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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDuggar Mom, Michelle Duggar (19 Kids and Counting): "Overpopulation Is A Lie "
Michelle Duggar, star of TLC's reality show, "19 Kids and Counting", says there needs to be more children because our world needs more joy. And as for overpopulation? That's just a lie, Duggar recently told the Christian Broadcasting Network in a web interview. "The idea of overpopulation is not accurate," Duggar says, because the entire population of the world could fit inside of Jacksonville, Florida.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/29/duggars-overpopulation_n_1387640.html
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And, of course she is home schooling all those kids to make sure her beliefs (rather than facts) are passed on...sigh....
Hosts of GD. I think because this touches on issues of overpopulation, a growing movement in far RW religious groups to deny problems of overpopulation and which has moved into mainstream RW politics to try to reduce women's access to family planning and birth control--and finally the issue of denial of science and home schooling-- that this deserves to be discussed in GD. Though she is on a tv show, this is not simply a "celebrity" story.
rfranklin
(13,200 posts)I long for the old days when you could get on your dinosaur and ride for days without seeing another human.
On edit: I see she wants to have people living like chickens on a Perdue farm.
cali
(114,904 posts)Mama Michelle Dugs thinks you can fit 7 billion people into J'ville. Ain't no cure for stupid.
rfranklin
(13,200 posts)those extra three billion just slipped right by me.
lapfog_1
(29,205 posts)and here is the relevant prediction made almost 45 years ago by author John Brunner.
The title of his book was "Stand on Zanzibar"
The primary engine of the novel's story is overpopulation and its projected consequences,[2] and the title refers to an early twentieth-century claim that the world's population could fit onto the Isle of Wight which has an area of 381 square kilometres (147 sq mi) if they were all standing upright. Brunner remarked that the growing world population now required a larger island; the 3.5 billion people living in 1968 could stand together on the Isle of Man (area 572 square kilometres (221 sq mi)), while the 7 billion people who he projected would be alive in 2010 would need to stand on Zanzibar (area 1,554 square kilometres (600 sq mi)).[4] Throughout the book, the image of the entire human race standing shoulder-to-shoulder on a small island is a metaphor for a crowded world.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand_on_Zanzibar
we just this year passed 7 billion, making his 45year old prediction off by 2 years.
The area of Jacksonville is 747 sq miles, so she is correct as far as we could all fit within the city limits (standing shoulder to shoulder). It is worth it to note that Jacksonville is the LARGEST city (by land area) in the lower 48 states, and only has a population of 821,000 individuals. The world population is 8,526 TIMES more people than live in Jacksonville.
Or, should you desire to all live in a "Jacksonville" style city (same population per sq mile as the present city) you would need an area of 5,115,600 sq miles. That's an area that is 19 times the size of the state of Texas or 1.4 TIMES the size of the lower 48 states. All built as a city with the same population density as Jacksonville.
And that doesn't even begin to cover the land needed to grow the food for all those people, nor waste areas for all of their trash.
stuntcat
(12,022 posts)it kills me that so many comfortable well-fed people don't realize the millions of acres of old forests that are lost to farming.. or the water and energy that go into it. It's made me lose hope in people.
Arkana
(24,347 posts)TheMastersNemesis
(10,602 posts)She is the original nit wit. There are things I cannot say about this Christianut here. It is infuriating.
I watch Globtrekker which is a travel show that goes where most tourists do not usually go. The hosts will travel to places unheard of. One program went to an isolated village in northern India that is almost impossible to get to. The host will usually eat the local food. To get protein this village eats fried rat! When one host whose first name is Megan was traveling in central Africa there were children along the road selling "mouse kabobs"!
If you think that we are not overpopulated just watch a bunch of Globtrekker programs and see how much of the world lives. It is not resort country. It is appalling to see how many people live in abject poverty. I do not know how we can sustain the 7 billion we have now.
We are seriously overpopulated already and the degradation of the biosphere is catastrophic.
RevStPatrick
(2,208 posts)...fried rat or mouse kabobs.
If that's what's available, that's what you eat.
Our cultural biases make us go "ewww," but rat is just as good for you as cow.
Maybe even better - less fat.
Personally, I think we could solve many of our food problems by eating insects.
You wouldn't have to actually put bugs in your mouth.
Grind 'em up into a paste and make bread or whatever out of it.
But, you know... cultural biases and all.
And finally, I don't think we have too many people on the planet.
I think we have too many people on the planet FOR THE SYSTEMS THAT WE HAVE BUILT to sustain us all. Of course, there is a small percentage of people who have gotten fabulously wealthy from those systems, and they are hell-bent on keeping the current systems in place. We could probably solve all of our population-related problems pretty easily, if it weren't for the 1 percent.
