Reprint of a talk by Jack Parsons to the Interparliamentary Conference on Demographic Change & Sustainable Development, under the aegis of the Council of Europe Committee on Migration, Refugees and Demography. Parliament Building, Bucharest, October, 1999.

From a deep evolutionary perspective – going back beyond the time when what is now called the Thames was a tributary of the Rhine and the latter was a tributary of the Elbe – this examines the various mental perspectives brought to bear on population and related problems today.

These are listed as the optimistic, pessimistic, and realistic schools, the latter being strongly advocated. Numbers, quality of life, the ethical components of a sound perspective, the rules of the game, and the shameful avoidance of these key issues by the great majority of intellectuals, other communicators and policy-makers are stressed.