GarrettHardin

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GarrettHardin

GarrettHardin

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Garrett Hardin discusses carrying capacity, technology, and energy.

"Technology has increased the carrying capacity of the earth." "We're now living on the riches of the past [oil]." Economists are not scientists.

Are you optimistic? "Oh, sure... I'm allowed to live one life, and it's wonderful. I don't object to my life, but I don't object to dying, either. Death is necessary for the good of the species."

Educational Communications program 1720 - segment 4, 1999.

Learn more about Garrett Hardin:
https://www.garretthardinsociety.org

Garrett Hardin discusses overpopulation, carrying capacity, and quality of life

Increased population makes things worse. There are various ways to influence population growth: tax incentives and government policies. More people mean more congestion and demands upon arable land.

Discussion of energy, solar power, desalinization. Aesthetics and standard of living. Ecology, wilderness. Carrying capacity versus cultural carrying capacity and quality of life tradeoff.

Garrett closes with: "If I've upset you... fine!"

Educational Communications program 802 - segment 1, 1990.

Learn more about Garrett Hardin:
https://www.garretthardinsociety.org

Garrett Hardin discusses carrying capacity, natural selection, and overpopulation.

Discussion of Tertulian (3rd century). "The population of a region is affected by the carrying capacity." War, pestilence, civil disorder keep overpopulation in check. "We have practically gotten rid of disease - what blessing do we want instead of disease?"

"Every species of animal creates the maximum number possible [of offspring]."

Educational Communications program 1720 - segment 3, 1999.

Learn more about Garrett Hardin:
https://www.garretthardinsociety.org

Garrett Hardin discusses human nature and the Tragedy of the Commons.

We can't bring all other nations up to the US standard of living. "What I meant by writing The Tragedy of the Commons is to call people's attention to the fact that the problem of dividing the resources has to be done in a way that fits in with human nature. We shouldn't expect too much of it [human nature]."

We evolved to handle immediate dangers, not long-term crises. Discussion of Marxism, religion, and sustainability. Marketing versus indifference to the future. What can we do? Reward for correct behavior on terms of tax incentives and family planning.

Educational Communications program 802 - segment 3, 1990.

Learn more about Garrett Hardin:
https://www.garretthardinsociety.org

Garrett Hardin discusses the commons, population, and government.

How many people is too many? "If we didn't have all those people, we wouldn't have all that congestion."

There are three forms of government: democracy, socialism, and communism of the purest sort. Communism manifests itself in two forms: a commons that is managed (socialism), and a commons that is not managed. "We have too many areas where we rely on an unmanaged commons."

Educational Communications program 1725 - segment 1, 1999.

Learn more about Garrett Hardin:
https://www.garretthardinsociety.org

Garrett Hardin discusses limits to growth, energy, and sustainability.

Is growth progress? Is growth wonderful and something that we should be striving for? Do you support such a position?

"No. I wouldn't be an ecologist if I did. The ecologist says basically that growth presents terrible problems, and we've had 400 years of a drunken brawl, you might say, in which we have turned more and more of the earth's wealth, accumulated over millions of years - oil, gas, things like that, into our usage, but we can only spend that material - that quantity of wealth - once. It turns out that atomic energy is no escape, and solar energy is definitely limited. So we have not gotten rid of all limits; we merely have pushed many of them back. We're getting closer and closer to the point where we can't go much farther."

"If we draw on these resources accumulated over millions of years too fast, then the crash, when it comes, is going to be fantastically painful."

"I have a sentimental interest in our children and our grandchildren; I would like them to live in a better world. That's what I am trying to do: shake people up so that our grandchildren will live in a better world."

Educational Communications program 1725 - segment 4, 1999.

Learn more about Garrett Hardin:
https://www.garretthardinsociety.org

Garrett Hardin discusses diversity and nations.

"It's very important to recognize the diversity of people. We will have the greatest success if the diversity is spatially isolated to a considerable extent. That is: if you get inside of one nation equal proportions of all the world's cultures, all the world's ethnic groups, all the world's religions, you will have such a mixture that there will be nothing but internal warfare."

Educational Communications program 803 - segment 4, 1990.

Learn more about Garrett Hardin:
https://www.garretthardinsociety.org

Garrett Hardin discusses energy, consumption, and limits.

A discussion of various sources of energy and their limits.

Educational Communications program 1725 - segment 3, 1999.

Learn more about Garrett Hardin:
https://www.garretthardinsociety.org

Garrett Hardin discusses globalism and multiculturalism.

Discussion of a global village and multiculturalism. Are we capable of having a single world government? There are many reasons to think that we aren't. "I don't think a global village is even remotely possible." Regarding multiculturalism, "our idealism is leading us astray."

Educational Communications program 1720 - segment 2, 1999.

Learn more about Garrett Hardin:
https://www.garretthardinsociety.org

Garrett Hardin discusses Malthus, Darwin, and natural selection.

