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People and wildlife are not the only victims of America’s rampant population growth. There are many American concepts and institutions which suffer from America’s addiction to population growth. |
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CHAPTER 6: THE VICTIMS – NOT LIVING, BUT VITAL
Democracy
I asked a friend to describe a problem which concerned him which was not affected by population growth. He thought one major problem – one which was a root contributor to many other problems--was failure of our elected representatives to speak honestly with constituents.
I asked him, “Do you think elected representatives are more likely to speak honestly with their constituents when they have more constituents to represent or when they have fewer constituents to represent?”
He smiled and answered immediately, “When they have fewer constituents to represent.”
In other words, when an elected official has fewer constituents to represent, each constituent’s opinion--as well as each constituent’s vote--becomes more important to that official and that official may be more inclined to speak honestly to each constituent.
There are 435 Congressmen and Congresswomen in the U.S. House of Representatives. Whether the population of America is today’s 300 million or tomorrow’s one billion, we will still have 435 in the House of Representatives. This means as America’s population grows, each Representative represents more and more people, perhaps four times more before the end of this century.
“Why not increase the number of Representatives in the House?” If you understand how difficult it is to make sound legislation with 435 Representatives, try to imagine how a Congress of 1,740 members would operate! Which would you rather have: (a) poorer representation in Congress and poorer legislation or (b) an American population stabilized at a reasonable level? |
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©2006 Edward C. Hartman. All Rights Reserved
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