And yes, Mrs. Dugger is a nitwit...
onehandle
(51,122 posts)HockeyMom
(14,337 posts)feels the same way. Imagine someone like that sitting in the White House?
surrealAmerican
(11,361 posts)Where did she get this Jacksonville meme from anyway?
rfranklin
(13,200 posts)Sounds like what they want to hear, so it must be true.
izquierdista
(11,689 posts)Because they have merged with Duval county and they cover 918 sq. miles in area. Wikipedia gives the 2010 population as 864,000, for a population density of 1,117 per square mile. So if you stuff 8 billion into that area (we've passed 7 billion and are now trying to accommodate 8 on the planet), it works out to over 10 million people per square mile. Mathematically illiterate, indeed! Must be that home schooling math.
lapfog_1
(29,205 posts)At 7 billion pepole, we can all "Stand on Zanzibar", that is if we are all standing, shoulder to shoulder and toe to heal.
Takes about 600 square miles for 7 billion people to stand that way.
See my post above in this thread to understand the other implications.
when they say "world population can all fit within Jacksonville" the implication is that Jacksonville still looks like jacksonville (suburbs with lawns, parks, office complexes, shopping centers, roads and all). But keeping the ratio of people that currently live in Jacksonville to the area of Jacksonville constant and THEN accounting for all 7 billion of us... you need a city which is 1.3 times larger than the lower 48 states. All city, from Atlantic to Pacific. And you still haven't accounted for where these people get their food.
hlthe2b
(102,291 posts)at least according to those who design airplane seats.
surrealAmerican
(11,361 posts)... is not consistent with human behavior, and not actually possible. I doubt you could even get 1000 people to stand that way (especially if they were randomly selected): some percentage of them would need to move.
tnlurker
(1,020 posts)When I was talking to a co-worker about Climate Change and the need to slow down on the number of children born in the world. He and his wife are trying for their 4th child now.
longship
(40,416 posts)Creideiki
(2,567 posts)so your insanity can become public policy.
Please, please, can we just renegotiate Appomattox. The world would have been a much better place if these nuts had a homeland we could ship them off to.
malaise
(269,049 posts)what the fugg does she know?
hamsterjill
(15,222 posts)By publicizing the loss of her last pregnancy, etc. In other words, she has been crafty enough to turn her breeding into a money making venture.
She acts all meek and mild, and very well may be. But either she or Jim Bob are still taking those checks to the bank, I bet! The Duggars are no better than the Gosselins. They all pimped their children for financial gain.
I certainly do see your point. I don't know why ANYONE would listen to her on any subject other than childbirth!
malaise
(269,049 posts)callous taoboy
(4,585 posts)cynatnite
(31,011 posts)Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)The REAL RW meme is "The world's population can fit inside of Texas" (but they don't say that it would only work if the entire state had the population density of Tokyo)
HughBeaumont
(24,461 posts)Fucking ridiculous.
Here's a Story
Of a Weird-Ass Lady
Who just spilled out 19 fundie autobots
All the girls did all the work
And raised the babies
The sons don't do jack squat.
Here's the Story
Of Jim Dumb Duggar
Whose erection is a being all it's own
Jim and broodmare are autohumping
"We need another clone!!"
'Til the one day when TLC met these morons
Cause they knew these Quiverfuls were out to lunch
And this Show ain't "19 Kids and Counting" . . .
They're the Fundie Homophobic Brady Bunch!
geardaddy
(24,931 posts)LynneSin
(95,337 posts)I don't think that joy is limited to those who are blood related
hamsterjill
(15,222 posts)Although I'd hate to see more children indoctrinated into the Quiverful movement, your point is a good one. Why aren't the Duggars adopting needy children?!
YellowRubberDuckie
(19,736 posts)People who think that they have to be their blood children kind of piss me off. I believe you can do things with children to bond with them at even older ages to love them as your own. Some people don't get it. And I feel sorry for those people.
Hawkowl
(5,213 posts)Uncle Joe
(58,365 posts)if you stacked them one on top of the other, but what the hell does that have to do with survivability and sustainability!?
It look likes the lights are on in this woman but I don't believe anybody's home.
Thanks for the thread, hlthe.
BlueIris
(29,135 posts)DefenseLawyer
(11,101 posts)These things are settled facts on which we can all agree. Now it is still open to debate whether Noah had baby dinosaurs on the Ark or the Devil planted those fake dinosaur bones in the ground to test our faith. Reasonable people can differ on that.
Worried senior
(1,328 posts)right wing women that think they have to pump out as many little conservatives as they possibly can.
I think she is absolutely nuts and immoral.
Taverner
(55,476 posts)stuntcat
(12,022 posts)anyone still using the "7 bill. people could fit into XX state" argument is obviously too stupid to realize the land/energy/water required to support/house/clothe each human, especially comfy 1st-worlders, and so should be declared too F'ing stupid to make or raise children.
ThatsMyBarack
(7,641 posts)If they're fetuses.
Initech
(100,080 posts)tanyev
(42,564 posts)the antichristie
(34 posts)Reagan's Interior Secretary once said there was no need for conservation, as Jeeeeeeezus would soon be coming back to Make The Earth Anew.
