Must-See Video on Population Growth

"The only way to stop population growth is to have small families."
-Hans Rosling

Thanks, Porphyry!

Comments

[Vegan]

Great video - thanks! In this day and age, fewer acts are more irresponsible (and heartless, considering the number of children who want for suitable homes) than reproducing.

[Angus]

Great graphics, but what an odd conclusion! The way to stop population growth is to make sure girls are educated and that there is a social safety net to care for the unemployed, sick, and elderly. People in "underdeveloped" countries have many children because it's rational for them to have many children. In one important sense, the population problem has already been solved. In most parts of the world reproduction rates have been falling dramatically -- even to below replacement level. Despite this, total global population will continue to grow until at least the middle of the century, putting enormous strain on resources and the environment. (It takes time for the giant human cruise ship to come to a halt even after the engines are put into reverse.) It seems to me that the message should be: forget about urging people to have fewer children and focus instead on reforming our destructive economic and technological practices -- and the prevailing ideology that sees nature, including its creatures, as essentially exploitable resources.

[Becci]

I'm so troubled by the people who think that all we have to do is have 2 children (even 1 is too much in a world where a baby is born every 35 seconds, frankly), because they will "replace" the parents. They seem to believe that people blink out of existence after reproducing, rather than living for another 40 or 50 years. Two elderly grandparents who might be responsible for the environmental damage of only two people had they chosen not to reproduce are instead responsible for themselves, their children, and their children's children--a total of eight people if everyone follows the "we'll just replace OURSELVES!" plan. Then the grandparents die, and each of the grandchildren have two kids of their own. Now there are FOURTEEN living people as a result of those two grandparents. The next generation, there are TWENTY-EIGHT living people.

You can see why the idea of replacing ourselves is so annoying!