The Problem

The problem that no one is talking about and that contributes to almost all the other problems in the world is the continued overpopulation of humans on the planet. No one will talk about it because there is no incentive for the individual to do anything about it and solving this problem is essentially insurmountable. Government cannot fix it by limiting the number of births and most religions encourage high birth rates to raise their numbers.

The strain on the natural resources becomes more and more evident with every passing year as more humans demand those limited resources. Every commodity from metals to cotton to grains have been rising to new highs due to the increased demand and limited supply for these items. Oil will continue to trend upwards as more emerging economies catch up with the developed world and crave that black liquid that powers everything. It is inevitable that clothing, food, jewelry, and gas will all rise due to increased global demand. Demand is outpacing supply.

Water is also a limited resource and the human population may find it difficult to provide enough water for everybody. Certain areas will be harder hit, specifically, areas of Africa and Asia may have to wage war to maintain supplies of water for their populations.

Increase in mankind is straining the environment as humans consume so much of the available resources. Deforestation and the resulting decreased animal populations will surely have long term repercussions. The strain on fish populations in our oceans and seas due to overfishing may be nonrecoverable.

More demand on resources promotes more belligerence amongst countries to control those resources and this trend will likely continue. There will be more wars to control these desirable resources.

The overpopulation of our cities, states, and countries cause situations where there are not enough employment options for everybody. Thus there are high levels of unemployment causing civil unrest and redistribution of wealth from workers to non-workers. Too many people and too few jobs will especially hit the young people hardest as they search for employment. Lack of a job/future will lead to greater discontent and uprising by the youth.

Overpopulation is the source of many of our problems but as with many of natures extremes there are self correcting influences. More demand for food and water with limited supplies will result in more famine and death from malnutrition and dehydration. More war with more devastating weapons in order to control resources will lead to more death. More overcrowding of our cities will lead to more virulent strains of microbes leading to more death from infectious disease. This is inevitable as humankind expands to levels that cannot be supported by the natural resources of the planet. Although the problem of overpopulation is not correctable from within, nature will inevitably use its laws to correct this anomaly.