At the most basic, wealth equals resources(1) . Hillsides full of tall green grass are a deer’s wealth. The more grassy hills, the more deer the hills can support; as the deer increase, they eat more grass until the time comes when deer starve for lack of grass caused by overgrazing. Deer population drops, grass rebounds, deer population rebounds, grass dwindles… and so on. The eternal boom-bust (life-death) cycle of nature.
I reckon the same applied to humans initially. Advances in tool technology made hunting and gathering more productive. Naturally, this increased resources and the human population rose. Too technology has now made us the dominant species on this planet, the top of the food chain. And our numbers continue to increase. When does the bust phase of nature’s boom-bust cycle kick in? When, like the deer, we have totally consumed all resources?
Now, if all our tools disappeared tomorrow, food and other resources would plummet and our population would return to that of Paleolithic times (and earlier). Let’s face it, without tools (from the stone ax on up) we are a pretty wimpy species. We’re lion food. Speaking of lions, that total boom-bust scenario above can’t occur with deer if lions are allowed to keep deer population in check. We ’solved’ that problem for our species by killing all the lions, wolves, bacteria, virus… any predator that would help keep our population in check. Oops!
Although, in a way we have become our own predator. We drive too fast, eat and drink too much, join in war, etc. Furthermore, who knows what man-made disasters lie ahead (e.g., nuclear, biotech, global warming). So far so good; the natural process is straightforward up to this point. Now for the odd part…
As we become truly more comfortable and secure (i.e., a primary result of wealth) population appears to be decreasing rather than rising (as it would for deer). Looking out into the future, if this trend holds up, world population will plummet as more and more of the world’s population becomes wealthy enough to feel comfortable and secure.
Why is this? As wealth increases the ’standard’ of living rises. This increase in comfort and security lowers people’s tolerance for ‘less’ (I’ve also noticed same effect in pets). The more comfortable and secure, the more easily we lose perspective. We fret neurotically over increasingly petty matters (minor needs and fears). This leads people to spend more time indulging their ideals about ‘the perfect life’ rather than on raw survival and procreation. If this is correct, it would make us the only species wherein the population eventually drops as wealth and access to resources increase. What an odd ball species we are. Nature is really pushing its natural limits with us. 
(1) This post was triggered by Riverwolf’s reply to “Tao Views of the Dow”.
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