Malthus observed that population grows at an exponential rate, while environmental use grows at an arithmetic rate. Darwin is misunderstood in the US, but not in Europe. Darwin's theory had two components: evolution and natural selection. Evolution is a historical question - the evidence is historical. You can't settle historical questions with as much certainty. Natural selection is a scientific question that has been proved time after time.

Ecologically, everything is connected - but that doesn't mean you like all the connections. "The maximum is seldom, or never, the optimum."

"There is no way in a finite environment that you can satisfy a need, the growth of which is uncontrollable."

Educational Communications program 1725 - segment 2, 1999.

Learn more about Garrett Hardin:
https://www.garretthardinsociety.org

Garrett Hardin discusses population numbers and sustainability.

"Nature will not cooperate on a program of stability."

Published by Californians for Population Stabilization, 2000.

Learn more about Garrett Hardin:
https://www.garretthardinsociety.org

Biologists consider long-term to be millions of years; economists consider it to be five years. If there are too many people on the planet, we must slowly adjust by decreasing birth rates with respect to death rates. Famines are a result of local food and population imbalance.

The number of people we could have in the US is related to pollution and quality of life. Sprawl is a consequence of overpopulation. "We can not cure a shortage by increasing the supply - not when the population is growing. The only way to cure a shortage is by decreasing the demand." "Stabilizing the population is one way of decreasing demand. Other ways are getting people to settle on a lower energy diet, food diet, etc." "The point is: to decrease demand, you either have to decrease the number of people demanding, or you have to decrease the demand per person."

We must "make each nation that claims sovereignty - and every nation does claim sovereignty - say as the price of that sovereignty, comes responsibility. You are responsible for taking care of your own people."

Educational Communications program 803 - segment 1, 1990.

Learn more about Garrett Hardin:
https://www.garretthardinsociety.org

Garrett Hardin discusses shortages, longages, and overpopulation.

"Everything that can be viewed as a shortage can equally well be viewed as a longage. When people complain of shortages, say: 'what you really mean is that you have a longage of people - now why don't you look at that side of the problem first?'"

Educational Communications program 803 - segment 5, 1990.

Learn more about Garrett Hardin:
https://www.garretthardinsociety.org

Garrett Hardin discusses maximum population versus optimum population

Discussion of overpopulation, individual freedoms and carrying capacity. The maximum does not necessarily mean the optimum.

Educational Communications program 1720 - segment 1, 1999.

Learn more about Garrett Hardin:
https://www.garretthardinsociety.org

Garrett Hardin discusses the Tragedy of the Commons, resources, and population.

"The Tragedy of the Commons is concerned with the allocation of resources." "The unmanaged commons can not possibly work once the population gets about a certain size."

Educational Communications program 803 - segment 3, 1990.

Learn more about Garrett Hardin:
https://www.garretthardinsociety.org

Garrett Hardin discusses national borders, population, immigration, and standard of living.

Nations have arbitrary, non-ecological boundaries. Yet it would be very difficult to change them. Each nation must be responsible for its own numbers. Immigration is never a solution to overpopulation. Nations should base growth on sustainability.

Population growth reversal is necessary in some cases. "I don't want to see anybody die. It doesn't mean I want it, it just means we're badly managing our resources."

Educational Communications program 802 - segment 2, 1990.

Learn more about Garrett Hardin:
https://www.garretthardinsociety.org

Garrett Hardin discusses immigration policy, overpopulation, and technological solutions.

"I do not support an open door immigration policy because that does not help the country that's sending immigrants. The country that's sending immigrants has a problem with too many people. They will not solve that problem in a rational way as long as you can get rid of the excesses and put them off on other people."

Every technological solution has its cost.

Educational Communications program 803 - segment 2, 1990.

Learn more about Garrett Hardin:
https://www.garretthardinsociety.org

Garrett Hardin discusses limits to growth.

"We are now finding out in one area after another that there are limits and we can't push them back. And if we could find this out in time, we could make a relatively painless adjustment. But I'm afraid we won't find out in time and suddenly we'll find that we have to undo the dream of the last 300 years of the limitless world and go back to the view that man had for most of his existence on earth - that it is a limited world and you gotta make do with what you have."

Published by Californians for Population Stabilization, 2000.

Learn more about Garrett Hardin
https://www.garretthardinsociety.org

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Created 1 year, 2 months ago.

18 videos

Category News & Politics

Garrett Hardin (1915-2003) was trained as an ecologist and microbiologist. He is best known for his 1968 essay, The Tragedy of the Commons.

A common thread throughout his work is an interest in bioethics. Dr. Hardin viewed bioethics as more than just ethics applied to biological problems. He referred to "toughlove ethics" built on a biological foundation..

In his book Filters Against Folly, 1985, he argues that the tools required for biological ethical analysis are literacy (the correct use of words), numeracy (dealing with quantities) and ecolacy (the study of relationships over time).

Hardin Stated: "We have to get the world to accept the idea of limits. It goes into every decision we make. This will not be anything new. It will be a return to the conservatism of humanity for all but the last 500 years. We can have change at the intellectual level, where the resources involved are ideas. But there are limits on material resources. And we have to learn to live within limits."