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Abstract Expressionism, austerity, benefits, birth, crisis, Crowded City, declaration, democracy, demographics, demography, Dignity, east, Education, Employment, fertility, financial, health, human, life, lifestyle, Mark Tobey, policies, policy, population, pressures, Privacy, quality, research, rights, Security, shelter, social, west, WikiPaintings
*After publishing edit: This “Wall Street Journal” article is of interest over the topic.
Special thanks To E.L.Beck at: http://the-small-r.com/
This post is a brief personal take on how western democracies are handling the problem of explosive population increases.
If you catch yourself wondering about the seemingly unique and chaotic environment we currently live in, this personal opinion post might resonate with your own thoughts.
Briefly, I believe current “austerity” policies in the west are moving almost seemingly geared to achieving what the “one-child” policy achieved in the east: a population increase halt.
This will be verifiable when census figures are published and compared against past results. I am willing to bet that there will be a measurable decrease in child birth: a necessary measure to counteract explosive population increases and the linked scarcity problems we are already witnessing.
The lifestyle and declared moral values of western democratic economies could not accommodate the drastic measures eastern countries were able to adopt to decrease population numbers. For this reason, it could be thought that governing bodies have had to resort to the “democratic alternative” to the one-child policy in order to control population numbers… This alternative would be to decrease:
• Education
• Respect for Dignity
• Respect for Privacy
• Security
• Health
• Access to shelter
• Employment
• Child related benefits
… in order to reduce the quality of life index and the correlated child birth. A young western couple, with few means to live comfortably, is then under indirect social pressures to opt-out of having children they cannot afford.
Comparing both eastern and western measures, I still prefer the latter. What I wonder is, how is child birth managed in countries with no declared social/moral code (i.e: democracy)? Is the youth of those countries expected to cover for the future workforce demands of the west?
Have you considered this issue and what are your thoughts on it?
Image source: Wikipaintings.org “Crowded City” Artist: Mark Tobey Style: Abstract Expressionism Completion Date: 1974
*Published on: Nov 25, 2012 @ 15:00*
Hmmm. Although I am baffled by the massive hemorrhaging in our health and economic system (in the U.S.) I hadn’t really considered there being a hidden agenda, by those who mean to govern us. I’ll have to explore this concept before I attempt an opinion. ~ Thank you for the stimulation!
There could be a bit of both… I still would bet my money population growth will be considerably affected. In my blog I do not mean to speak in absolutes… The research to back statements in this field is such that not only needs large amounts of data but also, very advanced research strategies and outside-the-box thinking. For the time being, I hope the posts provide some food for thought (^-^`). Thanks for popping by.
I’m not sure whether you are saying it’s an intentional or unintentional consequence of austerity measures, because I don’t feel it’s the former.
Western European birth rates have been below the replacement rate for a while now due to a number of different factors, many even lower if you don’t consider the non-native births. Linked to that – immigration is a much more likely candidate for any population growth at least in the UK.
That said, that doesn’t mean there won’t be an impact as you suggest!
As for the ‘one child policy’ of China, there’s actually been a lot of discussion about ditching that in recent times with many arguing for relaxing it further as the age demographic changes with the elderly have a greater expectation of social care with comparatively fewer young workers to pay for it, etc. Shall be worth watching to see what happens there…
Interesting post.
I am not categorically saying anything. Up to each of us to make our own decisions.
Global workforce distribution is changing… Like western moral values and ethics codes, the western workforce that is used to demand decent quality of life conditions, privacy and dignity, is diminishing.
The workforces that will do anything to come out of poverty continue in growth.
Yes, I recently read in an article that asian “one child” policies will be reconsidered… It will be decades before they do this in my opinion… They are in a position to continue exporting their workforce like they have to date.
Austerity is emerging on two fronts: the economic (our global downturn), and the political (government deficits). Both will drive austerity for the foreseeable future, but the unknowns are, how long? and by how much?
