Re: Zero Population

I read the post about Al Gore's documentary a few days ago and decided that I couldn't let it go without putting my $0.02 in. I typed up this response but it ended up being really long, so I just decided it to post it here. I hope I don't offend anyone!

I'm not sure how much overpopulation has to do with climate change, but I am fairly convinced that it is an important issue facing the world today. John (they guy I'm dating) is working on a masters degree in global health, so we end up talking about issues like this a lot, and he has helped me understand this one from a wider perspective.

First of all, overpopulation is not a problem in the US and other rich countries, especially France--where the population is actually decreasing. (By the way, I haven't seen the documentary. Was Al Gore suggesting that population control be implemented in the US?)

Many babies born in the US are welcomed into the world by loving families. Even when there is an unwanted or teen-age pregnancy, or a baby born to a very poor family, the baby will have somewhere to go, where she can at least receive the bare necessities of life.

Babies born in poor countries don't have it so good. For example: in Asia or Africa, there may be a village of 100 people, and only enough resources to nourish 50 people. What would you do? Feed 50 people and let the others die? Or feed all 100, leaving them all malnourished so that eventually most of them die? And if you decide to only feed 50, which 50 do you choose?

In poor countries in Africa and Asia the population is growing out of control. Sometimes parents will have lots of children to help run the farm. If they have 14 children they will expect 7 to die, leaving them with 7 to run the farm. But when every family does this, the population grows so much that the resources in the village dwindle, and pretty soon there is no more land to farm. Families move (because they have to), going to places where they can't speak the language, and have no way of earning.

In the world today, One billion people live on less than $1 a day, and two billion live on less than $2 a day. In India something like 49% of the children are malnourished. There is just not enough food for everyone. In many African countries, there are no roads, no money, lots of violence, no sanitary drinking water, unstable (if any) government, etc. Just lots and lots of people who don't have food, water, shelter, or safety.

In these places, women are having children left and right, the population is increasing, and the resources are dwindling. Not only are the people malnourished, their opportunities for education and employment are slim. Many girls in these poverty-stricken overpopulated countries end up as prostitutes (and some of the boys too). Parents in the poorest villages in Asia are often deceived into selling their children into slavery as camel jockeys, fisher boys, beggars, house maids, soldiers, and worst of all--prostitutes. Here is one article about it at TIME magazine online. (I read somewhere in this article that there are at least 60,000 child prostitutes in Thailand, though estimates go as high as 200,000.)


Do these things make God happy?


Speaking for myself, I don't exactly know what God is thinking or planning for the Earth's future. But I cannot in good conscience believe that the problems stemmed from overpopulation are of no concern to us.

So, what is the solution? It seems there are two options. The first solution is that we (the rich) do our best to help the poor. What do you suggest? Does anyone know how we can get clean water, food, jobs, education, and medicine to 3 billion people?

The other solution is that we do what we can to support the implementation population control.

I am worried that a lot of us, when the term "population control" is mentioned think of strict governmental laws eliminating your right to choose. I assure you that world leaders are not planning to use force as a means to cure the population crisis. All they are doing is giving people OPTIONS.

Let me explain. Overpopulation in poor countries is due to things like poverty, gender inequality, and unavailability/lack of knowledge of contraception. In many countries (due to economy, culture, religion, or what-have-you) women do not have control over their reproductive systems. Many do not even know what birth control is, and if they did, have no access to it.

Also, women in these countries are often not allowed to make their own decisions concerning their reproductive systems. They are required to have sex with her husbands whenever the husband wishes--often resulting in pregnancy. The woman has NO say in the matter and I assume (perhaps wrongly) that the husband doesn't care.

When Iran, Vietnam, and other Eastern European countries were ruled by communism, contraceptives were free. The availability of these resources stunted population growth. After communism, contraception was no longer free and abortions sky-rocketed. With free contraception there were less abortions and less children. Today Iran requires all couples to enroll in family planning courses before a marriage license is issued. In the US something like 62% of women of reproductive-age use birth control in some form.

Studies are showing that when women and men are given reproductive rights, they usually choose to have less children. Teaching people to have only the number of children they have resources for is the primary goal of population control. And apparently it is also a goal of the LDS church: "Decisions about birth control and the consequences of those decisions rest solely with each married couple.... Husband and wife are encouraged to pray and counsel together as they plan their families. Issues to consider include the physical and mental health of the mother and father and their capacity to provide the basic necessities of life for their children." (taken from lds.org)

The governments of poor countries haven't been able to do anything about population growth because they don't have the knowledge or the money. Organizations such as the UNFPA, FHI, and other NGOs are getting into areas that have high fertility rates and helping governments provide development and reproductive rights to men and women. An agency such as UNFPA will bring experts to an area, provide funding for and train local people to run family planning programs.

Whether LDS or not, millions of children born in Asia and Africa are not being provided with the basic necessities of life. As far as I understand it, population control through family planning and gender equality fits RIGHT IN with God's plan for us. As governments and other agencies provide women and families with options about their reproductive activity, the problems associated with overpopulation will be significantly reduced.