Been thinking about this recently in terms of the uk. Population is expected to hit 70 million by 2030, currently its 64 fuelled mainly by immigration.
Maybe the concern here is more overcrowding. This is going to put more strain on public services and infrastructure.
Not only that but people are living longer. Where will the money come from to pay for the extra doctors, nurses, police, schools etc etc?
Globally people have been predicting Malthusian catastrophe since well Thomas Malthus, yet even as the population of the world has exploded living standards have increased. We are a pretty inventive species, it has been argued that tehnological innovation leads to an increase in the earths carrying capacity and in turn more innovators and it fuels perpetual growth. Obviously population growth cannot be limitless as resources are finite.
Can innovation by way of new technologies, more efficient methods and better allocation of resources keep up with the expanding population? What about the impact on the environment? Is this something we need to address?
If education and the economic liberalisation of women as well as increased urbanisation reduces the size of families do we have the ability and resources to stay ahead of the curve or are we simply delaying a crash.
Countries like Nigeria as someone mentioned are a good example of some of the problems. Its economy has been growing fast but so has its population. Its got alot of corruption and extreme regional inequality. Its economy may now be the largest in Africa but at the same time the % of the population in poverty increased I read.
That poverty trap is absolutely terrifying when you look at the projections of how their population is expected to grow and may well be beyond the capability of them to solve. I doubt Nigeria will implement a one child policy. There are stampedes at immigration centres there where people are trampled to death. People are dying to get out and those people will be going somewhere.
Many govts dont want to reduce the population but through policy they can influence it. Some more authoritarian countries can take stronger measures like China did I suppose.
Maybe we will have to implement some sort of managed population growth. Less immigration, less welfare in some ways.
Id be in favour of a child license you need to pass a certain standard before you can have a kid in the UK. All females would have their tubes tied and get untied when they get licensed. No idea how that woud work though.
Childrens allowance and child tax credit would also be in the form of vouchers only redeemable on certain items. Food, childrens clothes, nappies, pushchairs. Not PS4s (I know a guy who spent his surestart maternity grant on a fucking playstation) nor does he or his partner work.
In the third world idk. Part of me says if we can help, we should. That ethically its not their childrens fault they are born into poverty and end up picking through trash to survive, then part of me just wants to build a big wall and let em fuck themselves into starvation.
Its not just a population problem I think. Its also a resource allocation problem. There are people living like kings and so much waste, while others starve. It's really just a quirk of fate to be born in a developed country but I kinda dont want to pay for all these people or want them to come here either.
We should probably look at targeting corruption, increasing education etc to reduce the vast wealth inequality and bring the numbers down before more extreme measures I suppose.
If we were at some sort of ecological tipping point where we were completely fucked then i guess drastic measures would have to be taken. They could make an infertility vaccine, unleash a plague or go Logans run and kill people at 30 but not with gay laser shows, we could use them to make soap or something.
