Could We All Fit Inside Jacksonville?

[luckylassie]

I remember J'Chelle making a statement on one of the shows about the overpopulation being a myth. She said something along the lines of "if you think about it, the population could fit inside Jacksonville Florida". I don't know but I live in a city of millions and it seems like we're crowded enough already (we're supposedly the fourth largest in the nation).

[ktiscrazy]

I am from Jax- born and raised and live within 3 hours of it now.

HELL NO. That city is crowded enough already.

Now, if she meant that we could all fit if everyone was lined up shoulder to shoulder in rows- maybe, but I seriously doubt it.

[slickcat79]

I remember doing the math on that when I first heard it. IIRC, each person in the world would have about 3 square feet of room if you put them all in the land area of Jacksonville.

Obviously it doesn't really mean anything, except that it's a quick way for the Duggars to be dismissive of population concerns because it totally ignores the need for resources.

OK, re-did my math: According to Wikipedia, Jacksonville has 767 sq miles in land area (I refuse to count the water area, because, really?), which equals 21,382,732,800 sq ft. Divide that by current world population (6,955,681,482) equals 3.074 sq ft per person.

*edited for math

[Boogalou]

If Michelle said it, it's probably not true. However, since I am bored I will see if I can figure it out. Wikipedia says:

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 874.3 square miles (2,264 km2), making Jacksonville the largest city in land area in the contiguous United States; of this, 86.66% (757.7 sq mi, 1,962 km2) is land and ; 13.34% (116.7 sq mi, 302 km2) is water.

Since I can't deal with miles I am going to do all of this in km. The world population is estimated to reach 7 billion by the end of 2011 but right now Wikipedia (via the US Census Bureau) says it is 6.94 billion. However, Michelle said this a while ago, I am pretty sure, so I am going to give her the benefit of the doubt and say 6.5 billion.

6 500 000 000 people / 1962 km = 3 312 945 people per kilometer squared. Let's round that to 3.3 million. You cannot fit 3.3 million people in one square kilometer unless you stack them up a whole lot. Otherwise each person would have 0.0000000303030303030303 km2 in which to stand. I do not think that is possible.

Just FYI: the most densely populated city in the world (again, according to Wikipedia) is Manila with about 43 000 people per square kilometer. A far cry from 3.3 million.

Finally, I would like to apologize for my citations of Wikipedia, however Michelle is so stupid her idiocy does not deserve proper facts and figures from reputable sources. Now, this took me all of five minutes to figure out. Why can the Duggars not do the same thing? Actaully, that might make a good homeschool project for somebody.

ETA: Sorry if my math is wrong, I see that slickcat said it is more like 3 square feet a person, I think it might also depend on how you measure Jacksonville.

[urban explorer]

I don’t get how fundies can keep saying over population is a myth, they haven’t come up with a satisfactory answer to support there claim in my opinion. I heard Michelle say that in one episode, maybe how she said it but didn’t come off sounding to bright. I just don’t get it.

[bananacat]

I guess when you have your kids packed into bedrooms like sardines, 3 square feet per person seems adequate, but it's not. There's also a lot more to live than simply taking up space. How would all those people packed into the city get water and food?

[Avalondaughter]

Fundies tend to think in terms of just space. Yes, there is space available for the population. Can all of the space sustain life? Is the land usable? Is there enough drinking water? Is the climate livable? Would the Duggars like to live in the northernmost regions of Alaska? How about Antarctica? Can you imagine Zuzu in Africa? How much of China is habitable? Heck, even here in the US, places are habitable because we MAKE them habitable? Would so many northerners be moving south these days if it weren't for air conditioning?

[treemom]

Being able to stand shoulder to shoulder is irrelevant to whether or not the world is straining resources.

[ladypuglover]

Maybe they mean that just their brand of Christians could fit in whatever amount of space and to hell with everyone else.

[longskirtlotsakids]

Being able to stand shoulder to shoulder is irrelevant to whether or not the world is straining resources.

This. What is the point of being able to cram everyone in a space? I am too lazy to look, but I am sure there is an algorithm out there that can calculate how each person born within a nation increases the need for water, shelter, health care, land for agriculture, etc.

Of course, looking at the kids and how they "parent" , it's obvious that it's quantity, not quality, with them.

[keeperrox]

Being able to stand shoulder to shoulder is irrelevant to whether or not the world is straining resources.

Exactly.

They have no clue what "overpopulation" really means.

[Markie]

Hopefully my spot in Jacksonville is on the perimeter and I can walk away. It would suck to be in the centre of all those people - we could put the duggars there!

[lilwriter85]

Exactly.

They have no clue what "overpopulation" really means.

