Canada-ization
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James Joyner | Wednesday, May 26, 2004 |
Dean Esmay solves the world’s overcrowding problem by moving all seven billion people to Alberta, Canada, noting the population density would still be lower than in several very livable cities.
Now, granted, the daily commute is going to be a bear, especially for those in agribusiness. But as long as they don’t force me to watch hockey. . . .
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and infant daughter.
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Something tells me you'd still be there to celebrate on the "red mile"..... with your camera.
You have to drink their beer too. It's going to be a very tolitarian mega-city.
The point of the exercise, of course, is not that we would all actually do this, but to emphasize just how much space there really is, and how efficiently it can be used if we want to (or need to) be more efficient.
There are of course related issues we're discussing, such as providing enough energy, clean water, and so on to all the world's people. All tricky problems. But problems with, I believe, solutions, and not things we all have to panic about.
Dean: I know. But it's an amusing thought experiment!
I had read someplace that you could fit the entire population of the U.S. in the state of Oregon, and everybody have a decent size house and yard ... with room to grow. So, I can see this being plausible.
Yeah...but it's Oregon.
At least if we all move to Canada we can wear the national hairstyle -- the mullet.
But think about the great coffee we'd get if we all lived in Oregon!
I've been to Alberta, and it's pretty country -- but I don't think I'd care to have to share it with another 7 billion people.
Y'all can divide up my patch, and I'll even take the rest of the planet off everybody's hands so they won't have to worry about it.
No, no need to thank me, it's my pleasure.
As our illustrious former governor Tom McCall once said, "Come and enjoy the beauty of Oregon--but please, don't stay!"
Such a magnaminous gesture, McGeehee--you shouldn't have!
For the record, PJ O'Rourke did the same experiment for one of his books and showed that the country of Bangladesh and the city of Fresno, CA have exactly the same population density per acre--and helpfully provided descriptions of "rush hour" in each area. Very illuminating it was.
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