“The collapse of globalization . . . is absolutely possible. It happened in the 20th century in the wake of World War I and the Great Depression, and could happen again. Nationalism is rising and our political systems are inward looking, the more so in times of crisis.”
—Jeffrey Sachs, American economist
(as quoted in Wednesday’s Washington Post)
“The United States has higher fertility rates among teenage girls compared with other developed countries of the world. For example, girls ages 15 to 19 have fertility rates more than five times higher than their counterparts in developed countries such as France, Italy, Japan, Slovenia, and Switzerland.
Nonetheless, the fertility rate of girls ages 15 to 19 declined consecutively over the period from 1991 to 2005. During this time, the fertility rate of the age group dropped by one-third, from 61.8 births per 1,000 girls ages 15 to 19 in 1991 to 40.5 in 2005. However, the latest data for 2006 may point to a reversal of this trend, with the fertility rate inching upward to 41.9.
This trend is of great concern because adolescent pregnancy has been associated with unemployment, poverty, repeated pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, infant mortality, high risk pregnancy, and lower educational achievement. Furthermore, teenage pregnancy is a primary indicator of adult poverty among women.”
—“Rising U.S. Teen Fertility,” Rogelio Saenz & Eugenia Conde, Population Reference Bureau, February 2009
My fellow armchair-economics survivalists:
It’s time to revive old, long-neglected campaigns for things like curbed (e.g. replacement-level) fertility and stable, sustainable population growth.
Otherwise Malthus’ ghost will be visiting us many times in this millenium.
A global glut of cheap labor, cheap goods and services, and cheap credit helped precipitate this collapse. We have devalued work and life by indulging in cultural and political movements that push rapid population growth and depressed wages and now we sit here amidst the ruins generated by those destructive lies and distortions.
Our economic systems are relatively efficient as far as productivity goes; technology, division of labor, economies of scale, and other factors have devalued low-skill/no-skill labor and helped to create a swollen global underclass.
It’s time to challenge the powerful institutions and assumptions that shoved us into this hole.
The pro-fertility camp is going to bring further ruin and suffering upon everybody if they are allowed to continue to irresponsibly advocate for unchecked exponential population growth that ultimately cheapens life.
We have witnessed Peak Oil. Shall we now usher in a new era of Peak Population and Population Stabilization? It is time that we refuse to be silenced on these issues.
—Jeffrey Sachs, American economist
(as quoted in Wednesday’s Washington Post)
“The United States has higher fertility rates among teenage girls compared with other developed countries of the world. For example, girls ages 15 to 19 have fertility rates more than five times higher than their counterparts in developed countries such as France, Italy, Japan, Slovenia, and Switzerland.
Nonetheless, the fertility rate of girls ages 15 to 19 declined consecutively over the period from 1991 to 2005. During this time, the fertility rate of the age group dropped by one-third, from 61.8 births per 1,000 girls ages 15 to 19 in 1991 to 40.5 in 2005. However, the latest data for 2006 may point to a reversal of this trend, with the fertility rate inching upward to 41.9.
This trend is of great concern because adolescent pregnancy has been associated with unemployment, poverty, repeated pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, infant mortality, high risk pregnancy, and lower educational achievement. Furthermore, teenage pregnancy is a primary indicator of adult poverty among women.”
—“Rising U.S. Teen Fertility,” Rogelio Saenz & Eugenia Conde, Population Reference Bureau, February 2009
My fellow armchair-economics survivalists:
It’s time to revive old, long-neglected campaigns for things like curbed (e.g. replacement-level) fertility and stable, sustainable population growth.
Otherwise Malthus’ ghost will be visiting us many times in this millenium.
A global glut of cheap labor, cheap goods and services, and cheap credit helped precipitate this collapse. We have devalued work and life by indulging in cultural and political movements that push rapid population growth and depressed wages and now we sit here amidst the ruins generated by those destructive lies and distortions.
Our economic systems are relatively efficient as far as productivity goes; technology, division of labor, economies of scale, and other factors have devalued low-skill/no-skill labor and helped to create a swollen global underclass.
It’s time to challenge the powerful institutions and assumptions that shoved us into this hole.
The pro-fertility camp is going to bring further ruin and suffering upon everybody if they are allowed to continue to irresponsibly advocate for unchecked exponential population growth that ultimately cheapens life.
We have witnessed Peak Oil. Shall we now usher in a new era of Peak Population and Population Stabilization? It is time that we refuse to be silenced on these issues.
2 comments:
I dont think you need to curb fertility, but you do need to curb entitlements. It should be real simple if you are on the government dime (food stamps, section 8, etc) you are on norplant or something similar. Breed all you want, just not on my dime.
I'm going to go out on a limb here.
If we can have the Federal government subsidizing ads on "Straight Edge" lifestyle, we can have the Federal government start to subsidize a lifestyle where teenagers are responsible about their birth-control.
I remember when I was 15, right at the peak of public concern about "the Population Bomb" and while a very large percentage of the kids (16 and above) I knew were sexually active, teen pregnancy at least in my cohort was at an all-time low. Why? you could get on the bus and go to the County free clinic, and with no questions asked they'd check you for sexually-transmitted diseases and for the females they'd prescribe "the Pill" and they'd pass out condoms by the handful.
As time went on, pressures built to try to promote "abstinence" and to make it more difficult for minors sub-adults to access birth control. And what did we get for it? We got almost-universal chlamydia in teenagers and a teen birth date five times that of the rest of the developed world.
Given that the world's population has doubled since I was 15, clearly it's time for more birth control to be available. Malthus is coming, and he is fucking pissed.
Post a Comment