Comments on: In Love with Humanity http://www.clarissahughes.com/people-and-culture/in-love-with-humanity/ Stories of Africa Mon, 09 Aug 2010 18:35:21 +0200 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Clarissa http://www.clarissahughes.com/people-and-culture/in-love-with-humanity/comment-page-1/#comment-36 Clarissa Wed, 08 Jul 2009 07:03:13 +0000 http://www.clarissahughes.com/?p=247#comment-36 Hi Ralph Trying to reduce problems to one single cause is like trying to contain existential theories in “isms” – life just won’t be boxed that way. As this website is about Africa this article deals with one issue pertinent among many, and it is a subject that is often misunderstood by Africans. Turning the question into an “Them” and “Us” matter is unhelpful as we’re all in this together. Hi Ralph
Trying to reduce problems to one single cause is like trying to contain existential theories in “isms” – life just won’t be boxed that way.
As this website is about Africa this article deals with one issue pertinent among many, and it is a subject that is often misunderstood by Africans.
Turning the question into an “Them” and “Us” matter is unhelpful as we’re all in this together.

]]> By: Ralph http://www.clarissahughes.com/people-and-culture/in-love-with-humanity/comment-page-1/#comment-31 Ralph Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:55:11 +0000 http://www.clarissahughes.com/?p=247#comment-31 You seem to be tacitly implying that it is only overpopulation by the poor that is the problem. There's a well-known IPAT model (from the early 70s) that postulates that environmental impact (I) is proportional to the product of Population (P), per capita Affluence (A) and Technology (T): I = P x A x T Of course, even this is oversimplified (Like how do you define/measure I and T?). But it is far more comprehensive than simply laying everything at the door of Population. The obvious ethical question is: should the rich North ("us") limit their population, or should the poor South ("them") do so first? Who decides? "Us" because we are educated, powerful and wealthy? Also, environmental impacts occur in the global commons. Think Climate Change or overfishing. It's not the teeming millions in Africa that are to blame; they are just going to be the first victims. But it doesn't absolve African nations from being part of the solution either... You seem to be tacitly implying that it is only overpopulation by the poor that is the problem. There’s a well-known IPAT model (from the early 70s) that postulates that environmental impact (I) is proportional to the product of Population (P), per capita Affluence (A) and Technology (T):

I = P x A x T

Of course, even this is oversimplified (Like how do you define/measure I and T?). But it is far more comprehensive than simply laying everything at the door of Population.

The obvious ethical question is: should the rich North (”us”) limit their population, or should the poor South (”them”) do so first? Who decides? “Us” because we are educated, powerful and wealthy?

Also, environmental impacts occur in the global commons. Think Climate Change or overfishing. It’s not the teeming millions in Africa that are to blame; they are just going to be the first victims. But it doesn’t absolve African nations from being part of the solution either…

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