Elon Musk always arouses strong reactions when he invites the populations to “make more babies” in order to avoid the death of civilization by demographic decline. His words seem almost delusional in the context where global overpopulation is constantly presented as the ultimate danger. How to find one’s way when faced with diametrically opposed positions?
To form your own opinion, you have to check the facts yourself. At a time when the “fake newsproliferate, you have to be extra careful! So, let’s do some basic math.
Density
The planet has 8 billion people. The area of Quebec is 1.7 million km2. We could therefore bring the entire world population into Quebec territory and have a population density of 4706 inhabitants/km2. For comparison, the city of Montreal has a density of 4827 inhabitants/km2. Do these numbers seem unbelievable? They are, however, eloquent. Eight billion people could actually live together in the province and be more comfortable there than Montrealers are in their city. And note that the density takes into account the road network, shops, businesses, schools, hospitals, parks, etc.
And if we want to spare some people the rigors of northern winters, we could concentrate the world’s population in the southern half of Quebec and still have a density more than twice that of Paris with its 20,745 inhabitants/km2.
Seen thus, Musk is right: the planet seems absolutely deserted. How then can we believe in the incapacity of the latter to satisfy the needs of all its inhabitants?
Poverty
On the other hand, certain political regimes and economic systems impede development and prevent the optimal use of our resources. They are the ones who generate poverty. Blaming overcrowding is a misdiagnosis. Fueling hatred of the human species and reducing the birth rate will therefore prove to be sterile!