The Most Recent Draft of the Overconsumption / Overpopulation Minute

Okay, okay, RantWoman wants EVERYTHING. RantWoman wants not only the most recent version of the overconsumption / overpopulation minute, she also wants notes from the minutes of the plenary.

RantWoman is also humble about her own limited capacity to interact with so many words on short notice during the Annual Session Business process. RantWoman is meditating about what to do about that including perhaps brutal editing. In the meantime, the version of this minute presented at the plenary July 15.



REVISED MINUTE ON POPULATION STABILIZATION

OUR VISION of an earth restored includes all creation thriving long into the future. It appears that our species is currently exceeding or on its way to exceeding the carrying capacity of the Earth. Current technological practices and consumption patterns waste precious resources and disrupt natural life and mineral cycles. As Americans, we recognize that in order to maintain our standard of living, we and other wealthy nations and peoples have been exploiting the resources of others around the globe, contributing to poverty and increased pressure on local resources.
.
In addition, world population has been growing at over 75 million persons per year, over 200,000 persons per day, over 8,500 per hour. Previously, world food production managed to keep up with increases in human population. Now we are reaching or have exceeded the limits of arable land, ocean fish populations, fresh underground water, fossil fuels, and other resources, and are crowding out the spaces and resources essential to other species. To accommodate the pressure of growing human population and consumption, forests are being cut down at the rate of 5,000 acres per hour, water tables are being drawn down at alarming rates, and wastes and poisons are polluting the air, water, and land at an increasing pace. Population growth is also a factor in persistent public health problems, poverty, crime, and wars.

In order to realize our Quaker vision of a peaceful, just society, we must seek ways to stabilize human population and consumption at levels that are sustainable for humans as well as all creation. As Friends in the United States, we realize that action begins with us as well as with others, seeking to live more lightly on the earth, seeing God in each person, and practicing what love can do. We also recognize that the reasons for population growth are greatly varied, and we encourage the development of deeper understandings of these complex issues.

We call for efforts to end the structural inequalities that perpetuate poverty and contribute to high birth rates, as well as voluntary measures to promote appropriate family size and reduced consumption, including (1) access to family planning services worldwide, (2) raising the status of women, and better access to education for women and men, both of which are key elements in reducing population, (3) support for those who choose adoption, shared childrearing, or to live childless, while honoring biological parenthood for those who choose that, (4) simpler lifestyles in high-consuming nations such as the United States, including fewer possessions, greater sharing, and more responsible choices in what we eat such as reduced consumption of meat, and (5) increased research on sustainable methods of food production, energy production, and other ways to meet human needs throughout the world without sacrificing the health of natural systems or the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

We believe that these and other voluntary approaches should be vigorously pursued now to avoid the inevitability of more coercive measures by societies in the future to maintain a needed balance of resources between present and future generations of humans and other species.

We urge Friends and others everywhere to join us in pursuing these and other population stabilization measures in our personal lives and in our local communities, states, and nations.

7/15/11