Regarding " Overpopulation " Mojavegreen, there are those who would suggest strongly that we have already overshot in human numbers, what our Biosphere can reasonably be expected to sustain in the nearby decades to come. As you indicate, great inequities exist between the affluent cultures and the struggling masses, to put it in basic terms. Regarding the history of human civilizations, this state of affairs has shown itself to be a permanent feature of most cultures in general, controlled by the form and functioning of our Grey Flesh ( brains ), from which our basic manner is precipitated. Of course beacon's of humanity's " better side " do press to the forefront during given periods, even so, we still always seem to eventually sink, in the course of the history of great cultures, back into more unbalanced designs, when it comes to the concepts of overall fairness between peoples. I agree with you that untold vast amounts of valuable resources end up in the ground, unusable, in landfills. These resources, and the energy it took to transform them, is realistically in a much more unusable state at that point, and given the finite nature of our home in space, I think as the years go by, humanity will see with more clarity just how wasteful they were, in the good times have been living in, at least for those of us fortunate ones in the afluent nations. You state, " it is doubtful that we will shift focus without cataclysmic necessity ", and I too think that is the way things will go. Of course we as individuals, if aware of the various looming problems to come, can work toward preparing for the changes indicated by the preponderence of the evidence, but it may also come to be, that even any such preperations we could make, may be utterly overwhelmed by senarios such as a world climate meltdown, drastic energy shortages causing social conflict on a mass scale, worldwide disease pandemics which would throw everything into disarray, and the list goes on. So my efforts in these SC posting, was initially to paint a portrait of sorts, of the looming possibilities, and I think more likely, the coming realities, listing the sources I am deriving the information from. It is an interest of mine to keep up to date on the new developments on these various issues, to what extent my time will allow. If I come across an article that I think adds a new dimension to understanding in a clearer manner, the nature of these threatening developments for our furture, then that, is what I will include in my future SC Post. We shall see how things develop.
