Kevin Duffy on the death of Paul Ehrlich, author of 'The Population Bomb'

Funny how life has come full circle, at least in my lifetime.  The experts who once worried about: 

- global cooling -> now obsess about global warming

- world poverty -> now fear the economic rise of China 

- overpopulation -> now issue dire warnings about countries with declining populations

~ Kevin Duffy, Twitter/X, March 16, 2026

(Paul R. Ehrlich, 1932-2026)

1968

 

Henry Kissinger on overpopulation

World population needs to be decreased by 50%.

~ Henry A. Kissinger

Henry Kissinger on overpopulation

Depopulation should be the highest priority of foreign policy towards the third world, because the US economy will require large and increasing amounts of minerals from abroad, especially from less developed countries.

~ Henry A. Kissinger

1974

Jordan Peterson on the collision course between saving the planet and war with Russia

We can't win against Putin anyways because you cannot win against someone you cannot say "no" to.  Period.  And we can't say no to Putin because we sold our soul for his oil and gas.  And we did that to elevate our moral stature in relationship to saving the planet.  And so here we are, facing a very dire winter hoisted on the petard of our own foolishness and moral presumption.  We're saving the planet.  We'll see.  I don't think so.  It doesn't look like it to me and this is the most catastrophic issue here: Assuming that we're facing an environmental crisis of planetary proportions, which is not something I buy, by the way.  Assuming we are, well then I would imagine that you would put in place measures that would ameliorate that problem instead of exacerbating it, but all the measures you're putting in place are actually making the environmental problem worse.  So how is that even vaguely acceptable?  And I look at that and think, "oh, I see, it's just like what Goerge Orwell said about middle class socialists fifty years ago: it's not that you love the planet, it's that you hate humanity."  

So, well, have at her, boys and girls.  And we'll see what happens this winter, and it's very terrifying to me.  Especially here because your energy prices have gone way out of control, and that's going to hurt a lot of poor people.  And certainly around the world as well.  The World Bank already estimated that we put 350 million people into what they call "food insecurity."  350 million.  That's three times as many as the communists managed to kill.  Maybe we can manage that in a winter.  But the planet has too many people on it anyways, you know, so just poor people.

~ Jordan Peterson, interview with Piers Morgan, Sky News Australia, 5:05 mark, September 22, 2022

Doug Casey on the political elites

The people who frequent forums, such as the WEF, see themselves as a special class―the elite.  They all know each other, go to the same schools, and socialize at the same clubs.  They have high incomes, a lot of power and influence, and groom their kids to join the party. 

They’ve jelled into an informal ruling class.  Even while they mouth hypocritical platitudes about democracy, diversity, equity, and other PC nonsense, they, in fact, despise the common man.  I wouldn’t be surprised if they would really like to see―as people such as Ted Turner and Bill Gates have intimated―80% of the world’s population to just disappear.  That way, when they visit places such as Machu Picchu, St. Mark’s Square in Venice, and other fashionable places, they won’t be annoyed by the hoi polloi wandering around as if they were equals.  Enough money and power can get the elite to start thinking that way.  Not to mention that these people are mostly sociopaths, with a heavy admixture of real psychos.

~ Doug Casey, "Doug Casey on Implications of the “Great Reset” Agenda and What it Means for You," Doug Casey's International Man, January 14, 2022

Almost Daily Grant's on the link between ESG and population control

Indeed, the Dow Jones Sustainability North American Index, which “tracks the stock performance of the world's leading companies in terms of economic, environmental and social criteria” features member companies which might not be top of mind when it comes to ESG bona fides. Included in the basket are not only energy concerns such as Chevron Corp., ConocoPhillips and Suncor Energy, Inc., but also defense companies Lockheed Martin Corp., manufacturer of the Hellfire missile, and Northrop Grumman Corp., which makes Bushmaster chain guns and automatic cannons (thank you, Simon Lack).

Then again, a November report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change identified rapid global population growth as a primary culprit for climate change, concluding that the world headcount “must be stabilized – and, ideally, gradually reduced – within a framework that ensures social integrity.”

Maybe Lockheed and Northrop are ESG worthy after all. 

~ Philip Grant, Almost Daily Grant's, January 30, 2020

Paul Ehrlich on overpopulation and overconsumption

The human predicament is driven by overpopulation, overconsumption of natural resources and the use of unnecessarily environmentally damaging technologies and socio-economic-political arrangements to service Homo sapiens' aggregate demand.

~ Paul Ehrlich, 2013

Paul Ehrlich on overpopulation (1968)

The operation will demand many apparently brutal and heartless decisions. The pain may be intense. But the disease is so far advanced that only with radical surgery does the patient have a chance of survival.

~ Paul Ehrlich, The Population Bomb (1968)