Can Eightbillion of us Make This Planet a Better Home?

At the end of 2022, the world’s population was declared to have reached eight billion!  A mind boggling number, and its significance even more so. Depending on who you ask, the meaning of this eight billion number can be a milestone of anything from the peak of humanity's evolution, an overpopulated planet, to the beginning of population collapse.  The eightbillion of us can not agree if there are too many or not enough of us.

Feeling more minute than ever, I have decided to celebrate being one of the eight billion.  

Human race reached this population in the last several decades faster than thousands of years prior, because of the development of health, nutrition and medicine. We are living longer, with more tools and knowledge than ever.

My fascination with the population came innately. Born in the 70th to what the westerner calls the communist China, my brother and I were rushed to the world by our parents just in time before the implementation of the one child policy to curb the country’s population growth. Fortunately, unlike many of the kids I grew up with, I had a sibling to grow up with, and share the responsibility of taking care of our parents when they get older.

The table has turned in the last several years, as China realized that the One Child Policy worked so well, that many families are now confronted with the challenge that one single child is burdened with the gloomy future of caring for two parents and four grandparents, Chinese are now encouraged and rewarded to have as many kids as they desire…  The timing is awkward: these days, many childbearing age Chinese refuse to have kids, let alone more than one. The list of  reasons goes on and on: cost of living, departure from the traditional family, societal and personal values etc. 

Another milestone erected quietly in April 2023: India surpasses China as the most populated country in the world. I doubt it was a competition that neither country was trying to win… long gone the era when geopolitical power was based on the size of the labor force.

 And China is not alone, many other countries: developed countries such as Japan and Korea, countries with historical and cultural significance such as Greece and Italy, are all facing the same challenges of shrinking population but increasing aging population. 

Who will take care of us when we get old?  Our children who themselves are struggling to just survive or our governments who have a million other priorities?

One of the main reasons that there are more humans on the planet is: we are living longer than ever before.  That is great news, if we can live healthier during this long life, otherwise, it would feel like too long of a life!  What used to be an expectation of your children to attend to you while you are old, the same way you care for your child while they were babies, is now merely wishful thinking.  How we live our potentially very long life gracefully, is entirely up to how we take care of ourselves and our environment today and NOW.

All eightbillion of us ought to just take care of ourselves, each other, and our planet.

Eightbillion of us can and will make this planet a better place for us and our future selves to live: we have more access to knowledge, technology, connectivity, nutrition and medicine than ever before.  We have more freedom than ever to choose our path that is meaningful, purposeful, fulfilled with creativity and passion.  We now understand that humans have direct impact on our environment and climate, and by making conscious decisions, everyone of us can contribute to the caring and healing of our planet.

Eightbillion, not more, not less, may very well be the magic number, where the human and the planet can find the equilibrium, sustain their symbiotic relationship, and make sure that future generations can continue to enjoy this wonderful planet.

It’s good to be alive NOW and be one of the eightbillion on this planet!