population

If we had kept a stable population, not encouraged immigration for short-term market expediency, not subsidised irresponsible procreation and not transferred council houses to housing associations, we would not be in this mess. I pay £100 a week for a single room. My landlords, like most property owners in this part of London, were not born in this country (big surprise) and let three upstairs rooms to help subsidise their interest-only mortgage on a £400,000 property. As a contractor, I am not ...

Get real, we have already surpassed our long-term carrying capacity. I'm all for technology, but most technologies have limitations and unforeseen adverse effects. We stand at around peak oil, nuclear is no panacea (uranium-rich ore is limited too and storage and safety problems immense). Then we have "peak potable water", "peak fertile topsoil" etc... Allowing the world's population to keep growing is ultimately suicidal. A subtle point you may not have considered it is, technocracy empowers a tiny elite ...

As an anti-imperialism, I think Arizona should have remained Mexican anyway. However, immigration to richer countries encourages both greater per capita consumption (the first thing many newcomers want is a car, and in the US that's likely to be a gas-guzzling SUV) and procreation, as newcomers take advantage of social welfare handouts. I suspect this is part of the Independent's pro-Cornucopia season. No, unlimited immigration and population growth are not sustainable on a finite planet and will lead to...

Another myopic unlimited-growthist. Yes i know more people create more demand and thus more jobs, but it's a circular argument. The point is do these jobs create real long-term sustainable wealth, helping to feed and house the remaining population. So what is the UK's carrying capacity? How long can we keep relying on imports and export pollution created by our consumption? Have you considered the effects of peak oil, rising energy prices or do you seriously think a few windmills will power the 4x4 jeeps...

Not a problem according to the growthist lobby in the Independent. We need more social workers, teachers, psychiatrists, sales reps, financial advisers, H&S inspectors, diversity managers, builders, imported food, water, fuel and other raw materials, to enable our wonderfully diverse population to go forth and multiply on a small island, itself dependent on a finite planet. Get real, fewer than 1% of the workforce are actually involved in agriculture and food processing, little more directly in...

Unless this is tongue in cheek, I might point out that you will be required to work more to subsidise schooling, social welfare, housing benefit, healthcare etc... for the UK's growing population. As said, most workers don't produce anything of value. If we get rid of all those bureaucrats, we have plenty of indigenous people to look after the old.

Psychiatric agenda alert! On the one hand the Independent claims to celebrate the wonderful diversity of humanity, on the other their friends in psychiatry (see recent articles promoting awareness of bipolar disorder and depression) seek to pathologise a wider and wider section of humanity. Cerebral defects causing lifelong intellectual disability, i.e. that cannot be attributed to environmental or developmental factors, are rare, probably 0.6% of the population. Only 30 years ago autism was considered a...