Does it surprise you that democracy does NOT get better with population growth? In a 1989 interview with Bill Moyers, science writer Isaac Asimov observed: “Democracy cannot survive overpopulation; human dignity cannot survive [overpopulation]; convenience and decency cannot survive [overpopulation]; as you put more and more people into the world, the value of life not only declines, it disappears. It doesn't matter if someone dies, the more people there are, the less one individual matters."

In the aftermath of the midterm U.S. election in November, 2018, the World Population Balance team discusses the ways democracy is hamstrung by overpopulation. Each U.S. citizen, for example, is one of over 700,000 constituents represented by a U.S. Representative. 220 years ago, when U.S. population was 5 million (vs. today’s 325 million), just 34,000 citizens had to share a representative. Growing population also creates opportunities for disproportionate influence by moneyed interests, and it necessitates more and more regulation.

This episode includes a classic story Isaac Asimov told about sharing a bathroom, very relevant to population and regulation. The late physicist Al Bartlett, famous for writing Laws Related to Sustainability, and for his college lecture, Arithmetic, Population and Energy, wrote: “Politicians like to talk to people, but because of overpopulation, they can't talk to everyone. So they talk to a few, a self-selecting small group of wealthy and influential people. Because of this dilution, the old statement, ‘One person, one vote,’ is now being replaced by ‘One dollar, one vote.”

LINKS:

World Population Balance website

"Democracy Cannot Survive Overpopulation" – essay by Al Bartlett 

"Laws Related to Sustainability" – by Al Bartlett (scroll down to find them)