EcoInjustice: Xenophobia Goes Green - Turning Immigrants into "Carbonbaggers"

by citisven

In recent years, a growing meme that immigrants are bad for the environment has taken hold, fueling a rabid minority's xenophobic paranoia with good old-fashioned eco-angst about carrying capacity and population bombs.

Using climate change as a rallying cry, the basic premise goes something like this: since the U.S. has by far the largest per capita carbon footprint in the world we must by all means avoid adding more folks from countries with lower footprints (translate: poor), in effect converting them from being "climate-friendly" entities in their native countries into carbon-spewing Americans.

This rather dubious Machiavellian proposition, of course, begs the obvious question:

How about we become "climate-friendly" Americans?

Problem solved. No deportations needed. Thanks for your Econcern.

continued at Daily Kos....

Population and the Economy

by penguinsong

All animal species are hard wired to increase their populations at a maximum rate.  This gives each species a maximal chance for survival.  Humans are also animals and have very similar instints.  When animals have too much population for their resources they have hard times.  In nature this forces a die off and a return to equilibrium.  When people have too much population for their resources we have recessions, depressions and wars.  WW II was particularly effective in reducing the population and giving the survivors better lives.

In 1950 the USA had approximately 150 million people.  In 2010 we have well over 300 million.  Since 1950 we have had an explosion in technological and economic development.  We should all be having much better lives than those primitive Americans had in 1950.  We are suffering economic malaise because our population is growing faster than our economy.  

continued at Daily Kos....