I. The Basics ↑
6. We experience resource scarcity.
Resource scarcity is a driver for adaptation. If there is more than enough for everybody, then there is no reason to further adapt.
Humans need food, water, clothing, housing and some means of coping with the local climate (heating, cooling, etc.).
But we generally need other things to function within our local and chosen groups, such as means of transportation and communication.
And in order to live well, we need time and space and companions and environments conducive to play and enjoyment.
For some of us, these things often seem plentiful. And for some theorizers, there is no reason why there shouldn’t be plenty for everyone.
But despite our continued advances in science and technology, and our corresponding improvements in human productivity, our resource needs always seem to grow apace.
As observed by [Quinn, Daniel|Daniel Quinn], new technology and techniques that increase food production also generally seem to have the effect of supporting increasing population levels, and increasing population levels then lead to food scarcity.
So unless we can somehow collectively find ways to stabilize and perhaps even decrease our human population levels, continued resource scarcity will likely be a fact of life.
Words from Others on this Topic
What is observed in the human population is that intensification of production to feed and increase the population invariably leads to a still greater increase in population.
Daniel Quinn, 1996, from the novel The Story of B
Despite its successes, and perhaps because of them, capitalism created, or could not prevent the creation of, the two problems that now threaten its survival: enormous economic inequalities both between and within countries, and the largely worsening if not the destruction of the natural environment. As we have analyzed in a previous chapter, the main cause of these problems is overpopulation in relation to the resources provided by the Earth.
Theodore P. Lianos, 2024, from the book Capitalism, Degrowth and the Steady State Economy: Debating Future Economic Models