The Question Is Not Where Civilization Began, But When Will It?

I've discussed this before, but the issue with limited resources isn't that we have too many people overall, but that certain people use way more of the resources than others. "overpopulation" fears tend to be directed at countries with large populations like india and china, but per capita, those people use very few resources. americans use much, much more resources (not just per capita, but overall) despite having a fraction of the population that other countries have. not just “undeveloped” countries; americans use twice as much energy per capita as the british despite both countries having high standards of living. what this tells us is that the number of people doesn't matter so much as the distribution does. it's blaming poor nonwhite people for a crisis that a tiny percentage of people are actually responsible for.

fears of "low birth rates," on the other hand, are never actually about low birth rates in general, because overall there isn't a drop in birth rate: the global population continues to grow, not shrink. it's about too few of the "right" kind of people being born: white people (if you’re a white nationalist), Christians (if you’re a Christian nationalist), intelligent people (if you buy into Idiocracy-style eugenics), etc.

I would further argue that the fear of low birth rates from a practical/economical standpoint ("who will care for our aging population?" "what happens if there are more people drawing from social security than are contributing?" etc., etc.) is falling victim to the classic blunder of assuming that the 1950s were normal and how things had always been, and not the convergence of a bunch of different factors that are unlikely to be repeated. the baby boom was not normal. we are never going to have enough people to replace every boomer unless we get them from other countries through immigration.

(Just to be clear: we're at like 9b right now.)

They didn't bother doing the math for if we do make those changes, because at that point there are too many variables (what if we get twice as good at water conservation? What if we all get as good at it as Las Vegas? What if we manage to engineer our crops to grow three times as much? Ten times? What would growing on satellites do to food production?), but the math for just the solid numbers we have right now made it very clear:

We are at less than 1/3 of what we can support with our current food and water technology, and our food and water technologies are improving all the time. As long as we don't hit some kind of global dark age that zips us all back to 1200s-level technology--which is possible but so unlikely as to basically be a rounding error--there is no reason our technology shouldn't continue to far outstrip our population. And even if we did get smacked with a significant asteroid or Carrington Event or a chain reaction of supervolcano eruptions, we know more about how agriculture works than we did in the 1200s. You can still sow modern high-yield wheat with a hand plow. You can still preserve food by canning over an open fire, as long as you have a big enough pot and a way to mark time (which can be as simple as counting and making tally marks or measuring time by song! It doesn't have to be complicated!). It would hurt, but we'd still be able to support more people than we could have in the actual 1200s, and we'd be much closer to getting back to modern production abilities because that research has already been done.

I wanted the birds to look like they were actually in the space so first thing after doing the draft was to do a lighting study

after that I covered the walls in letters in lieu of a projector/vr headset bc i have neither of those :) Then i take a picture of the section of wall and superimpose the lineart over top of it so I can pencil in the lines

et voila

GIVE IT UP FOR BIRD NUMBUH 5, THE CANADIAN GOOSE, Branta canadensis!!!!

bird 5/14, Bluejay, Cyanocitta cristata

birds 6 and 7: American Goldfinch, Spinus tristis, male and female

BIRD NUMBER 8, (yellow shafted) NORTHERN FLICKERRRRR, Colaptes auratus

genuinely made me start questioning my sanity around day 3, it's half the size the of the goose, WHY did it take me 4 days to finish??

Oppression is the design of capitalism.

Hello. I am a horse. I work very hard at my job of being a horse. When humans say move the heavy thing, I move the heavy thing. When humans sit on top of me and pull on my head, I carry them where they want to go. The main food the humans give me is hay and oats. But I am thinking it would be nice to have a different food.

I am thinking I would like to try cake.

Yes, yes. Cake. I know all about it. When humans eat cake, it is in glad times. It is the food for a celebration, such as when a woman becomes 47. I have seen cake on the Fourth of July. When humans have a cake, they stand around it and clap hands and smile and say happy birthday at each other. Sometimes there are beautiful markings on a cake, such as balloons or a pink shape.

Sometimes the top of a cake is on fire and a boy must blow on the fire with mouth wind. This is the scariest cake. I do not want this kind. But I will eat any other cake. Any cake that is not the fire cake that tries to kill the boy.

Please understand: I do not get money for doing work. I do not get to go inside the house. All day I am either doing my horse job or standing in my pen or eating food off the floor. I always do these things. But I have never once gotten cake and I would like it very much.

I have noticed that human children get to eat cake. But I am bigger than the children. I am more helpful to the farm. Children do not move the heavy things like me or let anyone ride on them. And yet they get cake. Maybe the humans will realize this. Maybe they will say, "You know who deserves cake? That horse. That horse whose back we are always on."

Every day I dream about what it will be like if I get to eat cake. Here is what will happen. First, I will walk to the cake and puff my nose at it like /hrrrfff/ to make sure it is not a snake. Then I will trot in a circle to show that I am a horse and I am large. After that, I will nuzzle the cake to know it with my face. Then I will lick the colorful top part and touch it with my lips. Finally, I will bite the cake and have the taste of its inner softness. I will chew and say /prrt prrt/ because I am happy, and everybody will clap hands and smile and say happy birthday at each other.

I cannot think of a more glad time. So, please, give me cake.

Of the eight tastes I know about, I think cake probably tastes most like medicine and mud. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. There is a fly standing on my eyeball but I don't even care because all I can think about is cake and wanting it badly. I already weigh 2,000 pounds from eating hay and oats. I do not w ant more of that noww. There is only one thing I want. You know what it is.

So you see, it is clear that you must give me cake. I am a nice horse. I do not fuss. I do not bite the human woman's face, even though her hair smells nice. I do not ask to go live free in the woods like the deer. I do my duties. I must try cake. Please.

/Hnnnnnnn. Heeeee-huh-heeee!/ Just give me the cake.

Please. I am begging you. I am showing you my teeth and stomping my hooves so you know that I want the cake. /Prrrrrft! Prrrrrft!/ I must have it, do you see? I am standing on my back legs and screaming due to needing the cake. Please, humans. Please. Please! I am a good horse. /Hmmrrrr, nrrrrffff!/ Put a cake on a table right now. I wish with all my heart that you will do this for me. So you must give it to me. Because I am the good horse. I am a good horse and I deserve cake.

[End article description.]

[Additional images: excerpt from the article selected by user elodieunderglass, one paragraph split across two columns.]

Sometimes the top of a cake is on fire and a boy must blow on the fire with mouth wind. This is the scariest cake. I do not want this kind. But I will eat any other cake. Any cake that is not the fire cake that tries to kill the boy.

For those interested in the source, it’s from the print edition of the onion (you can see the little onion on it) and the author is apparently Ben Collins; https://bsky.app/profile/bencollins.bsky.social