I don’t know that we would have the political will to clearcut the Amazon and switch out our crop supply, even in the face of >70% death by starvation. Political polarization is very high right now. When either side proposes anything, the other will oppose it, even if it’s saving humanity.
You might rightly say “but starvation is a powerful motivator!” and it is, but the people doing the starving won’t be the people who could move the crops—the farmers and the world’s lumber industry, who would be foiled by politics at every turn. The starving people will be too hungry to really do anything.
So maybe not 5 billion dead, but I wouldn’t be surprised at about 3 billion.
Upvoted because this is a good comment, but strong disagree with the underlying premise. Actual global nuclear war would render existing partisan divides irrelevant almost instantly; typical partisan culture-war divides would be readily ignored in favor of staying alive.
I could imagine more relevant international divides of this type, such as wealthier and militarily powerful first-world nations hoarding their own resources at the expense of poorer nations, but I don’t think that partisanship within single nations would overwhelm the survival instinct.
I don’t know that we would have the political will to clearcut the Amazon and switch out our crop supply, even in the face of >70% death by starvation. Political polarization is very high right now. When either side proposes anything, the other will oppose it, even if it’s saving humanity.
You might rightly say “but starvation is a powerful motivator!” and it is, but the people doing the starving won’t be the people who could move the crops—the farmers and the world’s lumber industry, who would be foiled by politics at every turn. The starving people will be too hungry to really do anything.
So maybe not 5 billion dead, but I wouldn’t be surprised at about 3 billion.
Upvoted because this is a good comment, but strong disagree with the underlying premise. Actual global nuclear war would render existing partisan divides irrelevant almost instantly; typical partisan culture-war divides would be readily ignored in favor of staying alive.
I could imagine more relevant international divides of this type, such as wealthier and militarily powerful first-world nations hoarding their own resources at the expense of poorer nations, but I don’t think that partisanship within single nations would overwhelm the survival instinct.
Political polarization is very high in the US. This is a global phenomenom, and in other countries polarization is currently decreasing.