For several years, I have been of the opinion that overpopulation is a contributing factor to many of the planet’s problems. Pollution increases partly because of advancing technology in underdeveloped countries but also because of increased burning of hydrocarbons to permit the developed world’s growing population to remain warm in the winter, cool in the summer, and travel from place to place. This is contributing to global warming and climate shifts. In addition, water and food shortages are increasing because growing populations need more water and food to survive and to manufacture, etc. The problem is clearly present, but the solution is very difficult. Religious beliefs oppose contraception. Life is considered precious regardless of the numbers of people that populate the planet.
When is the population too great? There has to be a point where there are too many people for the general survival of life on the earth, and population growth has to be curtailed. We may have already gone past the optimal level of population.
I always looked at this as a global problem. Frosty Wooldridge, who wrote about overpopulation in a Newsweek letter to the editor published 11/16/2009, seems to view this as a national issue. His perspective is to curtail immigration and protect the conditions in the United States. Of course, by doing so he ignores the rest of the world. Wooldridge has been described as xenophobic (hater of foreigners). By making this a national versus an international issue, he has failed to take the high ground. This is counterproductive because even if he succeeds in curtailing immigration, he cannot stop population growth abroad. The pollution and shortage issues will continue and will eventually impact us as well. Local issues are secondary to the primary problem of world population growth. This is difficult to deal with, but that should be the focus.
Tags: overpopulation, wooldridge
August 13, 2010 at 4:03 pm |
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May 2, 2010 at 5:03 pm |
I’ll address the rabbits in a second. First, I want to point out that overpopulation in any corner of the globe will impact other areas. If consumption of natural resources increases in China and India because of their growing population’s demand for oil or steel, the increase in demand raises the price for those goods. This applies to all types of goods and services. Any shortages caused by increased international consumption raises the cost of goods in our country. Also, pollution does not adhere to national boundries, so air pollution can easily drift to other countries and continents the same way the dust from the volcano in Iceland caused havoc throughout Europe. Water pollution can also flow across borders and impact our environment. It may seem that what happens in Asia, Aftrica, and other continents is remote and won’t impact us. However, the world is too interdependent and codependent to assume that we (in America) can seal ourselves off from the effects of overpopulation abroad.
Second, unstable governments anywhere in the world create security issues for us. If the 5,000 rabbits in your example had ICBMs or IEDs, wouldn’t it be within the realm of possibility that they would turn them on the 1,000 rabbits and blow them to kingdom come? Then, they would be able to spread out over the now vacant island. People who are desperate and without hope often resort to violence. We always have to be cognizant of the risk that poor, underprivileged people, will resort to violence. Viewing the overpopulation as an international issue makes more sense to me since if you can solve it globally, then it will truly be solved (rather than shifting it to somewhere else or ignoring it locally).
Third, the problem of immigration is not going to be solved by legislating limits. Our border with Mexico is almost 2,000 miles. The border with Canada is 4,000 miles (not including 1,500 miles with Alaska). That doesn’t include the Atlantic and Pacific coastlines. Is it realistic that we can seal off the borders? Certainly, we can’t without enormous expense and cooperation by the people who can alert authorities to illegals. Then, there are all the people who enter the country legally with visitor or student visas. Some of these remain illegally, and some meet someone, fall in love, get married and can remain here legally. I wouldn’t want to curtail tourists and students as they bring foreign dollars and help our balance of payments. Yet, some portion of those people wind up being immigrants.
You will be surprised to know that I agree that immigration should be curtailed. I’m not sure of the best way to do that. I recognize that it is unfair of immigrants to come into our country and use its infrastructure, accept charity and welfare, and not contribute to the nation by paying taxes. Even those who do pay taxes (sales taxes at least) may be taking a job away from someone who has been contributing to the nation for their entire lives. It is also unfair to allow illegal immigrants to remain while denying entry to those who would abide by our country’s requirements. I would never grant amnesty to illegal immigrants. Some of them are very nice people and are assets to this country. Nonetheless, it is not a good precedent to allow them to remain while denying people who desperately need to come here the opportunity. There are people in Sudan and other nations where ethnic cleansing is killing innocent people who are more in need of a place to go than are poor people in other nations who are merely trying to improve their economic situation.
Overpopulation is caused by people having babies. That is a tough issue to address. Nonetheless, if we don’t address it, then the quality of life and maybe even our survival as a species may eventually be at risk. This should be the number one topic of discussion by leaders and citizens across the globe. Maybe if it is a key item, we can eventually see it resolved.
November 27, 2010 at 12:32 am |
I looked over some of your blogs. They are terrific. Focusing on overpopulation, the country that seems to have addressed the issue most directly is China. However, by time they sought to limit family size to one child, the country had already grown huge (2 billion +). Nations and religions are still encouraging child birth with tax savings, other financial incentives, and religious teachings that having large families is a blessing. The overpopulation is out of sinc with the goals of society which encourage further growth. I agree with you that this is a major topic and should be discussed until it is resolved. Thank you for your responses.