The Changing Face of America:

In thirty-six years, America will cease to be a "white" nation, according to the latest Census Bureau projections, reported on in today's New York Times. That's 2042. Due to the influx of immigrants and higher birth rates among so called minorities, people who identify themselves as descendants of Europeans will no longer make up the lion's share of the population. According to the Times report, this is taking place at an increasingly rapid rate. The project for this change had been for 2050; however, the latest Census Bureau data indicates it will occur some eight years earlier than previously thought.

Two factors should be kept in mind when contemplating these changes: 1) the economy is totally dependent on population growth, and 2) population size directly affects the degradation of the environment. It's the supreme catch 22.

So just how large will the U.S. population be by mid-century? Current expectations are that it will reach 439 million people. Sounds like an argument for mass transit, and apparently as many as 40 U.S. cities are doing that now.

In addition, according to The Washington Post, by 2050, one out of every five U.S. citizens will be over the age of 65. That's a lot of Social Security checks.