Global Population and Resource Sustainability

But in one way or another,

we are so far, globally, we are so far

above the population and the consumption levels

which can be supported

by this planet that I know in one way or another it's going to come back down.

So I don't hope to avoid that.

I hope

that it can occur in a,

a civil way. I, I, and I mean civil

in a,

in a

special way. I-- peaceful.

Peace doesn't mean, uh, that everybody's happy,

but it means that conflict isn't solved through violence,

through, through force,

uh, but rather in other ways. And so, uh, that's what I hope

for.

Um,

that we can... I mean,

the planet

can support

something like a billion people,

maybe two billion, depending on how much liberty and how much

material consumption you want t-to have.

If you want more liberty

and more consumption, you have to have fewer people.

And

conversely, you can have more people.

I mean, we could even have

eight or nine billion probably if we have a very strong

dictatorship, which is smart. It's-- unfortunately, you never have

smart dictatorships. They're always stupid.

So-- but if you had a smart dictatorship

and a low standard of living, you

can have a... But, but we want to have freedom

and we want to have a high sense,

so we're going to have a billion people.

And we're now at seven, so we have to get back down.

I hope that this can be slow, relatively slow,

and that it can be done in a way which is relatively

equal. Uh, you know, so that people share,

uh, the experience and you don't have a few rich, you know,

trying to

force everybody else to, to deal with it. So those are my hopes.

I mean, these are

pretty

pessimistic hopes, you know. But, I mean, that's