The First Guideline

Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.

Why it may be perceived negatively

Many (incorrectly) assume that adhering to this guideline would involve actively killing a large majority of the Earth’s human population. I must emphasise that this is not the case. What it actually means is limiting the rate at which new people are born. This is easily achieved by use of contraceptives, which have been extremely successful in the developed world as a means of slowing the rate of population growth. However there are certain groups of people (such as the Catholic Church) who still oppose the use of any form of contraception to prevent pregnancies.

Why the issue should not be ignored

“Overpopulation” refers to the situation where an organism's numbers exceed the carrying capacity of its habitat. Most estimates for the carrying capacity of the Earth are between 4 billion and 16 billion (according to Wikipedia). The global human population now exceeds 7 billion, so depending on which estimate is used, human overpopulation may or may not have already occurred. I don’t know how the figure 500,000,000 was calculated, and therefore have no reason to stick strictly to it; however I think it is clear that the human population cannot be allowed to continue growing exponentially, and may even benefit from some reduction in number. The reasons for this are as follows:

Environmental – rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, global warming, and pollution, are all made worse by continued population growth. In addition, many natural habitats such as rainforests are destroyed to make room for the growing human population at the expense of the other species we share this planet with.

Limited resources – food, fresh water, fuels, etc. A larger population means increased demand for resources which will lead to higher prices, deprivation, poverty, starvation and potentially war over these limited resources.

What could be achieved?

A smaller human population would mean increased quality of life for humans, and a healthier and more peaceful planet. Remember quality of life > quantity of life!