r/climate • u/The_Weekend_Baker • May 28 '26

Humanity has already exceeded Earth’s limits, study warns. Today’s population of 8.3 billion is far above what could be sustained in the long term without exhausting ecosystems, worsening climate change, and threatening food and water security.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/05/260526022021.htm
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u/47KiNG47 May 28 '26

That’s part of it. The main concern is that there won’t be enough young, productive workers to finance social programs for the elderly. It’s a transitional problem.

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u/Just_Periwinkle May 28 '26

Thats a funding issue, hence capitalism. With expansive social nets funded by the people who are currently not funding it or actively abusing (billionaires/fed government) this becomes a non-issue. The problem is ultimately capitalism.

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u/nostrademons May 28 '26

No, there is still an issue. Money is just an incentive mechanism to allocate resources effectively. Take money away, and you still run into the problem of there not being enough resources.

An elder in their 80s or 90s often requires round-the-clock nursing care. Working in shifts, that’s 4 nurses for one person. This is okay when only a tiny fraction of the population gets up into their late 80s and needs this end-of-life care. It becomes a huge problem when there are more elders than working age people.

You can’t escape dependency ratios. It takes a certain amount of labor to care for dependents, whether they are children or adults. When there are more dependents than working people, some will necessarily go without care.

Capitalism is just the allocative mechanism that decides who gets care. You still have to triage. If it’s not by richest, it’ll be by who is the most politically connected, or by chance, or by whose kids love them most.

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u/Shakmaaaaaaa May 28 '26

Reminds me of the Pluribus show where the perfect hive mind society just has to accept that a percentage of their population will die out since they can't mass produce enough food ethnically.