America's secret weapon against a plummeting world population

[applegrove]

America's secret weapon against a plummeting world population

Opinion by Frida Ghitis at CNN

https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/15/opinions/global-population-decline-study-us-immigration-ghitis/index.html

"SNIP......

The new study shows how far off the mark earlier assumptions about exploding population growth fell. Some among you, my dear readers, may remember when intellectuals were gripped by the fear of a "Malthusian catastrophe," fear that population growth would outpace our ability to feed ourselves. But it turns out that Thomas Robert Malthus, the 18th century economist and demographer, got it all wrong.

Not only did agricultural advances undercut his thesis, it turns out the world's population will start contracting before long, with powerful economic, geopolitical and environmental implications.

According to the study, population will climb from the current 7.8 billion to 9.7 billion by 2064, but that will be the end of the increases. By 2100, it will shrink by almost a billion people, to 8.8 billion. The downward trend, a revolution triggered by the education of women, who choose to have fewer babies, will affect almost every country -- 183 out of 195 -- on Earth.

To keep the population unchanged, women must have an average of 2.1 babies, the replacement fertility rate, the study found. The rate has nosedived from 3.2 in 1990 to 2.5 last year, and, according to a 2019 United Nations projection, is continuing to crash.



......SNIP"

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. I'm not that happy about Ghitis's priorities

ie economic growth and the US being the Number One economy. She seems to think that's more important than solving the global climate crisis, and other environmental problems. A smaller world population is needed for that. It may be a good idea to avoid rapid declines in country or regional population, because you do need a balance between the working and non-working (whether child or elderly) population. I think countries like Japan are going to have to allow a bit more permanent immigration.

But you don't want too much into the countries which pollute and produce greenhouse gases at the highest rate - eg the USA. Once that environmental damage per capita is solved, then high rates of immigration to them aren't so damaging.

Economic growth is only OK if it's genuinely 'clean' (ie not the BS 'clean' that Trump and his type talk about).

[Thekaspervote]

2. +1000

The earth would fair far better with fewer humans!

[applegrove]

5. I posted because i like the idea of women getting enough education

the world over that they have fewer than two children. And that populations declines that way. The right would like the population to decline because of of climate events while oil magnates continue to get rich off of it and disease (why else do you think Trump pulled out of WHO?). It is a choice. Population will go down but it could be catastropic mayhem that kills children like rampant disease or it could be better education and access to reproductive health and other healthcare with fossil fuel mitigation and replacement.

[Takket]

3. a contraction of worldwide population would be a very good thing

humans are far too demanding on the Earth and the less of us there are, the better for the planet and the rest of humanity.

i know a some of the younger generation coming up right now has almost no interest is having kids. my daughter is one. they are struggling to make ends meet and wanting to live their lives and not tie themselves down to having kids....

[Squinch]

4. We prove every day that lots fewer of us would be a very good thing.

[Coventina]

6. I'm in favor of just about anything that reduces our impact on the planet. n/t