Taverner
(55,476 posts)Fuck you, Duggar scum
Tom Ripley
(4,945 posts)SomethingFishy
(4,876 posts)Do they get those things by mail order or what?
alphafemale
(18,497 posts)Fuck off, Michelle. You're an idiot.
You'll probably die soon. There is no doubt you will try to have another child. It has a possibility of killing you.
You're going to leave a lot of orphans.
But then your older daughters are in charge of child care.
While you do these preening interview stunts.
I guess your absence will not matter much.
Still it will be a tragedy.
I guess.
guitar man
(15,996 posts)To whom overcopulation is a sport
Trillo
(9,154 posts)They plan to round up all the worlds citizens and place them in an area the size of Florida? Shall we call it, The Mark of Florida, in honor of Gene Roddenbury's The Mark of Gideon?
"The Mark of Gideon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mark_of_Gideon
(creative common's sharealike license)
Plot
On stardate 5423.4, the starship Enterprise arrives at the planet Gideon to begin diplomatic relations and invite the inhabitants to join the Federation. Gideon is reported to be a virtual paradise where the people live incredibly long lives in a nearly germ-free environment.
Upon arrival however, the Gideon representative, Ambassador Hodin, refuses to allow anyone to beam down to the planet except for Captain Kirk, whom he gives specific coordinates to transport to. Kirk agrees to beam down and finds himself sent from one transporter room, directly to another, identical transporter room. It looks as if he is still aboard the Enterprise; however, after looking around, he finds to his surprise, the ship is completely devoid of any crew.
Back on the "normal" Enterprise, First Officer Spock is later informed that the Captain never arrived on the planet; however, Ambassador Hodin refuses to allow a search team to investigate. Spock contacts Admiral Fitzgerald of Starfleet to report Kirk's disappearance and request further instruction; however, Starfleet is bogged down by bureaucratic red tape between the planet Gideon and the Department of Planetary Treaties. Fitzgerald orders Spock to "stand by" for the time being.
Spock knew the coordinates were to send Kirk directly to the Gideon council chamber, so Spock asks to beam a member of the Gideon council up to the Enterprise to test the transporter. Hodin agrees and sends a member of his staff up to the ship and then back down to the planet. The transporter appears to be working normally.
Meanwhile, Kirk wanders the deserted Enterprise and then notices a strange bruise on his arm. He eventually runs into a beautiful young woman named Odona. She too, has no idea how she got to the empty Enterprise, recalling only that she was in an overcrowded auditorium and struggling to breathe. For the moment, Odona is just relieved to have freedom of movement. Kirk insists that she must be from Gideon, but Odona denies any knowledge of Gideon.
Kirk learns from Odona that her home planet is severely overpopulated, with crowds of people everywhere and no privacy. To her, the privilege of being alone, even for a moment, is a dream come true. Kirk thinks Odona's beauty is a dream come true, and the two share a passionate kiss. Neither notice the strange ghostly image of a dozen faces appearing on the bridge monitor behind them.
As Kirk and Odona leave the bridge, Kirk hears a strange sound outside the ship. He goes to a viewport and catches a glimpse of a crowd of people dressed in tight fitting body suits. The scene quickly fades to a view of normal space and he realizes something is very wrong. Kirk confronts Odona about what is going on, but she denies knowing what is happening. She then quickly falls ill, fainting to the floor.
Kirk carries her to Sickbay where he encounters Ambassador Hodin, who explains that Kirk is part of a secret experiment on Gideon. Odona is his daughter, and Kirk has just infected her with Vegan choriomeningitis, a potentially lethal virus that Kirk carries in his blood but has an immunity to. Hodin's plan is to infect his people with the virus in an attempt to "control" the overpopulation problem caused by the people's long lifespans in a germ-free environment.
Kirk is angered that he has been an unwitting pawn, a mark, in their hideous plan, and questions why the Gideons haven't tried sterilization or birth control regulations. Hodin explains that the Gideon people have regenerative abilities that have foiled sterilization attempts, and that their people hold love and the ability to create life sacred.
Kirk is also horrified to learn that he must remain behind to supply the virus as needed, however Kirk believes that Odona can fulfill that role now that she has been infected. Hodin explains that Odona must die from the virus so that she will become a "role-model" for the youth of the world, who will step forward and give up their lives for the benefit of the population.
Meanwhile, Spock becomes anxious to learn what happened to his Captain. When he discovers that Kirk's coordinates and the coordinates given to test the transporter do not match, he goes against Starfleet orders and beams down to Kirk's original coordinates. Once there, he find the false Enterprise set that was built to deceive Kirk.
Spock overpowers some guards and finds Kirk and Odona. Hodin tries to stop Spock, but Spock warns him not to interfere since he has just disobeyed Starfleet orders and must now return to resolve the matter. Kirk, Spock and Odona return to the real Enterprise where Chief Medical Officer Dr. McCoy saves Odona's life. Odona still carries the virus but is now immune to it as Kirk is. Odona is returned to Gideon and Hodin is told she can now supply the virus as needed.
fascisthunter
(29,381 posts)Raine
(30,540 posts)I've heard them say it.