74 Bleak Friday, 8 Billion Post-Mortem and Damage Done by Guilt

Examining news coverage and commentaries about human population passing 8 billion on November 15, we unpack the reasons far too many of us avoid discourse about human overpopulation. Why are we tap-dancing around the very dialogue needed so people around the world can make informed, responsible family-size decisions? We conclude the guilt many feel about their privilege is actually hurting those who don’t share our fortune.

Also, find out why Black Friday was really bleak, and how TV networks refused to run Buy Nothing Day commercials. Plus, should Dave get over his obsession with phantom power and wall warts? And, how do you approach the occupant of an idling vehicle and educate them about wasting gas and needlessly polluting – without getting shot? 

LINKS:

GrowthBusters: Hooked on Growth – the documentary (see it free)
https://tinyurl.com/growthbustersmovie

World Population Hits 8 Billion: What Do People on the Street Think? – our YouTube video
https://youtu.be/ncT-J5BsVuc 

8 Billion is Too Many: Don’t be a Twit About Overpopulation – Episode 73 of GrowthBusters podcast
https://www.growthbusters.org/8-billion-is-too-many/

Child-Free by Choice: The Birth Rate Crisis Gripping the West - by Rosa Silverman in the UK Telegraph
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/family/parenting/child-free-choice-birth-rate-crisis-gripping-west/

World Population At 8 Billion Humans -- And Still Growing – AFP story by Amélie BOTTOLLIER-DEPOIS
https://www.barrons.com/news/world-population-at-8-billion-humans-and-still-growing-01667786407

8 Billion People: A Milestone by the Numbers – by Jennifer Sciubba at Population Reference Bureau
https://www.prb.org/articles/8-billion-people/

Earth at 8 Billion: Consumption Not Crowd is Key to Climate – AP story by Seth Borenstein
https://apnews.com/article/science-africa-pollution-climate-and-environment-1c70df435acda74301ff2df96a86dd43

The Human Eco-Predicament: Overshoot and the Population Conundrum – by William Rees in the Vienna Yearbook of Population Research 2023
https://www.austriaca.at/0xc1aa5576_0x003dcfa1.pdf

Bending the Curve - by Chris Tucker
https://www.whp-journals.co.uk/JPS/article/view/761/515

Global Population About to Hit 8 Billion - by William Ryerson (Population Media Center) and Kathleen Mogelgaard (Population Institute)
https://thehill.com/opinion/international/3712763-global-population-about-to-hit-8-billion/

8 Billion Day Facts and Myths: A Guide to the 8 Billion Global Population Milestone on 15 November – by Sustainable Population Australia
https://population.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Briefing-Note-8-Billion-Day.pdf

Crisis Point: The World at 8 Billion People - Fact Sheet from Population Matters
https://populationmatters.org/resources/the-world-at-8-billion-people/

Has the Population Bomb Exploded? - by Julian Cribb
https://juliancribb.blog/2022/11/02/has-the-population-bomb-exploded/

Buy Nothing Day TV commercial produced by Adbusters in 1999
https://youtu.be/UOqRXBJgapQ

Internet Spreads Word as Networks Shun Adverts for Buy Nothing Day
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2000/nov/24/internetnews.internationalnews

Herman Daly commemorative sampler from CASSE
https://steadystate.org/in-commemoration-a-sampling-of-herman-daly/

Economic Heresy – Herman Daly on the Conversation Earth radio series/podcast
http://www.conversationearth.org/economic-heresy/

I’m Thankful Smart People Are Telling the Truth: Economic and Population Growth Need to End ASAP – by Dave Gardner at Medium
https://medium.com/ending-overshoot/im-thankful-smart-people-are-telling-the-truth-654f3ae27155

NYC Anti-Idling Law Turns Into Huge Payday ($125K for One Man) for Citizens Who Report
https://www.nbcnewyork.com/investigations/nyc-anti-idling-law-turns-into-huge-payday-125k-for-one-man-for-citizens-who-report/3637231/

Idle Threat – 2012 documentary
https://www.videoproject.org/Idle-Threat.html

19-minute free version
https://cultureunplugged.com/documentary/watch-online/play/53634/Idle-Threat

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

 

GrowthBusters: Hooked on Growth – free on YouTube
https://youtu.be/_w0LiBsVFBo

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On the GrowthBusters podcast, we come to terms with the limits to growth, explore the joy of sustainable living, and provide a recovery program from our society’s growth addiction (economic/consumption and population). This podcast is part of the GrowthBusters project to raise awareness of overshoot and end our culture’s obsession with, and pursuit of, growth.

Dave Gardner directed the documentary GrowthBusters: Hooked on Growth, which Stanford Biologist Paul Ehrlich declared “could be the most important film ever made.” Co-host, and self-described "energy nerd," Stephanie Gardner has degrees in Environmental Studies and Environmental Law & Policy.

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