Assuming no large social upheavals intervene, austerity should drive population management, although austerity is no guarantee: underdeveloped economies around the world have some of the largest rates of population growth.
Assuming that austerity does work in terms of population management, I can state that from the U.S., austerity may be one of the only hopes we have here. I cannot imagine, not for a New York minute, that any government mandated, top-down attempt to manage population growth will be embraced here. Under the present environment of open hostility and closed suspicions towards our federal government, no manner of population management could ever emerge from this corner.
Population management will have to find a “baked in” approach on this side of the pond, but relying on austerity over the long run means one thing: A willingness to tolerate austere environments indefinitely, which translates to an underperforming economy which leads me back to my original concern over tolerance of such a state of affairs and the social upheaval question.
Update from the U.S., from today’s Wall Street Journal:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324020804578149191478581544.html?mod=WSJ__MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsFifth
Hi there, thanks for this link. Seems at least the end result, regardless of intentions, is the one I placed my bet on. I really should do this as a fullt ime job : ).
There is an alternative plan to population management, if we can revive prehistoric DNA…
http://pinterest.com/pin/299982025149090405/
Absolutely, my main influences Calvin & Hobbes.. : ) I’ve the full collection… *All hail Calvin!*
Interesting discussion!
http://www.gapminder.org/news/children-per-women-since-1800-in-gapminder-world/
Birth rate has been declining for a long time. Increase in wealth results in fewer children and improved status of women.
Gapminder has a lot of data on this and related things. It is remarkable how steadily improvements in living conditions have been. Africa today is roughly where Europe was 200 years ago.
Hi, I’ll defo have a look at the link yet my background reading and information actually state very different things… Pretty much the opposite of what you are saying.
Personally, I would not work from anything other than census information.
Thanks for posting,
Alex
you made a valid point, and made me think about it.
In China the measures are conscious decisions,
In Europe I don’t see it as a conscious decision,
but more like an evolutionary organic subconscious decision of a society behaving like an organism.
That is another take which I hadn’t considered. It would explain the “reactive” feel of recent western policies. Thanks for that : ).
I would like to hear you expand on this. I don’t believe I understand just what you are saying, and I suspect that is because you have too many unspoken assumptions in this little blog, but I do like the ideas exposed here. I wonder, however, if one of your unspoken assumptions may be that humans have the ability to control nature if they would only make up their mind what they want. Because we definitely cannot control nature. We cannot change how nature makes our food and also we may or may not be able to control our own populations. Up to now we have not done so, except for a few, like six or eight, examples in a mini-unit of time relative to human existence. Another unspoken assumption perhaps? That we can do a good statistical analysis given that conditions today are unprecedented? There’s no place left to expand to? And the biggest of these assumptions may be that we are controlling population — anyplace. I am not a statistician, but I have lived a long time, and if this is control then we probably won’t make it through the crunch, biological or economic, will we? And that might be an important point to make — if we had education anymore
Hi Lynn,
I’ve edited the post a bit to ensure nothing is read as an assumption.
We will, as ever, make it through the “crunch”, possibly because of these policies which I believe are “good calls” to manage population growth.
I remember from past comments that you are quite rightly concerned about scarcity issues. I believe that this dip in the economic cycle is the solution to managing scarce resources.
Your last line is a very good point indeed which for some reason no economy (western or eastern) is taking the trouble to adopt as a policy: EDUCATION.
Empowered, educated, moraly stable populations are in touch with their natural environment and respect it.
It could be thought that it is too late to use education to solve the short term repercussions of population growth and scarcity.
Thanks, as ever, for this contribution. ‘Tis true that I will change nothing, ‘cos I’m too insignificant yet I do value the fact that I am still allowed to publish my opinions… Eastern economies do not always allow this. I believe we are better off in that sense.
Thanks again,
Alex
I think one of your “unstated assumptions” may be that this is just like all the other times. It’s not. This is the first time we have overgrazed the whole earth