Ask HN: Why didn't people 40 years ago worry about population collapse today?

In the 1970s people were looking at a "hockey stick" graph of world population and thought we were cooked.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Population_Bomb

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Limits_to_Growth [1]

McLuhan said "We look at the present through a rear-view mirror" and there is no area like that more than gender and reproductive issues. For instance the idea that men have it better than woman still persists although it's definitely not true for those under 30. [2]

The diffusion of the idea is still suppressed because it is right wing coded, it's going to take another 20 years or so for it to be safe to talk about in mixed company. If you believe in sustainability, the reproductive rate has to be regulated to a tight band over the long term: someday "my child my choice" and "my carbon my choice" will be seen the same way.

[1] this aged better, it predicted that real trouble starts in the next few decades