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

Written by Dave Gardner on December 1, 2022. Posted in Podcast

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:

Why Black Friday was really bleak, and how TV networks refused to run Buy Nothing Day commercials.
Kai Ryssdal, host of Marketplace on American Public Media, promotes consumerism, needs to read Herman Daly
Should Dave get over his obsession with phantom power and wall warts?
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)

World Population Hits 8 Billion: What Do People on the Street Think? – our YouTube video

8 Billion is Too Many: Don’t be a Twit About Overpopulation – Episode 73 of GrowthBusters podcast

Child-Free by Choice: The Birth Rate Crisis Gripping the West – by Rosa Silverman in the UK Telegraph

World Population At 8 Billion Humans — And Still Growing – AFP story by Amélie BOTTOLLIER-DEPOIS

8 Billion People: A Milestone by the Numbers – by Jennifer Sciubba at Population Reference Bureau

Earth at 8 Billion: Consumption Not Crowd is Key to Climate – AP story by Seth Borenstein

The Human Eco-Predicament: Overshoot and the Population Conundrum – by William Rees in the Vienna Yearbook of Population Research 2023

Bending the Curve – by Chris Tucker

Global Population About to Hit 8 Billion – by William Ryerson (Population Media Center) and Kathleen Mogelgaard (Population Institute)

8 Billion Day Facts and Myths: A Guide to the 8 Billion Global Population Milestone on 15 November – by Sustainable Population Australia

Crisis Point: The World at 8 Billion People – Fact Sheet from Population Matters

Has the Population Bomb Exploded? – by Julian Cribb

Buy Nothing Day TV commercial produced by Adbusters in 1999

Internet Spreads Word as Networks Shun Adverts for Buy Nothing Day

Herman Daly commemorative sampler from CASSE

Economic Heresy – Herman Daly on the Conversation Earth radio series/podcast

I’m Thankful Smart People Are Telling the Truth: Economic and Population Growth Need to End ASAP – by Dave Gardner at Medium

NYC Anti-Idling Law Turns Into Huge Payday ($125K for One Man) for Citizens Who Report

Idle Threat – 2012 documentary 19-minute free version

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The GrowthBusters theme song was written and produced by Jake Fader and sung by Carlos Jones.

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 Stephanie Gardner has degrees in Environmental Studies and Environmental Law & Policy.

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