Comments on: Is Population Control Even Possible?

By: roro80

roro80 — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 21:48:59 +0000

AustinRoth — I don't want to answer for pacatrue, but it seems to me that you may be misreading he/she is saying. It's not that government should intervene, forcing people to have babies or not have babies. It's that when families are given all the education and birth control they want/need, they generally limit their offspring by choice. This requires many pieces of a puzzle to fall into place; among them are the ability of both members of a couple to have say over when sex takes place and whether or not contraception is used, education about sex and birth control, cheap/free access to said birth control, access to affordable abortion (by choice only — I'm certainly not advocating forced abortion), and for spiritual leaders to get behind the idea of families making their own choices about how many kids to have.

By: AustinRoth

AustinRoth — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 21:21:23 +0000

paca – nothing is wrong with your example, as that is the family making that decision. If groups of families band together and jointly make that decision, again, they are exercising their freedom to choose.

But as soon as the government starts either mandating, or using the power of the purse to cajole, force, or 'strongly encourage' those choices, then you are talking about something entirely different.

And the second part of the equation is that as I and others have alluded to, the issue is in a large part due to increased longevity within our natural lifespans, and a growing specter that science will indeed discover ways to alter that lifespan by a considerable degree. That adds a whole new set of moral and ethical issues to deal with as well.

By: pacatrue

pacatrue — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 20:58:31 +0000

Wow, fascinating responses. Families routinely practice “population control” by not having more children than they think they can afford. To practice birth control either through timing with menstrual cycles, abstinence, or prophylactics is not to equate children with a blight upon the planet or a blight upon the family. It's simply recognizing the amount of resources the family has and making a choice. Why is it perfectly normal and rational for a couple to say “we cannot afford any more children” but it's a vast conspiracy to make the same observation about a city, nation, or planet?

Anyway, as DLS says in his paragraph 1, fertility rates have been declining among most industrialized nations for years. Population can be reduced over time by following those same trends across the globe. Of course, that will take several generations.

By: DLS

DLS — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 17:46:48 +0000

Since the 1960s fertility has substantially declined, not remained high, in most of the world. The change nations typically face nowadays is that of too-low rather than too-high fertility, which will exacerbate future “population aging” problems, including a shrinkage of taxpayer populations to fund old-age-related government entitlement programs. Pro-natalist policy decisions by government have largely been ineffective and “replacement [im]migration” is not going to a politically feasible solution or a practically achieveable solution at all.

The population-control activists here are just re-using old myths to rationalize today's variation of what have been largely the same goals not only to combat “global warming” or “climate change” or whatever the next phrase chosen may be, but goals that are decades old.

By: few

few — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 16:32:18 +0000

I wen to an interesting lecture on Demographics this weekend. The expert pointed out that because of the decline in European birth rates & high immigration into Euro countries – that the Europe of the next decade will look vastly different.. The comment wrapping up the Euro demographics segment : If you want to experience Europe of your history – you better go now. The discussion on the US was fascinating as well – all Americans of European decent listening walked away with a clear notion they should re instill and re-embrace “big families” for their own cultures to survive in the coming years

By: Ryan

Ryan — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:47:23 +0000

You don't need to force birth control on anyone. Just make it available (and when the clergy complain, execute them.) Population increase in Western countries (plus a few) is mostly due to immigration. This problem is already solved in the countries with a decent standard of living.

By: CStanley

CStanley — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:20:05 +0000

When you think about it, all of our problems could be solved if we reduced human population to zero.

However, that plan has a downside that we'd probably rather not accept. And if you're not willing to accept it for yourself, then you have no right to impose it on any other person, whether that person is currently alive or still a 'gleam in his/her father's eye.'

By: AustinRoth

AustinRoth — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:12:44 +0000

“Population control”. What an abhorrent concept. It always seems to be proposed by those who's world-view is that mankind is a blight on the earth. I would rather not follow that path.

Population has expanded because of primarily two factors – better food production and distribution, and increased longevity. Temporary breakdowns of the first are just that, temporary, while at the same time food yields continue to improve, thanks to Big Agribusiness. Increased longevity is a still upwards trend as a worldwide statistic.

There are only two ways to achieve population control without causing riots due to planned food shortages – eugenics and forced birth control methods, neither of which have any place in a civilization that supports the rights of individuals. I do not trust Government as a general statement, but I ccertainly hope there are few that trust it enough for either of those solutions.

By: Don Quijote

Don Quijote — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 13:51:44 +0000

Is Population Control Even Possible?

Absolutely, it's amazing what a couple of Nukes( preferably Neutron Bombs) in the right place can do...

Or if you want to do it the old fashion, a little blockade will do the job just fine. If you doubt me just ask the Irish.