I agree with both of you the Duggars are oblivious to the lack of resources in certain parts of the world and other resources that are straining worldwide. They probably have no a idea of how much damage overpopulation can do. I think when they go mission trips to certain countries they probably have some method of ignoring some things. There was a similar discussion on here recently about overpopulation and I recall Kelly and ZsuZsu made some dumb comments on their blogs about overpopulation and resources.

[darareaksmey]

This is such dopey analysis on J'chelle's part. Can she truly think anyone's mind on overpopulation is changed by the prospect of being wedged with all the other humans into one small city?

Oh, I get it. This has to be a math problem she dreamed up for her kids (if in fact it were she and not the J-slaves doing that kind of work). Math problems are always dumb and full of useless suppositions. ("Say Train A just left Seattle traveling SSE @ 38 mph, and Train B left Baltimore a half hour earlier traveling WSW @ 34 mph. Who gets to Wichita first?")

[ElphabaGalinda]

I would be very claustrophobic trying to fit inside Jacksonville with the rest of the world. I guess it makes sense that the people who don't mind putting eleventy billion children in the same room, and don't even give all their children their own bed, will believe that people don't really need more than standing room to live.

[Austin]

This is such dopey analysis on J'chelle's part. Can she truly think anyone's mind on overpopulation is changed by the prospect of being wedged with all the other humans into one small city?

Oh, I get it. This has to be a math problem she dreamed up for her kids (if in fact it were she and not the J-slaves doing that kind of work). Math problems are always dumb and full of useless suppositions. ("Say Train A just left Seattle traveling SSE @ 38 mph, and Train B left Baltimore a half hour earlier traveling WSW @ 34 mph. Who gets to Wichita first?")

Actually, it's been a favorite of the dominionists for a long time. I remember even fundie-lites using the Jacksonville stat 20 years ago. She's just parrotting what she's heard and I can guaran-damn-tee you she's never done the math.

[jfred]

I know I know it would be better if there were a show called 19 abortions and counting. That way you and your leftist death cult would have a show showing what a real family should look like.

[Witsec7]

So according to our prof. of the SODRT, the population of all the metropolitan cities in the world can fit in Jacksonville?

Like all of Beijing? Mexico City? NYC? Mumbai? I haven't been there in over 30 years but it just never appeared that big to me.

[CanadianHippie]

Hopefully my spot in Jacksonville is on the perimeter and I can walk away. It would suck to be in the centre of all those people - we could put the duggars there!

I'm not even going to participate. Everyone else can hang out in Jacksonville, and I'll have the rest of the world to myself. Those who meet the criteria can join me.

[marmalade]

This is such dopey analysis on J'chelle's part. Can she truly think anyone's mind on overpopulation is changed by the prospect of being wedged with all the other humans into one small city?

Oh, I get it. This has to be a math problem she dreamed up for her kids (if in fact it were she and not the J-slaves doing that kind of work). Math problems are always dumb and full of useless suppositions. ("Say Train A just left Seattle traveling SSE @ 38 mph, and Train B left Baltimore a half hour earlier traveling WSW @ 34 mph. Who gets to Wichita first?")

It's Gothard bullshit. I posted the link on the big Duggar thread last night.

At any rate, I have dibs on what used to be Three Mile Island. I want to glow one day.

[Aurora]

I agree with both of you the Duggars are oblivious to the lack of resources in certain parts of the world and other resources that are straining worldwide. They probably have no a idea of how much damage overpopulation can do. I think when they go mission trips to certain countries they probably have some method of ignoring some things. There was a similar discussion on here recently about overpopulation and I recall Kelly and ZsuZsu made some dumb comments on their blogs about overpopulation and resources.

+eleventy. The Duggars should try actually living in Guatemala or one of the other places they go for mission trips for say a year, then start to talk about overpopulation not being a problem.

[doggie]

I think what they are really saying is god won't let the world get overpopulated. so since god has not killed off a bunch of people then god does not think the world is overcrowded.

Just think of how deep the crap would be if you just put all the fundies in Jacksonville.

This is what happens when you listen to gothard you become dumb.

[jfred]

The amount of terrestrial surface area on this planet is enormous. That's the point. They are not talking about people literally living shoulder to shoulder. The point the eco-facists seem to miss is that we don't have an overpopulation problem in the sense that there is not sufficient land.

What the kool-aid drinkers on this thread should say is that land and resources are not evenly distributed and so you have some with abundance and many with scarcity. One family in Arkansas is hardly the problem as to why some have so little. The Duggars make no enforceable demands on anyone unlike the left in this country and around the world.

[Witsec7]

I had a big day of shopping in town today and I picked up 3 new nail polish colors. I like this bronze color.

[Aurora]

I had a big day of shopping in town today and I picked up 3 new nail polish colors. I like this bronze color.

Sounds nice, what other colors did you get?