We know the things that have to be done. We know how to change our overconsumption of energy, how to avoid pollution, how to dispense with nuclear armaments. But we lack the tendency to do any such thing. I don't see how we can create the cultural practices that will induce 4.4 billion people in the world to change their ways of life in such a direction that the future of the world is reasonably assured. There seems to be no circumstances in which an individual or institution will act primarily to make the future possible.
Natural selection is too slow.
We don't have time to breed people who will reproduce at a more moderate rate, so we can use less of our limited resources. And behavior can be modified, but not enough to cause us to quickly use less resources. The only hope is to change the behavior of governments, religions and trade, but I'm not optimistic that we can do that. I don't think so and they govern the way we live. Now you know why this book was sent to every President and most major world leaders.