Is the global population about to explode beyond the carrying capacity of the Earth? Or are we facing a population decline so precipitous that we won’t be able to transition securely? I examine these questions and more in this book review.
Opinions vary wildly on this topic. Have something to add to the discussion? I’d love to hear what you have to say in the comments.
Chapters:
01:38 Background & Context
05:13 History and Demographic Transition Model
08:16 Urbanisation & Women’s Empowerment
11:01 Fertility Trends Today
14:44 Complexity (& Fallibility) of Population Projections
18:15 Effects of Population Decline
23:04 A Divisive Solution
28:33 Criticisms:
– 29:01 Skewed Representation of Research
– 32:13 The Missing Factor: Climatic Elephant in the Room
40:04 Closing
***
Social:
Instagram:
/ leabonheim
Goodreads:
/ reading
Medium:
/ bonheimlea
Attributions and gratitude:
Video by Engin Akyurt @ https://www.pexels.com/video/empty-sw…
Sound Effect by Mixit @ https://mixkit.co/free-sound-effects/…
Research:
https://overshoot.footprintnetwork.or…
https://overpopulation-project.com/ca…
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science… [paper showing why anthropic extinction makes more sense than climate-caused theory]
[…]
We lack a good description of most physical constants, including the effect we call gravity. Newtonian mechanics and general relativity describe gravity mathematically without assigning any physical meaning except to say it’s a field or bent spacetime. Both concepts have minor flaws which point toward a physical description of gravity. In the case of Newtonian mechanics, it was Mercury’s precession, in the case general relativity, it’s the galaxy’s rotation curve. I believe that universal expansion and a different interpretation of spacetime may explain these flaws.
[…]
APRIL 4, 2024 GRACE EBERT
“El Brujo Disease Thrower” (2024), mixed media, 100 x 80 x 60 inches. All images courtesy of P·P·O·W Gallery
Dating back to the late 18th century, retablos are small devotional paintings created to thank God or a saint for their protection during a particularly trying or dangerous event. In his show, Si no sanas hoy, sanarás mañana, Guadalupe Maravilla (previously) conjures this tradition as he nests narrative works inside spiny mixed-media sculptures that address the indelible impact of childhood trauma.
The exhibition title translates to “if you don’t heal today, you will heal tomorrow” and is a line from a song some Latin American parents sing to their children when sick. Maravilla invokes the lyric as he references his immigration to the United States unaccompanied by his parents, a deeply trying experience he often returns to in his practice. “I remember making sculptures of the bullets I found in the street when I was three to eight years old. The civil war in El Salvador was a war of brother against brother, sister against sister. Bless the healing forces that protected us,” he says.
Detail of “El Brujo Disease Thrower” (2024), mixed media, 100 x 80 x 60 inches
In addition to the wall-based sculptures, two freestanding works are on view, both part of Maravilla’s ongoing Disease Throwers series. The towering assemblages reflect the artist’s enduring interest in healing and sound therapies following his colon cancer diagnosis. “El Brujo Disease Thrower,” for example, features a gong suspended from a purple woven chair.
“January 1984 Retablo” (2022)
Maravilla’s works are particularly timely given the increase in migration from Central and South American countries, along with Israel’s ongoing warin Gaza that has killed more than 12,300 children. Positioned on a blush wall with gold linework, “Letter to the Children Retablo” speaks to such atrocities as he recounts the tragic loss of a six-year-old friend named Luna as he fled the war in El Salvador. He writes:
To those children experiencing war, I hope to meet you in the future and hug you. In the future I hope you are receiving & inspiring love in your communities. That you’re healing. That you formed a new family. That you become leaders. That you are saving the trees and the oceans, that you find a cure for cancer. That you solve many of the world’s problems that we caused. That you that you show us and teach us about what is humanity supposed to be, because we lost we that…I have failed you, America has failed you and the world has failed you. You are my family, you will always be in my heart. I’ll see you in the future.
Detail of “January 1984 Retablo” (2022)More: Guadalupe Maravilla Appeals to the Children of War in a New Series of Retablos — Colossal
