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  • From: Thomas Beckett <thomas AT tbeckett.com>
  • To: "Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/" <internetworkers AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [internetworkers] Population [was Representation [was Candidate Match for Pres]]
  • Date: Thu, 12 Feb 2004 15:28:01 -0500

Diana Duncan wrote:
Why don't people talk about Zero Population Growth and Negative Population Growth any more? Overpopulation contributes to so many of the problems on our planet today. The world used to be able to rely on periodic massive wars or plagues to control the population, but we seem to have curbed their effectiveness. (At least for now...the overuse of antibiotics may come back to kick us in the ass, and it seems viruses are mutating pretty darn fast lately).

The invisible hand of Malthus can be delayed but not denied!

As a personal choice, I prefer to limit my offspring.

Caelan: "Mo-oooom, you never let me do /anything/!"

However, what worries me is that it seems that only stupid people have lots of children nowadays.

Diane, you're veering into elitist Social Darwinism here. It's an easy conclusion to make, but only from a pretty narrow perspective.

Most educated people are concerned with careers and with providing safe, happy upbringings for their children, and rightly conclude that smaller families make this more likely. Uneducated or extremely religious folks make the opposite choice.

Umm, like the offspring of Prescott Bush?

IMO, every baby born is a roll of the dice. A child's social environment does not determine his or her cultural or political destiny as an adult. Some of the brightest, most politically progressive people I know come from lower-income families. And frankly, there are lots of extremely intelligent and wealthy neoconservatives getting educated at Duke and UNC both. I met them in large numbers when I studied at both places.

TaB





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