Bill Maher and Steven Colbert become the first honorees on the GrowthBusters podcast’s “Wall of Excellence.” You’ll find out why in this episode. We want to thank and celebrate influencers who help alert the public that we are in overshoot, demonstrate sustainable living in their own lives, or help educate the public about important ways we can shrink our footprints.
New co-host Erika Arias introduces herself. She is very interested in the voluntary child-free choice and hopes to do research in this area in the future. She shares a clip from a recent episode of Real Time with Bill Maher about how it’s actually good news that millennials are having less sex and therefore fewer children. Maher is, of course, famous for being bold enough to make “politically incorrect” statements, but Dave thinks talking about overpopulation is finally becoming politically correct after a few decades of “population taboo.”
Maher celebrates the declining birth rate in the over-developed world because it is the single most effective thing you can do to reduce your carbon footprint. See this Lund University report for the detail: The Four Lifestyle Choices That Most Reduce Your Carbon Footprint.
On the other hand, Senator Mike Lee thinks having more babies will solve climate change. And even CNN prime time host Chris Cuomo gets some criticism here for painting population contraction as a loss of human potential. Dave finds it astonishing that even some very smart people are not aware that we are in overshoot.
Also in this episode, Dave thought he recalled the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s latest estimate of the average cost to raise a child in the U.S. is $237,000. We looked that up after recording this episode and the most recent figure we could find is $233,610, a 2015 figure announced in January, 2017.
NOTE: We’re looking for a podcast producer, or at least a podcast editor, to help out. Comment here or send us an email.
LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
New Rule: Masturbate, Don’t Procreate - Bill Maher
Are Millennials Having Less Sex Than Older Generations? A New Report Explores The Phenomenon
Families Projected to Spend an Average of $233,610 Raising a Child Born in 2015 (News release for most recent USDA study we could find)
Expenditures on Children by Families reports by USDA
Senator Mike Lee: More Babies Will Solve Climate Change
(Steven Colbert Gives Mike Lee The Mike Lee Treatment)
The World Economy is a Pyramid Scheme, Steven Chu Says
Climate Change Will Take Food Off Your Table
(Episode 27 of the GrowthBusters podcast with Michael Brownlee, author of Taking Back Our Food Supply: How to Lead the Local Food Revolution to Reclaim a Healthy Future)
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84: Strong Economy Begins With Shrinking Workforce
83: We Roasted Elon Musk, Raising the Curiosity of Thousands
82: Governor Whitmer Unveils Ponzi Population Policy
81 Overpopulation Think Tank – Part 2
80 How Do We Get Out of This Mess? University Students Brainstorm
79 Overpopulation Think Tank – Part 1
78 Discussing Overpopulation: Let's Clear the Minefield
77 Fact-Checking News of China’s “Demographic Crisis”
76 Now Here's What We Call an Eco-Superhero
75 A Vasectomy Could Save Herschel Walker a Lot of Money
74 Bleak Friday, 8 Billion Post-Mortem and Damage Done by Guilt
73 Eight Billion is Too Many: Don’t be a Twit About Overpopulation
72 Upping Our Game Alerting the World to Limits to Growth: New Online Community
71 World Population Day 2022: We’re Overpopulated. Pass It On.
70 Paul Ehrlich on The Limits to Growth
69 Chickens are Coming Home to Roost
68 Paul Ehrlich, Unfiltered (Special Earth Day Episode)
67 Obsessive-Compulsive’s Guide to Cutting Your Carbon Footprint
66 Can Living a 1.5 Degree Lifestyle Make a Difference?
65 What Do College Students Think Their Future Holds?
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