Elon Musk Argues For 'Repopulating' Earth, Colonizing Planets

Billionaire Elon Musk continues to be confused about his real role in the universe by insisting the world is focusing on wrong priorities and must repopulate the planet the way he and his father, Errol, do by siring more children and dreaming about colonizing Mars.

Photo Insert: Musk's new alarm comes after conflicting new data on world population trends.

"Tesla is to protect life on Earth, SpaceX to extend life beyond," the serial entrepreneur said about the mission of his two well-known companies on July 15, Luc Olinga wrote for The Street, a publication that generally speaks glowingly of Musk, on Aug. 27, 2022.

"This is because the overarching purpose of Tesla Motors (and the reason I am funding the company) is to help expedite the move from a mine-and-burn hydrocarbon economy towards a solar electric economy, which I believe to be the primary, but not exclusive, sustainable solution," Musk wrote in August 2006.

However, his gloom and doom scenario won’t come to pass like Paul Ehrlich’s population bomb theory enunciated in the late 20th century for the Club of Rome. The theory went bust as global population growth slowed and billionaires amassed wealth at the expense of 99% of humanity.

"Population collapse due to low birth rates is a much bigger risk to civilization than global warming," the global CEO tweeted on August 26. As if to show that he is serious he added: "Mark these words.” Musk's new alarm comes after conflicting new data on world population trends.

The total fertility rate in South Korea, or the average number of children a woman bears during her lifetime, stood at 0.81 in 2021, compared to 0.84 the previous year, recent data from Statistics Korea (Kostat) show. South Korea is the only country where the number of births per woman has remained below 1 among the 38 members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

In 2020, the total fertility rate of OECD countries was 1.59 on average. According to the United Nations, the global population is projected to reach 8 billion on 15 November 2022.

A peak of around 10.4 billion people will be reached during the 2080s and the world population will remain at that level until 2100.

But the organization also said that in 2021, the fertility rate was 2.3 children per woman, compared to 5 in 1950, and will be 2.1 in 2050. HSBC economists estimate, in a recent study, that this decline will be more significant, in particular with the better integration of women in the labor market, the rise in real estate, and better access to care and contraceptive practices.

The trend of an aging global population also suggests that the death rate will rise sharply, warns HSBC. According to this study, the curves of the birth rate and that of the death rate could intersect between the years 2080 and 2090.

They therefore conclude that the world population will be halved in 80 years, to 4 billion inhabitants in 2100, exactly the opposite of what Ehrlich had predicted.

WEEKLY FEATURE : MVP Group Keeps Lights On During Pandemic