STANDARDS OF LIVING
THE WHITE MAN’S DILEMMA, Lord Boyd Orr; Allen and Unwin. Enflish price, 9/6. ORD BOYD ORR returns to the topics which are his life interestfood and population. He has had unrivalled opportunities to examine the, world situation in both, and if many of the things he says have been said before, there is still the same urgency about them, The immense interest in the subject is attested by the extensive bibliography appended. The book concerns itself with future standards of living. The role of machinery is discussed at length and the examples chosen, some of them Russian, are all new and striking. The conclusion reached is, of course, that we must accept a lower standard of living in the future, One would*like to examine this
in detail. However, all can agree that world population is rising and means to food production falling, that the abundant diet of the few is at the expense of many, and that very little time remains before we must face an explosive situation. The author quotes no authority for his statement that the world ‘could support six thousand millions if all the available land were cultivated to the best advantage. The statement is, of course, meaningless unless what the standard of living is to be is indicated. The earth cannot by any sciéntific means support its present population at our New Zealand standard of living. It cannot now. It will not be able to do so at any time in the future. Population increases to the limit of the food supply, and birth control, presuppose a standard of education for which we have not the time to prepare. This is a frightening book. That is its intention.
J.D.
McD.
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 29, Issue 751, 4 December 1953, Page 12
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287STANDARDS OF LIVING New Zealand Listener, Volume 29, Issue 751, 4 December 1953, Page 12
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