Population Control

[Ben Kenobi]

If you can kill 'em inside the womb, why not afterwards?

[DRoseDARs]

Well before this thread devolves, predictably, into a flame-fest I'd like to say this:

One thing people keep messing-up in their minds is what "population control" really is. How things are worded does matter, and in this case, a poor choice of words was used.

Police officers settling a domestic disturbance; Soldiers patrolling the streets of a recently occupied city; Laws written to dictate what people can and cannot do. These are examples of Population Control. Population Growth Control is better terminology for describing efforts to curb rapid, unsustainable increases in population.

PGC doesn't have to be negative. While education into sexual health and family planning can bring many benefits to many people, simple education and "family health clinics" alone can't solve the problems of over-population in areas where the only way to combat starvation and high mortality rates is to have as many children as you can. On the issue of abortions, my feeling is they're totally unnecessary outside of life-threatening situations, rape, or incest (strengthening genetic flaws shared by relatives in their progeny).

I don't have any easy answers...well, actually I do, but let's not roam into idealistic fantasyland...however there are ways out of the mess we're in without resorting to thirtieth-trimester abortions and such...

[Ben Kenobi]

curb rapid, unsustainable increases in population.

How would you define unsustainable in terms of % increase in population?

[DRoseDARs]

Originally posted by Ben Kenobi


How would you define unsustainable in terms of % increase in population?

If there's a region or country that simply does not have access to sufficient amounts of food to feed its people or medicines to keep them alive, then it's an unsustainable population. Don't know how one would go about converting that into a % increase but by "sustainable" I mean keeping the population alive longer than 30 years without drowning them in a sea of dead babies (starvation and poor medical access raising their heads).

Like I said, no easy answers.

[Jon Miller]

Re: Population Control

Originally posted by Odin
I don't get why couples have more than 2 children in this age of surging populations, especially in 3rd world countries. We are choking in our own wastes. If we want everyone on earth to have US/European level quality of life we would have to reduce our population to 1 billion. I would like to ge it down to 500 million people.

do you have anything to back this up with?

at all?

Jon Miller

[DRoseDARs]

Estimates regarding how great a Human population Earth can comfortably sustain range anywhere from 2.000.000.000 to 8.000.000.000 on average. I think we could support a large number of people; it's just the distribution and management of our resources that's causing us problems. Some believe smaller numbers are more appropriate. Plenty of people have different ways of determining their ideal population numbers using the same raw data.

At least they're all looking for answers. Only time can tell who's right. Or Plague, Pestulance, War, and Famine...

[Ben Kenobi]

Don't know how one would go about converting that into a % increase

So you like parking by the feel method. If it feels like there are too many than they need population control.

There are no countries drowning in a sea of dead babies unless you count the million that die every year in North America.

[DRoseDARs]

No, I parallel park by knowing where the frick my front and back bumpers are in relation to the other guy, thank you very much.

Read further posts, Ben.

[DRoseDARs]

And are you at all familiar with "Infant Mortality" rates?

EDIT: Oh, you're making a jab at abortions. Again I say, "Read further posts, Ben."

[Ben Kenobi]

Estimates regarding how great a Human population Earth can comfortably sustain range anywhere from 2.000.000.000 to 8.000.000.000 on average. I think we could support a large number of people; it's just the distribution and management of our resources that's causing us problems.

Well then let's clear the bottlenecks in the distribution of supplies. The amount of space that the earth can sustain assumes current rates of food productivity something that we cannot predict due to technological developments.

[DRoseDARs]

An interesting thing is how Malthus' theory on pop. vs. food production has played out (at least as shown in the graphic diagram in my college-level cultural geography book...maybe later I'll scan a pic and post it). He predicted there would be way more people by now than there really are; his prediction on food production appears dead on; our population is actually a good bit below our food production capactiy.

Management and distribution of resources (food and medicines). That would, coupled with intelligent family planning and education (abortions aren't all they do ), pretty much put an end to the starvation. This much is obvious...

...getting those issues handled effectively, that's the challenge.

[Sandman]

I don't get why couples have more than 2 children in this age of surging populations, especially in 3rd world countries.

With all due respect, you're not a Nigerian peasant woman. They have kids because it's economically rational to do so.

[Spiffor]

I actually aim to have 3 kids, if only because I'll need monney when I'm retired, and there aren't gonna remain a retirement system

[Q Classic]

well many educated americans need to have more than 2 children. We will soon be overwhelmed by stupid people.

a study from my university says this same thing.

Study: Uneducated Outbreeding Intelligentsia 2-To-1
CHICAGO—In a report with dire implications for the intellectual future of America, a University of Chicago study revealed Monday that the nation's uneducated are breeding twice as soon and twice as often as those with university diplomas. "The average member of the American underclass spawns at age 15, compared to age 30 for the average college-educated professional," study leader Kenneth Stalls said. "America's intellectual elite, as a result, is badly losing the genetic marathon, with two generations of dullards born for every one generation of cultured literates." Added Stalls: "At this rate, by the year 2100 there will be five smart people on Earth, swallowed whole by more than 12 billion mouth-breathers incapable of understanding the binary exponentiation that swamped the Earth with their like."

The University of Chicago News Office

[Spiffor]

"The average member of the American underclass spawns at age 15, compared to age 30 for the average college-educated professional,"

I hope this is a joke