This blog is for occasional rants about one of my major social concerns: overpopulation. Reducing the number of humans would alleviate a lot of the social and environmental problems that beset humanity. I actually began this in 2009, but have backposted entries from my static website blog for 2008.
Some rants about articles that promote overpopulation and overdevelopment – two of my main concerns:
“Children the wellspring of hope that nourishes a country”, Sydney Morning Herald, 19/1. The sort of article that makes me gag… The author waffling on about how children “enrich” society, how we’ll run out of future workers because there are no kids to replace them (I guess he is unaware of automation), how the oldies will have to be euthanized because there is no one to look after them…the usual alarmist nonsense. It might be notable that the author is a Catholic and has inflicted 9 children on his wife.
“Housing drought hits Victoria”, Herald-Sun, 19/1. The growing population is causing a housing shortage and various groups want more land to be released. I guess they won’t be satisfied until the whole state is smothered in urban development? “Opposition planning spokesman Matthew Guy said people would be discouraged from moving to Victoria. ‘If we can’t house people, they won’t come here,’ he said.” Well, good – please do everything possible to discourage more people from coming here! A growing population is not a good thing as it leads to pressure on resources and social dysfunction from overcrowding.
Coping with this change will doubtless create challenges, but there will also be benefits. Whereas in a developing nation with high birth rates as many as half its citizens may be under the age of 15, in industrialised societies there are typically fewer than 20 per cent. Commentators raising alarms about ageing populations neglect to mention that with fewer children, far less of their society’s resources will be needed to support and educate them. In addition, fewer young people means lower crime rates, because crimes – including terrorist acts – are overwhelmingly committed by people aged between 15 and 30. In the US, crime rates fell markedly from about 1990 on – 18 years after a big drop in the birth rate. We don’t think this is a coincidence.
Other advantages of a non-growing population include less pressure to expand national infrastructure – roads, buildings, housing, schools, hospitals and the like – or to keep creating more jobs.
– “Enough already”
I agree with this letter written to The Age last year:
Personally, I preferred Australia with a small population, plenty of water to go around, no economic growth, and high interest rates.
– Madeleine Love, Benalla, 5/2/2007
