Chris Clancy's letter Nov. 6 letter, "The challenge of population growth," is based on the myth — yes, the myth — that the world will be overpopulated soon, if it isn't already. The truth is, the world is not overpopulated.
There are roughly 6.9 billion people in the world, and the land area of Brazil is roughly 2.1 billion acres. When we do the math, we find that a land area the size of Brazil could comfortably provide one acre of land for every three people or so. In other words, every man, woman and child on this planet could fit inside a Brazil-sized area and have more than adequate living space. Such an area takes up a small portion of the world's total land mass, rendering the "overpopulation" argument even sillier.
I know, some people reading this letter will say, "It's not the space, it's the resources." That argument fails too, because there are more than enough natural resources, food and water to sustain the world's population many times over. It's often government inefficiency and corruption that causes the unavailability of these resources in many countries — yet people like Clancy still think added government controls are the answer?
As for Clancy's view that government is to be the source of alternative energy technology, he should know that the light bulb, the oil heater, and the turbine engine were not invented by any government. It's the private sector that invented these "old" technologies, and the private sector is best qualified to develop the "new" ones as well.
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.