America's Population Hits 300 Million, Europeans Hardest Hit

The British newspaper The Independent has a panicked column today about the fact that the U.S. population will hit 300 million sometime this week. The Europeans aren't so sure that that's a good thing. The writer spouts the usual environwacko claptrap:

The population of the United States will pass 300 million today, or tomorrow. No one knows exactly where, no one know precisely when. It is a milestone for sure but is this a cause for celebration or anxiety?

Some American commentators are already saying the landmark is a chance to note the US is perhaps the only country in the developed world where the economy is being bolstered by a population that is growing at a discernable rate. But many experts say passing the 300 million milestone should be a wake-up call that demands a reappraisal of the extraordinary, unparalleled rate of consumption by the world's largest economy and its third largest by population.

As an economic model for the rest of the world to follow - in particular the rapidly developing economies of China and India - it is unsustainable, they say.

On a global scale the average US citizen uses far more than his or her fair share of the planet's resources - consuming more than four times the worldwide average of energy, almost three times as much water and producing more than twice the average amount of rubbish and five times the amount of carbon dioxide, a major contributor to global warming. The US - with five per cent of the world's population - uses 23 per cent of its energy, 15 per cent of its meat and 28 per cent of its paper. Additional population will mean more people seeking a share of those often-limited resources.

And how about these statistics:

300m Expected population of the United States by the end of this week

75 Life expectancy for men in the US. Women are expected to live until 80

63 Life expectancy for men in the developing world. Women are expected to live until 67

In an article designed to tell the world how much they have to fear from the U.S. population, they point out the fact that the U.S. lifestyle and living conditions cause our citizens to have longer, more productive lives. The fact that we live longer is not a sign of success to the Euros, but a threat to the countries that have not been able to get their acts together.

There's one thing that's always left out of these articles: America feeds the world. Our farms grow far more than we need for our own consumption, and we ship that food all over the world, including a sizeable amount that goes out in food aid at our expense. If the U.S. ever withdrew that aid, the life expectency in many parts of the world would plunge.

In addition, our scientific and medical advances benefit the entire world, and especially the hardest hit areas. We're also the most generous nation on the planet, and when things go really bad somewhere, it's Americans who are the first to show up.

China has well over a billion people, and India has somewhere around a billion, and most of them live in poverty. Would The Independent prefer that the U.S. transform our society into that? Would that ease their jealousy over our success?

What an idiot.