Like something out of a dystopian science-fiction story, more than 11,000 “scientists” from 153 nations recently signed a petition declaring that climate change would bring “untold human suffering” that is “unavoidable” unless drastic action is immediately taken. And what is the drastic action these “scientists” advocate? A socialist tyranny that would end capitalism by stopping all economic growth and … human population control. Why is it that socialists’ solutions invariably call for less stuff, fewer people, and restricted freedom?

As David Harsanyi notes, “Basically, these scientists are advocating for the Green New Deal: a collection of ludicrous solutions wholly unconcerned with economic tradeoffs or political reality. The plan treats nature and people as moral equals, imagining them in an apartment-dwelling, plant-based-food-eating, bicycle-riding society where well-being is administered ‘by prioritizing basic needs and reducing inequality’ — which doesn’t sound creepy or authoritarian at all.”

Oh, the glaring irony in warning of “untold human suffering.” That’s exactly what would be brought by the socialist “solutions” to climate change — solutions that are responsible for creating some of the worst human suffering and misery the world has ever known. So, in order to save the planet and keep humanity from suffering, millions must die.

It’s the overpopulation myth. Harsanyi observes, “‘Overpopulation’ is routinely cited by journalists — who often live in the densest, yet miraculously, the wealthiest, places on earth — as a problem. Yet, if density were itself causing human suffering, Monaco, as Nicholas Eberstadt once pointed out, with its 16,000 people per square kilometer, would be a far bleaker place than Bangladesh, with its 1,000 people per square kilometer.”

The truth is, the greater number of humans existing, the greater amount of human capital leading to greater intellectual capacity to find and develop solutions to the myriad of problems facing humanity and the world. Stopping all modern economics and artificially limiting and controlling the human population will only serve to greatly increase human suffering, not lessen it. Thanks in large part to the spread of capitalism, the number of individuals living in abject poverty across the globe has been halved since the year 2000, even as the population of the planet has continued to increase.