From: daveshao@leland.stanford.edu (David Shao)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian
Subject: There are NOT too many people!
Date: 27 Aug 92 07:01:58 GMT
Organization: DSG, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA

Leonidas Hepis writes:

>From: lhep_ltd@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Leonidas Hepis)
>Subject: Re: Please Prove it to me!

>Utter destruction of humanity?  How about the anti-family planning
>practices of the churches (I am *not* referring to abortion)?  In the 
>Astronomy textbook "Exploration of the Universe" by Abell, Morisson, Wolff 
>there is a graph whose horizontal axis is Time, and whose vertical axis 
>is "area per person" calculated from all available area in the world 
>divided by the population.  The points show that if the population continues 
>to increase at the same rate it has been increasing during the past 2000 
>years, the "space available to each of us will go to zero in 2026, on Friday, 
>November 13 - a date dubbed 'Doomsday...' "  

>"In short, we are in danger of using up available space (and resources)
>so suddenly that we will have scarcely any warning to prepare for the 
>onslaught of aggression and suffering that almost inevitably will
>result.  The aggression prompted by population pressure (observed,
>for example, in experiments with colonies of rats that are allowed
>to multiply without check) is in itself a threat to survival.  Nuclear
>bombs now stockpiled in the world are equivalent to about 10 tons
>of TNT per person, ...."

To assert that a large population is a cause of poverty is simply not
true.  For example, Japan and the Netherlands have population densities
much higher than any African nation.

The root cause of poverty is a repressive government which does not
permit economic development.  When a country is not developed, then
there are not enough economic niches for people, hence there seems to
be surplus population.  

The historical data shows that the real way to control the size of
the population is development.  This is why Japan and Western Europe
are close to if not under zero population growth.  The great tragedy
of the past few decades has been the dual failure of both China and
India to embrace the Japanese model of economic development; both
instead choosing to follow socialism/communism.  Had China and India
both chosen the alternate path, 2 BILLION more of humanity would be
enjoying a standard of living similar to that enjoyed by the First
World.  With half of the world in affuence, prosperity would have come
to be seen by the other half as a right and not an accident of birth.
And there would have been no talk of too many people; instead, more
countries would have been worrying about future labor shortages
such as today's Japan.

I am alarmed by the large numbers of liberal Christians in this 
country who believe that the major threat to humanity is
overpopulation.  I believe that God has already revealed in Scripture
what should be our response to these arguments.  It can be found
in the foundational story of the Jewish faith--the Exodus.  

  "And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly,
and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled
with them.
  Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.
  And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children
of Israel are more and mightier than we.
  Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply and it
come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also
unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of
the land.
  Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with
their burdons...
  But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and
grew.  And they were grieved because of the children of Israel...
  And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is
born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save
alive..." (taken from Exodus 1, KJV)
  "And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people,
and their officers, saying,
  Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore:
let them go and gather straw for themselves.
  And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye
shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish aught thereof: for they be
idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God.
  Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour
therein; and let them not regard vain words." (Exodus 5:6-9)

The relentless focus by the media in his country on the so-called
population explosion is creating a mean-spiritness which can never be
eradicated.  We no longer have the belief that prosperity is possible
for all.  In fact, if we accept the validity of the work of people such
as Paul Ehrlich, it is impossible for the Earth to sustain First World
living standards for any large portion of humanity.  
A whole generation is growing up with the belief that the world is a 
tiny lifeboat.  

Human nature being what it is, the response to this belief is resentment
in the affluent against those who threaten to swamp the lifeboat.    
We see the attempts by cities to zone and plan away the underclass.
In an amazing parallel to the example of the Egyptians, cities actually
seek to eliminate jobs and housing for the poor.  

The inevitable consequence of mass belief in the Earth as a limited
lifeboat is the justification for a new Fascism--a practical Fascism.
People will come to see joining their own ethnic gang as a 
necessity for winning any share of the too small pie.  And the irony
is that the resulting warfare will have been totally unnecessary. 
We ALL could have made it.

Yours in Christ
David Shao

[Personally I believe that the major threat to humanity is
oversimplified answers to complex questions.  Overpopulation is at
most one contributing cause to poverty.  Whatever your attitude
towards birth control, surely you will see a problem with situations
in which families are pressured into having as many kids as they can
because it's the only way they can have any hope of support in their
old age.  One can be concerned about some aspects of population
without thereby going to the extreme of believing that there is a
fixed number of inhabitants that the earth can handle for now and
evermore and that controlling population will magically solve all of
our problems.  --clh]