>From: "Anita Graf (Staff)" <agraf@agecon.uga.edu>
>To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu
>Subject: Six Billion People and Counting!
>Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1999 10:05:42 EST5EDT
>
> Six Billion People and Counting!
>
>Walker Bennet brought to our attention the matter of sixth billionth
>person to the planet, and I have a few comments. As I agree that
>population and access to appropriate contraceptive methods is a very
>important topic, I am usually frustrated by the direction that
>discussions of world over-population take. It is usually argued that
>it is the sheer number of people that is depleating our resources and
>increasing contamination and poverty. But I think this is only a
>small part of the issue. I think that the real issue is the
>amount of resource depleation and pollution PER person. The
>statistic that sticks out in my mind is that an average person
>(whatever that is!) in a "developed" country uses 12 (that's TWELVE)
>times the resources of an average "developing" country person. In
>other words, if I have one child, that child is the same as my
>counterpart in Bangladesh or Nigeria having 12 children. Wow. Now,
>one wonders, who is *really* overpopulating the earth?
>
>Another part of the story... Statistics also clearly show that as
>infant mortality rates decline and the opportunity for education
>increases, fertility rates decline (much more so than the
>availability of contraceptives alone). That is, when people can be
>sure that a given child is likely to survive to adulthood and they
>are willing and able to invest in that child, they are likely to have
>fewer children. (The move from agrarian society to non agrarian is
>also an important factor.) Having lived in and married someone from
>a "third world" country, I live somewhere between the two realities,
>and I experience the differences everytime I try to explain to
>my in laws (for example) why we haven't had children yet... In most
>countries of the world, the potential benefits an additional child
>are felt to be much greater than the cost of feeding one more mouth.
>But that's because they don't agonize over how they will buy more
>health insurance (no one can afford it anyway), how they will pay for
>a decent education (doesn't seem attainable anyway), how they will
>afford to add another bedroom, another bed, baby seats, cribs, toys,
>clothes, a new minivan and on and on. The things that seem to us in
>the US to be basic needs when raising a child are just not reasonably
>attainable realities in most countries. So another child just seems
>like it requires a bit more food, a few more hand-me-down clothes,
>and a few more prayers. (Small price to pay for gaining another
>possible source of family income.) Of course, this is much less
>resource-intensive!
>
>So the issue is more than just that some parts of the world are
>reproducing too often. Other parts of the world are also consuming
>too much. And declines in reproduction are usually met with
>increases in consumption. So what's the answer? Well, there's
>obviously more than one answer, but a big chunk of the solution is
>related to why this thread has a place on this list.
>
>Anita
>
>
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