrecentyears,
many nations have attempted to keep the issues of overpopulation under control through
statewide efforts. Attempts
by the UN to passworldwide
programs on the matter have
been faced with difficulties,
with many considering it an

infringementofsovereignrights.
The

overarching

cause

of

overpopulation, as identified by
historians,

is

the

Industrial

Revolution: a jump in technology

and agriculture that occurred
around 1760. For about 750 years
before the Revolution, the world
population

steadily

remained

under 250millionhumans.Asnew
agricultural

methods

were

invented and the living standard

improved, the population jumped
toroughly1billionindividualsinthebeginningofthenineteenthcentury.
Overpopulation of the Earth leaves one obvious consequence: there simply isnt enough
room for everyone. This in turn leads to poor living standards and and unfair distribution of
resources, as there are more people to feed with the same quota of food. Additionally, more
resources must be consumed by the population in order to maintain its stability, so a larger
amount of space and resources are used up providing for the excess amount of individuals that
would be present. Additionally, overpopulation can contribute to a rise in unemployment since
there are thesameamountofjobsandagrowingamountofpeople.Thiscaneventuallygetsome
individuals to turn to a life of crime. In the future, however, overpopulation can cause a rapid

drop in resources due to

wornoutsoil.
Humans Enlisted to
Lower Population (HELP)
plans to remedythethreatof
overpopulation by making
contraceptives more widely
available

in

developing

nations, as well as providing education opportunities toanyonewhowantstobethechangethey

wish to see in the world. Familyplanningbenefitsthesenations becausetheinfantmortalityrate
(usually by frequent pregnancies) has the ability to be lowered and is safer for young women.
HELP plans to achieve this by raising awareness of family planning funds by large, nonprofit
organizationssuchastheBill&MelindaGatesFoundation.
Some argue that overpopulation is not the main issue that should be addressed, as there
are technologiesconstantlybeingdevelopedinordertosustainlargerpopulationsizes.However,
this is centered around the concept that technology can speed up the processes that involve
creating food and developing materials for human consumption. This does not address the idea
that we may eventuallyuseupallof theavailablelivingandagriculturalspace neededtosupport
such a larger population. Eventually, the human population will reach its carrying capacity,and
if this limit is overdone, it can mean a severe dieoff of thehumanpopulation.Additionally,the
modern day human lifestyle adds substantial amountsofpollutiontotheenvironmentaroundus,
as we are constantly creating waste products. This also adds to the limiting factorsthatcanalso

lead to a mass dieoff of the human populationifactionsarenttakeninthepresenttostopthese

issuesbeforetheybecomeoutofcontrol.
The human population is beneficial to sustaining the environment around us, yet
detrimental to us because of the size of it. The amount of people currentlylivingontheEarthis
excessive enough as is, but the projected amount of people expected to reside on the planet is
enough to cause food shortages and deterioration of living standards for most to all of the
population. The environment around us can also experience severe degradation due to required
living space and land for agricultural and industrial purposes, speeding up the rate at which the
worlds quality is decreasing. Human intervention of population rates is necessary in order to
ensurethatthereisstillahomeforhumansinthefuture.

WorksCited
NinePopulationStrategiestoStopShortof9Billion.(n.d.).RetrievedJune06,2016,
from
http://www.worldwatch.org/ninepopulationstrategiesstopshort9billion
James,B.(1994,September8)OverpopulationHasaBriefHistory.RetrievedJune07,
2016,from
http://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/08/news/08ihtbirth.html
Fischetti,M.(2014,December1).WorldPopulationWillSoarHigherThanPredicted.
RetrievedJune07,2016,from
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/worldpopulationwillsoarhigherthanpredic
ted/
Kellogg,A.(1970,Winter).PopulationGrowthandInternationalLaw.3(1),Retrieved
June07,2016,from
http://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1015&context=cilj
Malthus,T.(1798)AnEssayonthePrincipleofPopulation,RetrievedJune07,2016,
from
http://www.econlib.org/library/Malthus/malPopCover.html