Problem is with population size

From: Dennis Anthony, Vicarage Road, Hastings
Hastings Observer lettersHastings Observer letters
Hastings Observer letters

I sympathise with Mr Tapp’s description of the travails of parking but he didn’t mention the fundamental cause of this dilemma – namely the gross overpopulation of Britain.

If the UK is to be a fair society, not just for the UK but for the rest of the world by not taking more than our fair share of others’ resources, there is in my opinion more than 50 million too many people here.

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And when a large percentage of them are rich enough to have cars necessitating certain road spaces to be restricted on top of occupied ‘free’ parking, then obviously parking spaces are rare.

To make parking a breeze, free and available almost everywhere we need a population of around 10 million or not more than 15 million, which would make us still more populous than Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Portugal, Norway, N.Z, Ireland, Finland, Denmark, Belgium, Austria and not forgetting Iceland (which has a population a fraction of most London Boroughs), all of which are very reasonable places to live.

So why is it that politicians and economists seem to want more people and decry any notion of population reduction?

The greater the population the greater extraction from the biosphere/ecosphere which some say we are using more than one planet can replenish in fact in ‘overshoot’.

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What would be gained with a much smaller population other than being able to park easily?

No need for many polluting power stations (energy needs being greatly reduced there could be acceptable levels of pollution) and more easily to provide energy by renewables; carbon footprint reduced; housing needs solved; no worries about water supply; perhaps most crops grown organically as if pests eat a lot then still enough for people; Green 
Belt not under threat; fish stocks maintained; enough housing, school places etc. available for any refugees needing help; pupil/teacher ratios better; less rubbish so fewer landfill sites needed etc, etc.

Just reducing the UK population is obviously not a quick solution, it would take many decades (should have started in the 1960s when it was advised) and there are user friendly methods to attain this.

What problems would not be solved/eased with population reduction? No doubt sacrifices initially needed but not worth it? What’s not to like?

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These thoughts apply to every over-populated rich country ( in terms of Earth’s carrying capacity) so if the Earth’s population would be 1 billion say then we could all pollute to some extent without worrying and thinking of saving every drop of water, electricity etc.

Yes fewer people living in a saner society with happy parking, with whatever future transport.

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