Transcript
Controlled population growth is the idea of willingly determining the rate of growth in a population. In modern times this is mostly to slow down the rate of growth, with the most common way of doing so is having a limit on how many children a household/woman is allowed to have. I am against the idea of controlled population growth because I believe it to be unethical due to it being a violation of human rights and harmful to the sustainability of humanity.
First and foremost, controlled population planning goes against an individual’s right to choose how many children they want. One of the highest values that we have always strived to develop towards is that of freedom. Freedom for the individual to make choices for themselves. Events in which someone’s freedoms are taken away are seen as violations against those people’s human rights; as it should be. This shows us that freedom and individual choice IS a human right. This coincides with John Rawl’s idea of Justice as Fairness. He believed that all people should be free and independent, and that the freedom and independence of individuals should be respected. He also believed the rights of an individual should not be sacrificed for any other good (Wenar, 2017). The Stanford article gives an example of a scenario in which people are given exemptions to the draft for going to college, as an educated population will be better for the economy (Wenar, 2017). Rawls would say that even if that were the case you should not sacrifice the individual rights of people for the overall economic benefit.
Another issue that comes up is that by taking away an individual’s choice you devalue human life. When presented with a limit in how many children they are allowed to have many people will choose not to birth or keep children they otherwise would have, due to wanting the best possible child they can get. We can see this being the case in the example of China attempting to do this very thing. In 1979 china introduced a one-child policy, meaning that families in China were only allowed to raise one child. This was an attempt to combating the growing population rate, it unfortunately however led to some very negative consequences. People were aborting any female fetuses that were detected, due to a strong desire to have sons rather than daughters. In the past few decades China has had 120 boys born per 100 girls, 20 extra boys that do not have a compatible female companion (Poston, 2011). As of 2011 there have been 41 million extra bachelors in China who do not have a female counterpart (Poston, 2011). This is projected to lead China to having an HIV epidemic that rivals or exceeds the number of HIV cases in sub-Saharan Africa (Poston, 2011).
Controlled population growth would also lead to the sustainability of the human race to be squandered. This is primarily due to a declining birth rate in most countries and a decline in variety which drives innovation in our global society. This goes along with the ethical idea of utilitarianism. We want to maximize the benefits for society, and so we are thinking about the wellbeing of humanity, which includes the self-sustainability of nations and the progression of human advancement.
Right now, there are many countries facing the phenomena of natural decrease, which is when a country has more deaths than it does births in a year (Poston, 2016). Higher education in women, better sex education, and more women choosing to join the work force has led to more and more couples being unable to or choosing not to have kids. This incredibly troubling due to the fact that once a country is stuck in natural decrease it usually stays there, as there is a trend of declining birth rates worldwide once a country becomes more and more developed (Poston, 2016). For most countries this means that they will be unable to sustain themselves for the future (Poston, 2016). In most European countries a large percentage of the population is elderly and at risk of dying. Then there is an adult population that is growing older, less likely to have kids as they grow. This means that the relatively small young population will have the burden of sustaining the rest of the country when they become adults, and they will also have less of an incentive to have children (Poston, 2016). This is actually a large reason as to why Germany has been so accepting of refugees and immigrants in recent years, as they see the chance at addressing their future population crisis (Reuters, 2015). Unfortunately, this is a temporary solution. The permanent solution to this is to encourage an increased birth rate, to increase our population so that we are in better shape to sustain ourselves. To say that we should limit our population through population control is purely against this.
This also speaks to the value of variety. A larger population is beneficial due to the larger amount of voices, minds, and experiences that can come to shape and innovate our world going forward. Currently we are in a world that has become insanely globalized, which allows us to take advantage of our large population and rapidly change our progression of technology (Mirgani, 2017). Business insider has compiled a graphic of the top 25 tech companies and shows how 15 of them were founded or co-founded by first or second-generation immigrants (Borison, 2014). This isn’t to push immigration, but rather to show how much potential truly opened up from becoming a globalized society. This was only possible due to having so many different perspectives from so many different countries. When you have countries that may cease to exist due to not being able to support themselves, or an overall decrease in the pool of possible innovators or creators, you severely limit the upwards trajectory of human advancement. This is why in many universities it is rare that they will hire a professor who also graduated from that university. It’s also why many companies value people from other states and countries. Different voices bring upon different perspectives.
Bibliography
Kenneth M. Johnson, Layton M. Field and Dudley J. Poston, Jr. 2015. “More Deaths than Births: Subnational Natural Decrease in Europe and the United States”. Population and Development Review 41(4): 651-680
Wenar, Leif, "John Rawls", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2017 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = .
Poston, D. L., Jr. (2011, June 1). Gendercide and its Implications for Global Security. Retrieved April 16, 2018, from http://www.allgirlsallowed.org/blog/posts/dudley-poston-gendercide-and-its-implications-global-security
R. (2015, September 10). There's a very practical reason why Germany is taking in so many refugees. Retrieved April 16, 2018, from http://www.businessinsider.com/r-in-ageing-germany-refugees-seen-as-tomorrows-skilled-workers-2015-9
Borison, R. (2014, May 28). More Than A Third Of The Top US Tech Companies Were Founded By People Born Outside The Country. Retrieved April 16, 2018, from http://www.businessinsider.com/top-tech-companies-founded-by-foreigners-2014-5
Mirgani, S. (2017, September 24). Thomas L. Friedman Lectures on the World is Flat 3.0. Retrieved April 16, 2018, from https://cirs.georgetown.edu/news-events/events/thomas-l-friedman-lectures-world-flat-30
