#HTE

The “Downsizing” Concept for Addressing Overpopulation: Shrink People Down to Just Five Inches Tall

In the upcoming movie Downsizing, filmmaker Alexander Payne, the guy who did Election, Sideways and About Schmidt, has come up with a way to address the world’s overpopulation crisis: Use science to shrink people down to just five inches in height. Think about it: You can have a huge house built with very little material, you’ll consume less, and you’ll leave a smaller footprint both figuratively and literally.

Are you ready to take the plunge?

While the film premiered at the Venice Film Festival, Paramount’s not putting the movie into wide release until Christmas.

It is interesting to see satirists and comedians addressing these issues. The environment, shrinking resources and overpopulation is a favorite topic of stand-up comic Bill Burr, who has considerably darker proposals for how to solve the problem:

[Warning, these videos are NSFW! It’s a Friday, so maybe you can get away with watching these, but put headphones on.]

“30,000 People:”

“85 Percent of You Have to Go:”