“Little one, it’s a simple calculus. This universe is finite, its resources, finite. If life is left unchecked, life will cease to exist. It needs correcting.” -Thanos
If you haven’t seen Avengers: Endgame, a) you should and b) do it now or else this post won’t make sense. I’m kidding, of course, but this big, purple, raisin of a villain brings up a point: what happens when the earth gets overpopulated? Were his decisions valid?
First of all, what is overpopulation? It occurs when an ecosystem is no longer able to support the population of a certain species due to a strain on natural resources. In simple terms, the demand exceeds the supply and causes (eco)systems to collapse. Some people may think that this problem is not something to worry about and has just been over-blown by media. Studies have pointed to what is called the fertility transition, when countries’ birth and death rates come to an equilibrium due to financial stability. However, financial security is not a reality for the majority of the world, not to mention the systemic inequality it is rooted in.
There are many reasons why families of lower socioeconomic status tend to have larger families. Part of it may be a need to combat poverty with more working hands in the family or a lack of family planning education. This becomes a cycle and widens the gap between the rich and the poor, which makes immigration to wealthier countries more feasible to a certain group of people. Affluent countries will thrive on the economic addition, while countries left behind decline in population. Additionally, the industrial revolution, among other periods of enlightenment, brought medical and technological advancements that improved the standard quality of life that would slow death rates. This includes better healthcare, treatments for previously incurable diseases, and non-traditional fertility methods.
Needless to say, the overpopulation oh human beings results in the over consumption of resources and a rise in pollution due to population density. More people means more competition, which leads to increased unemployment. It also increases the cost of living since, as aforementioned, the demand for housing, food, etc. is greater than what is available to support that population size.
Some solutions to combat overpopulation include better education, especially for young girls. When half the population has limited access to knowledge on family planning and sex education, problems in family building culture are inevitable. In terms of policy, some governments have suggested implementing tax reductions or penalties based on family size since (unfortunately) humans are financially motivated. This, however, might lead to a debate on the ethical principles of human rights and freedoms. So, we’re back to where we started: did Thanos have a valid point?
There is no doubt in my mind that the world’s current state with the current levels of population is a major problem. As you said, there are a lot of possible solutions. I think one root of the problem is that in second-world countries, parents worry about enough of their offspring surviving childhood and into adulthood. Those countries have the highest rates of death among people below the age of 18, and also the highest birth rates. By increasing the health care sectors in those countries, I think that solution can be led closer to resolved. Thanks for informing!
I watched a documentary about this around a year ago. Basically, they were suggesting that women in third-world countries should be given more access and information about contraceptives in order to limit the amount of children that they have. When they interviewed locals in the countries they visited, a lot of the women either didn’t know about contraceptives or culturally did not agree with contraceptives. They also viewed children as a way to survive. It was sad because, to me, I think that women should only have as many children as they can take care of fully. Those women were not able to do so. Yet, despite knowing of contraceptives, a lot of them turned them down because they would be beaten by their husbands or damned by their God. And, though I wish I could argue with religion, that is something that is so personal and something to be respected. Even though most Americans have some religious affiliation, I don’t think we understand it like impoverished people do. For them, they cling to faith in order to get by. Their lives are so much worse than ours. They hold so much faith because is their best bet for living a better life. I guess, in that way, I understand what they’re going through. Until we can figure out how to combat contraceptive usage versus religion, we won’t be able to really decrease the amount of children being birthed in poor countries.
I knew of overpopulation as a problem, however never dived this deep into the topic! I agree with your choice of education needing to be better in order to explain the reason as to why overpopulating is bad, not only for socioeconomic instances, but also the world as a whole. It makes sense as to why people would want more hands in order to help out the family, but I feel like this is a past method of living, and should be changing in order to better everyone situations as you stated.