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The one that bothers me the most is the portrayal of overpopulation as something caused only by people in developing countries, as if the first world wasn't par
by ip26 6y ago
The one that bothers me the most is the portrayal of overpopulation as something caused only by people in developing countries, as if the first world wasn't part of the total count.
FWIW if you ignore immigration, nearly all first world countries are gradually depopulating. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sub-replacement_fertility https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sub-replacement_fertility
Of course, that doesn't mean for a second that the solution to the world's problems somehow involves population control in developing countries.
- jbothma 6y agoIn fact, birth rate decreases after a certain level of development. The first world went through the same process, the developing world today is going through that process much more rapidly. So the solution is probably to help them develop ASAP.
- jelliclesfarm 6y ago> So the solution is probably to help them develop ASAP. There are two kinds of mythologies that have been the cause of reckless and thoughtless procreation leading to overpopulation: 1. Religion 2. ‘Abundance’ mythologies penned by the Peter Diamandis/Steven Kotler ilk.
- Grustaf 6y agoI have no idea who Peter Diamandis/Steven Kotler are but I doubt they had any large effects on the overpopulation of the world. Regarding "religion": do you think "religions" came up with the concept of having a lot of children? You don't think it's simply a natural instinct, like in all other animals? And that in a world where few make it to adulthood, people tried to have more children?
- bildung 6y ago> And that in a world where few make it to adulthood, people tried to have more children? It's pretty well-established that it isn't poverty per se but gender equality that predicts birth rates.
- Grustaf 6y agoI'm not sure what your point is here. I simply mean that e.g. during the stone age most children died early, so you needed to have more of them.
- bildung 6y agoThen I obviously misunderstood you, sorry for the confusion.
- jmll 6y agoGenuinely interested, could you share some academic literature on the subject?
- bildung 6y agoThe newest I immediately remember is this: https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol40/2/ https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol40/2/ Here is a blog post of the author in case the above is not readable for you: https://www.niussp.org/article/gender-equality-and-fertility-is-there-a-connection/ https://www.niussp.org/article/gender-equality-and-fertility... This study is in the context of previous assumptions of a U-curved relationship: low equality == high birth rates, medium equality == low birth rates, high equality == high birth rates. That study shows that the last part doesn't seem to be true.
- jmll 6y agoThanks!
- pessimizer 6y agoPoverty can probably actually lower birth rates by forcing women into the workforce. If a parent is at home, the marginal cost is a lot lower for another child than it is if people are paying for childcare.
- bildung 6y ago
- Grustaf 6y ago> Of course, that doesn't mean for a second that the solution to the world's problems somehow involves population control in developing countries. Why not? A lot of people on the left are saying that having children is bad for the environment, why shouldn't this be true in poor countries?
- bildung 6y agoBecause A doesn't automatically follow B. Fewer children is better for the environment; that doesn't mean one has to favor population control. It's easier, more democratic and probably at least as effective to enforce equality for women in education and economics, and the lower birthrates follow automatically.
- Grustaf 6y agoPopulation control doesn't have to mean forced mass sterilizations. If you educate people with at least the partial goal of them having fewer children, that is also population control. Not that there's anything particularly democratic about "enforcing equality" in foreign countries.
- throwaway316943 6y agoHow do you reverse it when it becomes a problem? If we’re taking the long view here, our future generations may be facing a world where there aren’t enough people. Or is that a problem that we’ll leave to them to figure out?
- imtringued 6y ago>our future generations may be facing a world where there aren’t enough people That would be wonderful because it would mean that workers get fair wages. Lack of productivity can be compensated by automation. >How do you reverse it when it becomes a problem? That's biologically impossible. Even if you sterilize every human with a birth certificate on earth.
- 6y ago