It’s critical we set the record straight on the uninformed fearmongering about a baby bust. The latest round comes from a Wall Street Journal story and a segment on the CNN show, Smerconish. Presidential candidate Dave Gardner shines a little light on the subject in this episode.

Far too few of us are aware we have a human overpopulation crisis. For the past thirty years, too many have run for cover when the subject comes up. There is a fear of being labeled (usually falsely) racist, classist, or misogynist if one acknowledges overpopulation – or even worse – suggests we do something about it.

Yet today, growth boosters – and the journalists and commentators who carry water for them – shout from the rooftops about an alarming baby bust. They are the ones who should be ashamed and embarrassed, for reducing human beings to economic pawns. No child should be brought into this world in order to bolster the supply of labor, beef up the supply of taxpayers, restock an oversupply of consumers (customers), or provide some built-in, unpaid elder care.

Gardner shares how we know that we’re in a state of overpopulation today, and therefore should welcome falling birth rates. Smaller family decisions are a gift that will keep on giving – to generations to come.

MENIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

Why are Global and U.S. Fertility Rates Plummeting? – Smerconish on CNN

https://www.cnn.com/videos/health/2024/05/25/smr-fertility-rate-plummeting.cnn

Suddenly There Aren’t Enough Babies. The Whole World Is Alarmed – Wall Street Journal

https://www.wsj.com/world/birthrates-global-decline-cause-ddaf8be2

Follow this podcast for a ringside seat to Dave Gardner’s adventures running for U.S. President. If elected, Dave will declare an ecological overshoot emergency and launch a national project to get the nation out of overshoot. We’ve got a planet to save, and the U.S. should do its part. Learn more, subscribe to campaign updates, volunteer, or donate to the campaign at https://davetheplanet2024.com

Some voters are seriously concerned about our environmental meta-crisis, as we find out in this virtual town hall. Dave isn’t burning gas (and cash) roaming the country to meet with voters, so to have a dialogue he took to Zoom. Much of the conversation focused on answering these key questions:

• How can we be effective but also quick in alerting the public to the ecological overshoot emergency, and leading the country to action?
• Is there a role for alarmism, or not?
• And if facts don’t persuade, what will, and how quickly?

Also discussed: How best to educate the public about overpopulation, in the face of growing baby bust alarmism.

Thanks to those who joined in this conversation!

Recorded May 11, 2024

See the video of this town hall: https://youtu.be/iIE7-gEwn0E

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

The Bright Future Project

https://brightfutureproject.com

This Sustainable Life – podcast hosted by Joshua Spodek, and more

https://joshuaspodek.com/

The Limits to Growth

https://www.clubofrome.org/publication/the-limits-to-growth/

We Asked 380 Top Climate Scientists What They Felt About the Future

They are terrified, but determined to keep fighting. Here’s what they said

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2024/may/08/hopeless-and-broken-why-the-worlds-top-climate-scientists-are-in-despair

Dave the Planet on Substack: https://davetheplanet.substack.com

Donate to the Dave the Planet campaign: https://davetheplanet2024.com/donate

Volunteer for the campaign: https://davetheplanet2024.com/volunteer

Contact the campaign: https://davetheplanet2024.com/contact.html

Follow this podcast for a ringside seat to Dave Gardner’s adventures running for U.S. President. If elected, Dave will declare an ecological overshoot emergency and launch a national project to get the nation out of overshoot. Podcast guests don't necessarily endorse Dave for president. We’ve got a planet to save, and the U.S. should do its part. Learn more, subscribe to campaign updates, volunteer, or donate to the campaign at https://davetheplanet2024.com

Baby Bust Alarmism or Depopulation Panic are misplaced. We’ve outgrown the planet and are in ecological overshoot. So population contraction is not a disaster; it should be celebrated. Professor Scott Galloway often gets things right, but on this topic, he needs to hit the books.

[DAVE THE PLANET VIRTUAL TOWN HALL – May 11 at 10 Pacific/11 Mountain/Noon Central – Register Here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUrdO6oqT0jGN3K6fTrJdj7P9sTVJzWHIxT]

This episode was inspired by remarks made by Galloway on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher on April 26, 2024. The professor was lamenting how gen z are not conceiving children because the American Dream (Dave Gardner's words) isn’t working out for them. In this episode, you'll hear Galloway characterize the population contraction Japan and Italy are experiencing as “the way we go out of business.”

You can’t talk our young people into being optimistic. They see what we’re doing to the planet. And you can’t restore their faith and optimism with bigger paychecks and affordable housing, because one finite planet just can’t support the antiquated American dream of ever-increasing wealth.

This is very relevant to Dave Gardner’s campaign for U.S. President, because a key part of his platform, The Bright Future Project to get out of overshoot, includes contracting our nations’s population (ethically and voluntarily) and ending our love affair with increasing wealth, economic growth and material consumption.

If you’re Scott Galloway and want to brush up on limits to growth, planetary boundaries and ecological overshoot, here are a few recommendations:

The Most Dangerous Secret – will point you to four good podcast episodes about overshoot

https://davetheplanet.substack.com/p/the-most-dangerous-secret

For an excellent summary of our situation, plus links to some of the most important reading you can do:

Polycrisis, Unraveling, Simplification, or Collapse: Coming Soon to a Planet Near You? – by Richard Heinberg, Senior Fellow at Post-Carbon Institute

https://www.resilience.org/stories/2023-06-15/polycrisis-unraveling-simplification-or-collapse-coming-soon-to-a-planet-near-you/

Follow this podcast for a ringside seat to Dave Gardner’s adventures running for U.S. President. If elected, Dave will declare an ecological overshoot emergency and launch a national project to get the nation out of overshoot. Podcast guests don't necessarily endorse Dave for president. We’ve got a planet to save, and the U.S. should do its part. Learn more, subscribe to campaign updates, volunteer, or donate to the campaign at https://davetheplanet2024.com