I've always dreamed I'd never live to see 50. Extreme life extension is ridiculous and unnecessary in today's world. Just who would that extremem life extension apply to, anyone? Only those who can affod it? Only those who are blonde, blue eyed, and 6'4" tall? Seems to me Hitler had the same idea once upon a time...

I can't imagine what the world will be like in another 20-30 years. Our population is growing so quickly that I don't see how we're going to survive. I'm certain there will come a time in our near future when they will limit the number of children you can have. There really isn't going to be any other choice. People will simply need to be more responsible.

20 years ago, there were vast farms all over my area.... NOW those farms contain 4 or more homes per acre. How can we possibly survive with such growth?

It can't.

I saved a little calculus problem from my college days and the results are frightening. Bacially it figures the exponential growth pattern from 1995, with a 2% growth rate per year. The question is, when will the planet reach 57 bil. Well, chances are we won't be alive in 2559, which is exactly when this planet will have that many people and no resources left to feed anyone. I don't think that many people understand exponential growth, but it is there and it's a tragic fact.

Honestly, I don't think it will take that long. When you factor in all the people that are moving to this country every day and then factor in their children and so forth... I think that day is coming sooner than we know.

You know what, I think you're right.

I understand exponential growth. That is why I only had one kid.

Two words: Birth control. We've got to get it to the third world regardless of the Catholic Church and certain other cultural issues. Apparently, most women welcome it, but some men measure their manliness by the number of children they produce. This has got to change, somehow.

It boils down to a quality vs. quantity issue. You can have lots of babies and lots of people living short lives in poverty, or few babies and have fewer people living longer and more comfortable lives. Besides the obvious, it occurs to me that having a lot of healthy older people would be a good thing for society. Having a larger proportion of people with the wisdom of experience could make things better in many ways.

Birth control is indeed a major problem in nations where the Catholic Church takes advantage of the uneducated poor. To them, though, it is all about increasing the numbers of their church under the guise of "sanctity of life." Then there is the Quiverfull cult which eschews birth control, too.

Maybe it is time to change the definition of manliness, and womanliness, too. Being childfree I've been on the receiving end of "But you're not a woman unless your uterus is being put to use." I usually respond with a "But it is being used - to store my good jewelry." Just kidding.

But our breedering culture is out of control, and everywhere else in the world.

It's not just happening in other countries, it's happening here. As people migrate to our country, they are bringing their beliefs that they must have many children with them. It's highly irresponsible, but I see no end to it.

I know exactly what you mean - I live in Tucson, AZ. I know Mexican families tend to be large and they do have more kids, but the poor white population also has lots of kids, tool. I've met a few - used to work with one guy who had 5 siblings. At one point he was in a halfway house. That's another thing - all these big families with parents with substance abuse troubles, highly dysfunctional. They are not Ozzie and Harriet, that's for sure. A much smaller family with stable relationships is better. But as my poli-sci professor used to say, "The rich get richer, and the poor have children." Even though this is a college town, not too many locals make it into the UA, which has more out of state students than locals. I've seen a lot of teenage girls with babies, I can only wonder why they don't use birth control. Maybe they don't know how. Who knows.

re the use of your uterus!!