In order to survive, every country needs to have a certain amount of its populace reproduce. However, the indescribably important act of bringing another person into this world should be done on a reasonable basis, not as the result of purely emotional drives. In my opinion, motherhood or fatherhood deserves to be thought of as a career in its own right, not merely a complement to an existing lifestyle. Should more people go about viewing the idea of having children in this way, and place the greatest focus on personal productivity, then America’s overpopulation crisis will go a long way toward being solved. There are other things that should be done, such as drastically revising immigration rules and reconsidering trade policies, but placing mind over matter is an excellent start. If these pivotal steps were to be taken, then America might stand the chance for a spectacular socioeconomic renaissance.
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Article comments
1 - Frivolous D (Andrew Ratzsch)
Joseph,
Interesting article. I really only scanned your article on my first pass but I heard a report this morning that reminded me to give it a proper read. Here is the report and its relevance is self evident.
At the moment, I am no more interested that you (based on article) in getting mired in an immigration debate.
I think that it is reasonable worry about the population growth in this country. I do wonder, though, about the linearity of correlation expressed in this comment:
"It is the simple fact that nations with larger populations tend to be more impoverished, with negatively correlating rates of healthcare access and educational opportunities."
This comment feels a bit hyperbolic and misleading. According to the World Bank, 2011 per capita/GDP ranking put US at #14, China at #99 and India at #138.
Cheers
2 - Glenn Contrarian
Igor -
I agree - Joseph had the wrong correlation, almost directly backwards, since the greater the level of poverty, generally speaking, the greater the rate of population growth. Or, to put it more crudely, people with less money find different ways to enjoy themselves e.g. no X-Box (or any means of modern amusement) means more sex.
But the greater the standard of living, the lower the birth rate.
3 - Frivolous D (Andrew Ratzsch)
Glenn, put like that, for the first time in my life, I'm worried that I make too much money.
4 - Igor
As many have pointed out in the past, the USA is not overpopulated nor is it in danger of becoming overpopulated. Contrary to my personal preferences, many more people can be accommodated on this pleasant and fruitful continent than the 300million who live here now.
Thus, immigrants will be attracted from less fortunate climes and we can expect great population growth.
But as that happens we must increase people-services, education, agricultural services, energy, etc. We also need more stable financial systems, Universal Healthcare, etc.
The private sector cannot and will not do the job. The most successful providers of services is the government. The private sector has failed to handle big jobs and has shown itself only capable of doing little jobs under sub-contract to the government.
We need to change our economic/government system to one that takes direction from the voter pool and employs sub-contracts to competing private entrepeneurs to carry out the details of production and employment.