Seven Things to Do About Overpopulation

Hi, Jeremy. Got your email about overpopulation. Wish there were an easy answer to your question, but of course, the problem is that lots of us are trying to "solve" the problem, and it is a very frustrating one because there doesn't seem to be any clear path to a solution. The only real solution, I think, is education, or enlightenment. Once people become convinced it is a problem, it will no longer be a problem. After all, we have the technology (contraceptives) to solve it, what we don't have is the awareness by humans in general that it is a problem.

Here is a list of seven things you can do about overpopulation:

1. Have no more than two natural children yourself (some say one or none). Defer childbirth until you are in your 30's.
2. Talk to everyone you meet, all the time, about overpopulation. Become familiar with the various arguments, and learn how to persuade people that it is a problem, one that can be dealt with. Learn how to talk to people about it without them getting angry. Spread awareness!
3. Join various overpopulation organizations and contribute as much money and time to them as you can - ZPG, NPG, Population-Environment Balance, IPPF, PPFA, FAIR, CAPS, Population Institute, etc. See the KZPG web page for a list of organizations.
4. Write letters to politicians urging them to support international family planning funding, and, according to your own beliefs about immigration, to change immigration laws. Also urge them to support domestic laws that will improve the situation, such as laws requiring contraceptives to be covered by health insurance. Ask them to get rid of laws that provide financial incentives for people to have children, such as tax breaks based on the number of children you have. Ask them to create laws dealing with overpopulation, such as establishment of a national population policy commission (see below).
5. Write letters to editors of local newspapers and also to magazines when population-related issues come up and the paper or magazine doesn't cover it well.
6. Become familiar with the immigration issue, and don't take a hard stand on it either way until you understand why it is such a volatile issue, and you feel that you've really delved into the different aspects of it and understand it without bias. My own experience was that I was initially opposed to bringing immigration into the overpopulation equation. However, I eventually changed my mind about this as I looked more and more into the facts and thought more about the issue.
7. Learn about the NOPC (National Optimum Population Commission) proposal and support it. They have a web site.

1. Increased foreign aid for family planning programs.
2. Reduced legal immigration quotas.
3. Policies that you feel will reduce illegal immigration.
4. National and state studies of carrying capacity and optimum population.
5. National and state population policies.
6. Population education in schools.
7. Better sexuality education for children.
8. Media coverage of overpopulation (write letters to your newspaper!)
9. Reversal of the income tax deduction for children.
10. Reduction or elimination of welfare benefits for children beyond the second.
11. Full contraceptive availability for all couples of the world.
12. Educational and economic opportunities for third-world women.
13. Federal financial support for contraceptive research.
14. Greater reproductive responsibility on the part of males.
15. Fewer teenage pregnancies.
16. Election of politicians who believe in and work for a stabilized population!

I've been concerned about overpopulation since I was 18 years old. I'm 44 now. In all that time, not a great deal has changed. Now, as then, the media and politicians pretty much ignore the problem. I believe it is now too late to avoid many ugly problems. Indeed, many ugly problems are already here, caused directly by overpopulation. And it will get uglier. I think we will be losing an awful lot of the wildlife (animal AND plant) on this planet. Much has already been lost. People will suffer through disease and famine brought on by overpopulation. Global warming will alter the climate. People will find it harder and harder to make ends meet, as resources get spread thinner and thinner. Environmental quality will continue to deteriorate.

I've come to look at it in the following way: No matter how late in the game, whatever progress we can make convincing people to deal with the problem head-on will have some positive impact, a lower final peak population before decline begins. So even late in the game, anything one can accomplish is helpful.

This message was originally published in the archive of KZPG Board of Directors meetings.