World Wide... One Child Policy

[BridgeTroll]

Over population will eventually put an end to our planet.

There are a multitude of things more likely to "put an end to our planet".  In fact... "over population" is probably one of the more easy problems to overcome.

[Johnny]

I remember a tv show or something from decades ago, it had a lotto where people would win an opportunity to give their life for the greater good of the planet. They seemed excited... Anyone willing to be first?

[sandyshoes]

IMO, this feels uncomfortably close to people's Civil Liberties...if the gov't starts dictating who can reproduce, that's a freedom of choice they're taking away from the individuals.  Consider this;  how many other individual choices will get taken away?  (Our Constitution still guarantees "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness".)  A good lawyer (and the Pope) could argue that this whole issue is attacking "Life", in one context, since this subject is largely about placing limits on human reproduction, in the name of protecting the environment.  Liberty - it's your privilege, in a free country, to do what you want as long as it's not against the law and not harmful or injurious to others, for example.  Pursuit of happiness - if reproduction makes some people happy, do they have a right to do it, according to our constitution?  If drinking beer after work makes you happy, do you have a right to go do it?  Is it one of your civil liberties?  I want less government in my life, not more.  Why do you think the pilgrims came over here?  Government began telling them how they could worship; they didn't like it, so they left to come where they could decide for themselves.  Where does it start, where does it end?  Scary to think about.  As I am not relaying this message with venom, I don't consider this a rant, so I'll thank you not to label it such.  I am trying to clarify a point and get you to consider yet another angle of the issue that I haven't seen addressed.  Thanks.

[Dog Walker]

One of the four horsemen will eventually control the human population.  We don't have to plan a thing. 

Almost all wars were fought over resources, originally farm land or water, often over labor resources.  The Black Plague reduced the population of Europe so much that the century after was very prosperous and creative.  (See Barbara Tuchman's, "A Distant Mirror".  The Maya civilization collapsed when their water resources crashed and they starved.

In modern times, Japan invaded China and Southeast Asia because it had one of the highest rates of population growth in the world at the time and had run out of farm land and natural resources.  Even Nazi Germany was looking for leibensraum (room to live) and intended to enslave and exterminate the Slavic peoples, Russians and Poles, who were occupying the land they wanted.

What will happen to our worldwide civilization when oil and gas get depleted?  That will control population.

[JagFan07]

I remember a tv show or something from decades ago, it had a lotto where people would win an opportunity to give their life for the greater good of the planet. They seemed excited... Anyone willing to be first?

Logan's Run http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074812/. One of my favorite 70's movies.

[Johnny]

@jagfan07, that's not the show I was talking about, but I'll check it out. Thanks

[BridgeTroll]

One of the four horsemen will eventually control the human population.

We are more likely to be hit by one of the many asteroids randomly circling the sun.  They have hit the earth many times in the past and caused wholesale change of lifeforms.  Notice I said "change".  Even these cataclysmic events failed to extinguish life on this planet.  This third rock from the sun is pretty resilient... life here is pretty resilient.

[Dog Walker]

BT, Isn't natural disaster one of the horsemen?  The planet will certainly survive any or all of them.  Humans might not.

[BridgeTroll]

Although scholars disagree as to what exactly each horseman represents, the four horsemen are often referred to as Conquest, War, Famine, and Death.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Horsemen_of_the_Apocalypse

[Dog Walker]

Huh!  I'd always remembered it as Disaster, War, Famine, and Disease.....age must be scrambling the synapses.  Wonder why they thought Conquest and War were different?  Death-Disease, same diff.

[Overstreet]

Although scholars disagree as to what exactly each horseman represents, the four horsemen are often referred to as Conquest, War, Famine, and Death.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Horsemen_of_the_Apocalypse

He says with a sly grin......
It seems to me the Four Horsemen were part of the WWF in the late 80's.
Arn Anderson, Ric Flare, Lex Luger and Barry Windham were the core group.

[Dog Walker]

Now we know what YOU like to watch on TV!

[urbanlibertarian]

There appears to be a link between economic freedom, respect for the rule of law and lower fertility.

From: http://reason.com/archives/2009/06/16/the-invisible-hand-of-populati

"In 2002, Seth Norton, a business economics professor at Wheaton College in Illinois, published a remarkably interesting study on the inverse relationship between prosperity and fertility. Norton compared fertility rates of over 100 countries with their index rankings for economic freedom and another index for the rule of law. "Fertility rate is highest for those countries that have little economic freedom and little respect for the rule of law," wrote Norton. "The relationship is a powerful one. Fertility rates are more than twice as high in countries with low levels of economic freedom and the rule of law compared to countries with high levels of those measures."

"Norton found that the fertility rate in countries that ranked low on economic freedom averaged 4.27 children per woman while countries with high economic freedom rankings had an average fertility rate of 1.82 children per woman. His results for the rule of law were similar; fertility rates in countries with low respect for the rule of law averaged 4.16 whereas countries with high respect for the rule of law had fertility rates averaging 1.55."

"Economic freedom and the rule of law produce prosperity which dramatically lowers child mortality which, in turn, reduces the incentive to bear more children. In addition, along with increased prosperity comes more education for women, opening up more productive opportunities for them in the cash economy. This increases the opportunity costs for staying at home to rear children. Educating children to meet the productive challenges of growing economies also becomes more expensive and time consuming."

[JaxNative68]

Over population will eventually put an end to our planet.

There are a multitude of things more likely to "put an end to our planet".  In fact... "over population" is probably one of the more easy problems to overcome.

overpopulation will expand all the other issues into a global catastrophe

[Johnny]

They made it work in Fifth Element