we might very well already be past long term carrying capacity.. we can use medicine and technology to keep overwhelming every ecological system, but there is just so much that the planet can bear... an AIDS-type disease that is transmitted through coughing could break out at any time and decimate us, since we are so interconnected. The global village is ripe for an ass kicking.
Moving food around economically will get harder and harder as oil becomes more scarce, and growing it is highly dependent upon oil right now, too. But the population bomb is not a new idea, and somehow we seem to use our collective intelligence to overcome each hurdle to carrying capacity as they arise....
We are a bit arrogant about it, but obviously the exponential curve of population growth is not sustainable. No rational person can controvert that. Religious douche bags that foster and insist on more population growth are enemies of the world, in my jaded opinion.
Anyone who cannot grasp that concept is a pox on the planet.. of course wars are another way to limit population.. WWII did a pretty good job of slowing the curve, until the baby boom happened.
