I would like to challenge the accepted orthodoxy. Necropolist says:
>
> Now, there are sufficient resources in the world
> for this not to be the case any more, it is a
> question of how the resources are distributed.
>
As we stand here in the year 2002, the above statement is completely true. Right now the 6 billion people on the planet can be supported to a decent level by the resources we possess. Indeed, the same will probably be true in 5 or 6 years when there are 8 billion of us.
That the majority of human beings live at sustenance level is entirely the fault of an inequitable distribution of the resources we currently consume as a race.
Those who believe that the human race is currently consuming global resources at a sustainable level can now leave the room and work on a better distribution plan.
The rest of us need to work out what a sustainable level actually is, and how best to spend the last of our great bequest of oil in achieving a society that functions at that level.
The great despair i have for the future is that all of the research i have read suggests that 6 billion people can't live sustainably on planet earth - that the number is closer to 1 billion. And the fact that we seem to be squandering the last of our energy on a consumerist lifestyle instead of a solution to the race's problems.
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