The United
Nations has declared October 12 the "Day of 6 Billion," as world
population is now passing that mark. We hit 5 billion
just 12 years ago. If all 6 billion of us stood in line with a person
every 16 inches, the line would reach around the moon and back three times.
Increasing
population pressure is a driving force behind many of our political,
social, economic, and environmental problems. We
sometimes assume that
"overpopulation" refers mainly to poor people in "developing"
countries, but our own current numbers here are especially hard on planetary
life-support systems. In our wasteful culture, we squander something
like 40 times more resources per person compared to folks in India.
While it's easy to say that "they" should have fewer children, we have
a taboo against discussing population in a way that might influence our
own reproductive choices.
With
our technology and increasing numbers, we are drastically changing the
face of Mother Earth. Due to us, species are being extinguished at
a rate that has not occurred at least since the dinosaurs croaked 65 million
years ago. Deserts are expanding, agricultural topsoil is disappearing
at an alarming rate, underground water resources are being sucked dry,
and the cheap oil upon which most of our agriculture now depends may soon
get a lot more expensive. Global warming is a fact, and may cause
climatic shifts that could play havoc with our ability to grow food.
We may
be both arrogant and naive to assume that we are the most important
thing happening here on the planet. The earth's living "biosphere"
could do just fine without us, but we wouldn't last five minutes without
her green plants continuously pumping out oxygen; nor would we long live
without her decomposing bacteria replenishing the soil and enabling our
food crops to grow. It's high time for us to soften our impact, and
reducing human numbers is critical. Otherwise, we can anticipate
that Mother Earth may develop a "fever" during which a lot of us figure
to get burned.
In 1994,
a major world conference on population was held in Cairo; 179 nations agreed
on a "Program of Action" to promote non-coercive strategies for reducing
birth rates. A recent UN report titled "The State of the World Population
1999" notes that while some progress has been made, we have a long way
to go.
Aside
from the problems in India and China, what can we do right here in response
to overpopulation? First, we should recognize that this problem is
interwoven with the many other challenges we face; if we address one issue,
we may be addressing them all. Since the U.S. population has such
a devastating impact on the earth, it's crucial that we reduce waste and
live more frugally.
Next,
it's tragic that there are so many unwanted pregnancies in our rich and
mostly literate nation. We can prevent these in
our own lives, and can create an
atmosphere of open discussion that will help friends
and family prevent them as well. On the other end of life, when people
are very ill and ready to die, we should let them go with dignity rather
than forcing them to stay with endless medical interventions.
It's
important that we respect the thoughts of someone who has decided or may
decide not to have children, and not "pressure" them to become parents.
Too often, there is a strong but unstated pro-reproduction prejudice in
our culture, where having children is seen as the only "normal" thing to
do and one is not considered a complete person unless they become a parent.
Parenting is without question a profound undertaking, but is not the only
valid life direction.
If we
contemplate having children, we should reflect on our reasons and make
sure they are good ones. Having kids so someone will love us, so
we can mold them in our image, or so we won't be lonely when we're old
are not good reasons. There are many other ways not to be lonely,
and having kids is no guarantee we won't be, anyway.
I suspect
that many have children in order to be part of a larger whole. This
is a truly valid need and could be an excellent reason, but there may be
many other ways to be deeply connected within a group larger than ourselves--ways
that unfortunately are less available and sometimes denigrated in our culture
in favor of a too-exclusive reliance on the "nuclear family" to meet our
need for community.
Some
will say that we don't have children for "reasons" at all, but rather are
acting on a biological drive. Our intelligence, however, enables
us to choose whether to act on our urges. We ignore many biological
urges every day in order to adapt to our world.
Perhaps
the best reason to reproduce is if we can provide a good home and have
an abundance of time and love to share with a child. Still, it may
often be possible to adopt; there's no shortage of children already here
on the planet who ache for love and a home. If you have internet
access, you can see pictures of about 1800 of them at www.adopt.org.
Another site concerns adoption of kids with special needs (www.homes4kids.org),
and there I was happily surprised to learn that financial assistance is
sometimes available for adoptive parents who assume this awesome responsibility.
These
are emotionally charged issues. I don't have answers for anyone else,
but I believe it's important to think about these things and make conscious
decisions rather than acting automatically out of biological urges or social
norms.
I found
an extremely thought-provoking website written and maintained by a
fellow named Les in Oregon for the "Voluntary Human Extinction
Movement"
(www.vhemt.org). He advocates that we freely decide
to stop reproducing; that we live long, die out slowly, and allow the earth
to recover. His arguments are well thought out and presented with
friendly good humor--worth reading and pondering. Les says the Chinese
"one-child" law is contrary to VHEMT philosophy for two reasons:
first, it's not voluntary; second, one child is "too many." VHEMT
"volunteers" agree with the goal of gradual, voluntary human extinction;
"supporters" don't favor extinction, but agree we should stop reproducing
for now.
I love
kids and enjoy how they brighten our world and clarify our perspective.
We should never blame them for the mess we've made--which the less
protected children are now fully experiencing and which all of them will
be presented with in due time. With 6 billion of us weighing heavily
on the planet, maybe we should focus on caring for those who are already
here.
Please see my related article, The Gaia Hypothesis, which expands on the idea that "we may be arrogant and naive to assume that we are the most important thing happening on the planet."
Here's the site for the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement; there are also many links from the VHEMT site to other websites concerned with population or with childfree lifestyles.
The "Faces of Adoption": www.adopt.org
Adoption of kids with special needs: www.homes4kids.org
Zero Population Growth is an organization that has been around a long time.
Here is the
site for the United Nations Population
Fund, where among other things you can find the 1999 report.