On The Topic Of Natural Resources

I've almost finished Thomas L. Friedman's book, The World Is Flat, but just read something that really struck me as profound. Toward the back of the book, in sections that were added following the initial (hardcover, maybe?) publication of The World Is Flat, Friedman tackles some of the most interesting aspects of the globalization that we all see occurring around us.

As one example, he's added several pages on the topic of natural resources and what things will look like as more and more Third World countries begin to realize the increased standard of living that First World citizens have enjoyed for decades. He cites the statistic that the current ratio between those two segments of the population - First World vs Third World - stands at about 32:1 in terms of resource consumption and waste production. In other words, someone like me uses 32 times as much natural resources, and produces 32 times as much waste, as a rural Indian or Chinese farmer does, living in poverty. And yet India and China are both moving forward with astonishing speed to enter the Modern Age, with all that that suggests.

Friedman quotes author Jared Diamond, who wrote the related book, Collapse, as saying:

"There are many 'optimists' who argue that the world could support double its human population... But I have not yet met anyone who seriously argues that the world could support 12 times its current impact, although an increase of that factor would result from all Third World inhabitants adopting First World living standards."

All of which probably means that we're headed toward a big war that will either significantly reduce our world population or keep the have-nots in their current have-not status quo (or both).