Humans are driven by an ever-increasing need for comfort, and it’s comfort at any cost. As a result the planet buckles under the responsibility of providing; there’s just not enough to go round. Millions of people across the globe barely get enough to eat, they live in abject poverty and their creature comforts are nonexistent, on the other hand a relative few bask in the luxury of excess.
So, what’s this got to do with overpopulation then? The answer of course is that the world (at this point anyway) has sufficient space to accommodate the crowds, what it doesn’t have is a sensible plan to care for these individuals that make up the crowd. Therefore, the only problem is “The Plan”. We only consider overpopulation as a rider to poverty, that’s the only true issue; we have to have a plan to feed the world.
People need
—housing
—food
—water
—-power
—clothing
—meaningful work
—spiritual sustenance
—each other
Now, most people would say, see, we can’t provide, THE WORLD IS OVERPOPULATED. Nonsense, the only problem is that people’s brains are overpopulated with NONSENSE. If you take a look a @eco-alex post here you’ll be pleasantly enlightened. Alex offers a proven, low cost, but undoubtedly comfortable, housing system that provides water, power and the option for almost anyone to have a roof over their heads. Additionally, this system utilizes waste for building materials and has a gray watering feature that will allow for food production both inside and outside the house.
Traditionally, this is not a building system anyone even knows about, and because there’s no corporate profit to be had in building the EcoShip, this might, unfortunately remain as the case. I’m going to use myself as an example -
My brother and sister-in-law own a magnificent stretch of ground in a beautiful private eco-estate. They originally planned to build a holiday home on the spot, but their life-plan changed and they own several other properties in South Africa and abroad, so (lucky for me) this particular one became somewhat of a bind. They don’t really want to build (another) home. Also, it’s costly to build. Haha(sorry bro, that was mean of me. But Haha). SO THEY’VE DECIDED TO GIVE IT TO ME. YAY, YAY! I’m going to have to sell my house to build (HAHA HARDLY A CHORE - I’m going to be living the dream on a private beach). Sorry, I digress; the point I want to make is that I didn’t think before diving into a set of traditional building plans - no solar, no proper water collection system. But then I read Alex’s post - now I’m a disciple, I’ve been ENLIGHTENED, I’m going to build an EcoShip and document and ADVERTISE the process. OMG, it’s going to be sooooooo good for Africa!
As for food, there’s several fabulous ways to grow your own food, see my previous post where I discuss hydroponics and vertical growing. As for a traditional soil based garden, I’ll plant “door-sized” vegetable patches. This type of vegetable growing is suitable for anyone with a, well, door-sized piece of ground and can provide for most families rather adequately. Obviously, I’m going to document the process fully, in future posts, as well.
—We have to change our mind-set, think outside the box, not be dictated to by corporate greed and profiteering.
—We have to consider our ecological footprint and ensure that our COMFORT doesn’t come at the expense of someone else.
—We need to grow our own food to reduce the scourge of industrial farming. We need to eat plant-based.
—We need to reject comfort in the form of disposable plastic fabrics for clothing and life-style needs, and revert to plant-based options.
—We need to have something meaningful for everyone to do everyday, and providing your own food is a good start.
—Spiritually, if we consider the planet and have respect for each other, we can’t fail to grow in this respect.
So, overpopulation, damn, I don’t think so.
Photos reproduced with permission
