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Common sense as well as mathematics tell us America will eventually break its addiction to population growth. We just don’t know when. We do know America cannot continue to double its population every two or three generations and remain the America we know and love. China let their 300 million become 600 million before they began to address their population problem. Yet their population is now 1.3 billion and is projected to reach 1.5 billion before it begins to decline. |
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CHAPTER 14: PROGNOSIS AND CURE
Can you visualize what would happen in America if its population grew to 600 million before it began to address its population growth addiction? I can imagine dramatic--and drastic--events occurring, but I’m not enough of a futurist to predict what they would be. Obviously, there would be severe political and economic ramifications and lifestyle adjustments would be major. Would America survive? Probably. Would America be the place you envision for future generations? Probably not. A cure will come; the question is: When and how?
Your generation and my generation are unlikely to see much improvement in America’s population growth during our lifetimes. We will hopefully live to see some changes in political leaders’ perspectives and changes in policies. But because it takes so long for policy changes to slow, stop, and ultimately reverse population growth (remember China), we are unlikely to see a population decline in America during our lifetimes. Our reward must be the satisfaction of trying to make America better for future generations.
If you are -- or if you become--a populationist, I believe you will have the satisfaction (1) of communicating with others who share your concerns, (2) of recognizing logical mitigation to problems confounding others, (3) of observing gradual shifts in perceptions of the general public to the costs of population growth, and (4) of seeing a growing awareness by politicians that their constituents are restless for a cure to the addiction.
I have felt the satisfaction of each of these during my time as a populationist and I believe you will too, especially as changes continue to come at a faster pace! |
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©2006 Edward C. Hartman. All Rights Reserved
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