Thursday, March 29, 2012

More overpopulation


Global over-population is the real issue

By Boris Johnson



I think the question of overpopulation is relevant as the article states. Figuring out what to do about it is the bigger problem. Ethical and implementation problems arise. It is like eugenics. In theory, it works out pretty well, however, when it is put into practice, is where the problems begin. The same goes for prohibition.

            An idea crossed my mind while sitting in zoo learning about advances in medical treatment. People living longer are an obvious result. From this, we have more people living longer and this is a factor in overpopulation I would think. Naturally, over the decades we have eliminated or greatly reduced the “limiting factors” of population such as diseases, plagues, etc.  It doesn’t seem feasible, but scaling back extreme measures to keep people alive such as using life support and reducing medical services for terminal people. There are definite ethical issues surrounding this idea.

            Back to the article, Johnson says that population control is the biggest question. I was annoyed that he never gives any opinion on how he thinks the problem should be fixed until the end. His solution seemed vague as well. I think that education is probably the least controversial solution because education is inherently beneficial. One child policies are to invasive into the lives of people. I think the government has an obligation to protect and keep its people best interests foremost. Education should be that solution to using a one-child policy. Because by doing so they are not intruding into the lives of families in a way that does not directly, benefit them. Yes, they are being used as a means to their own end, but they benefit and it should be universally applicable. Notice the Kantian undertones.

            A close topic to population is quality of population. Eugenics – a good idea with a bad way to utilize. This however fails Kant’s theory pretty clearly. I only bring up the topic because with the one-child policy a problem that came about was which gender is more desirable to have? In China the son normally takes care of the family when the parents get older. With most families wanting boys, I’m assuming from the problem, girls were in short supply so to speak. It created this desirable child almost the way eugenics was based on desirable traits. From the two, issues with who chooses who gets to live and what traits are best make for a difficult implementation. I think the reason the one child policy has worked so far is because there is a greater sense of patriotism that Asian cultures have. A focus on what is best for the country supersedes any individual needs.

            These topics get pretty spread out as you look at them from different aspects. As far as the articles discussion of the issues, I think that a carrying capacity is an issue that we should work on. I'll add more thoughts as they develop.




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