BTW, all the other cartoons I came across--on this topic of the world population at seven billion--were Maulthusian. Pretty much variations of the theme of imbalance between the demand (from the seven billion) and food, or resource, availability. Like the one below:
Is it because a Malthusian framework appeals to us a lot more than otherwise? Are humans somehow wired to be pessimistic that way? Is it because since the proto-human times we have been worried about our individual and collective abilities to survive?
It is an unfortunate irony that not a single cartoon pointed out that if we should be worried about the resource issue, it is not the actual number of people that drives consumption. Consumption--and overconsumption--comes from affluence. If only a cartoonist had transformed into an image the following words:
the populations that are rising fastest contribute very little to climate change. The poorest half of the world produces 7% of carbon emissions. The richest 7% produces half the carbon.
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