Word: biotic
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First is the notion that "soil cannot be stretched," that each acre has a certain production capacity (Vogt calls it "biotic potential") which cannot be boosted without dire peril. This is the same fallacy that expresses itself in the old saying, "There are only so many slices in the cake." Some businessmen say this when they decide that their markets cannot be expanded and, therefore, should be divided among them in quotas set by their cartel. Some labor unions decide that there are only so many jobs to be divided, and therefore oppose labor-saving devices...
...great historic achievements was to "stretch" the sandy acres of the Prussian plain, by good farming. As a result of good farming practices and highly skilled industry, Germany had the highest living standard of Continental Europe. Yet, obsessed by slice-of-cake thinking, it set out to conquer more "biotic potential...