[Grovenet] America's Trillion-Dollar Baby

[David Morelli]

On Jan 26, 2007, at 7:09 AM, Steven wrote:

> Fine and good. But what about the hard answers? Once you know the  
> rope is 50ft long and can hold 1000 lbs, which 5 people will get on  
> the rope and what is to happen of the ones who don't get on?

The first five will get on the rope, and climb down.  Then the next  
five, and then the next five, etc.  So long as you stay within the  
carrying capacity of the system you can continue to use the rope for  
a real long time.  Same with the earth.  We get into trouble when we  
try too hard to "push the envelope" and exceed the carrying capacity.


> What if it is decided that Montana and Arizona are just too harsh  
> to live in economically?

We have evidence that Montana and Arizona both are quite habitable at  
some population density without exceeding the carrying capacity.  The  
trick is to determine the real carrying capacity and stay below it.

> What if we have to get rid of an elder for every baby born?

You don't need to do that.  They die eventually under all  
conditions.  It is more humane to prevent conception than to  
institute euthanasia.  If you really want to reduce the population by  
killing unnecessary people, consider having a death penalty for  
capital crimes.  Oh wait, we have done that haven't we?

David