Most of the problems of mankind today can be reduced to the simple economic concept of 'supply & demand'. Unlike other things in this world, where prices rise in case of excess demand and prices fall in case of excess supply, people excesses can neither be reduced in a short period of time nor can be raised fastly. The concept of continuous growth at all times puzzles me. Yes, to continuously improve the quality of life of the people, there needs to be growth. At some point in time in earlier decades when human population was less, there was a need for more people as most work was manual. But as of now, things have changed. I believe we have excess people in this world, far more than that required to improve mankind as machines help do the same tasks efficiently and faster. This excess has now caused a deterioration in the lives of humankind. The concept of growth has unfortunately moved from qualitative growth to quantitative growth.
There is only one country that has truly understood the effects of excesses of human population and that country is China. Over the last few decades, the one child norm has reduced the population of the country and it will continue to. China has realised that excess population is a drag on the economy. It also realises that in the globalised world, any work it wants can be done by outsourcing it.
