Where's the limit?

I find it alarming that the model that most countries try to follow in their economy is that of the growth economy, or Adam Smith's capitalist model.  My issue with it is that we are always talking about how much our economies are growing, how much we are producing or consuming.  

What nobody ever seems to mention, is how are we supposed to perpetually keep growing when we live on a planet with finite resources?  There is only so much land, water, minerals, and air on this planet, and at some point we will reach that limit.

There are studies and research into global warming, new contagions and diseases, and food shortages, but not once do I hear a solution that addresses the cause, and not just the symptoms.  Let's find ways to use less fuel, find new cures, and grow more food, but how about making less people?  It's not a very politically correct standpoint, but I think we need to start looking at how to control our population.  

There's a reason that some events throughout history have been so catastrophic.  Diseases hit highly populated areas and can't be stopped from spreading throughout those areas.  Mankind is basically ensuring that if something big hits, it will take out a lot of us.  But I guess that's just nature's way of dealing with a problem that we just don't know how to solve.