4 ms·

The conversation you are reading is obviously different from the one I'm writing. Talking about the growth rate of a country is not a non-sequitur when the con

The conversation you are reading is obviously different from the one I'm writing. Talking about the growth rate of a country is not a non-sequitur when the conversation centers on growth rates in general. Comparing or discussing the growth rate of a neighboring country not mentioned by the original poster is not a non-sequitur. To be clear, the OP suggested that Nigeria's population growing to 752 million people was a realistic expectation. I view it as absurd. To illustrate the absurdity, I showed the population growth of a neighboring country (in the same data set) that displays a truly absurd amount of population growth. I'm calling into question their source but even so I'm not doing so aggressively or in a debating-context. I was just asking a question hoping to gain more insight into the OP's opinions.

themgt 9y ago
Niger's populations has doubled from 11 to 22 million over just the last 10 years. The population today is about 10x the 2.5 million it was in 1950, and the growth rate is higher now that it was decades ago - near an all-time high it only first reached in 2010. That's some progress! [1] The median age in Niger is 15 years old, Niger has the highest fertility rate on earth at 7 children/piece, but despite that "women and men alike in Niger say they want more children than they actually have – women want an average of nine, while men say they want 11." [2] Obviously there are going to be massive strains in trying to deal with a skyrocketing population like this, but that's exactly my point. I'm not putting a lot of weight into you flatly stating that it's "absurd" compared to the actual facts & trends and the UN's projection. And frankly the scenarios wherein these projections don't come to pass ... most likely would look pretty Malthusian. [1] http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/niger-population/ http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/niger-populati... [2] https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2017/mar/15/why-have-four-children-when-you-could-have-seven-contraception-niger https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals...
- somecontext 9y ago
  In case anyone else was curious about the statistics quoted in this post, they do not match the references cited by the post itself (nor other sources). For example: > Niger's populations has doubled from 11 to 22 million over just the last 10 years. Niger's population has doubled from 11 to 22 million over just the last 18 or 19 years.
  - themgt 9y ago
    Ehh, apologies, that one reference was wrong. I don't think the others or conclusion is?

themgt 9y ago

Niger's populations has doubled from 11 to 22 million over just the last 10 years. The population today is about 10x the 2.5 million it was in 1950, and the growth rate is higher now that it was decades ago - near an all-time high it only first reached in 2010. That's some progress! [1] The median age in Niger is 15 years old, Niger has the highest fertility rate on earth at 7 children/piece, but despite that "women and men alike in Niger say they want more children than they actually have – women want an average of nine, while men say they want 11." [2] Obviously there are going to be massive strains in trying to deal with a skyrocketing population like this, but that's exactly my point. I'm not putting a lot of weight into you flatly stating that it's "absurd" compared to the actual facts & trends and the UN's projection. And frankly the scenarios wherein these projections don't come to pass ... most likely would look pretty Malthusian. [1] http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/niger-population/ http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/niger-populati... [2] https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2017/mar/15/why-have-four-children-when-you-could-have-seven-contraception-niger https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals...

somecontext 9y ago
In case anyone else was curious about the statistics quoted in this post, they do not match the references cited by the post itself (nor other sources). For example: > Niger's populations has doubled from 11 to 22 million over just the last 10 years. Niger's population has doubled from 11 to 22 million over just the last 18 or 19 years.
- themgt 9y ago
  Ehh, apologies, that one reference was wrong. I don't think the others or conclusion is?