Overpopulation is real ‘Inconvenient Truth’

Roger Witcher, Las Vegas

Tuesday, April 29, 2008 | 2:03 a.m.

Regarding Ray Harbert’s letter in Saturday’s Las Vegas Sun headlined “Overpopulation slides under the radar”:

Mr. Harbert has excellent insight into the root cause of many of the world’s problems overpopulation. Unquestionably, it is going to get much worse. Overpopulation is the real “Inconvenient Truth” that, in our country, is conveniently ignored by business and government. One of the reasons for this is that the operation of a market economy depends on people, many people, to buy products.

Ironically, the world can look to China, home of more than 20 percent of the world’s population, to learn how to control the population. When China finally concluded that population control was necessary for economic growth and improved living standards, the government employed a combination of propaganda, economic rewards and penalties, social pressure, and in some cases coercion.

At least China is trying, in contrast with our policy of not only ignoring the problem, but also actually rewarding people with large families, with tax breaks and financial aid. In some cases, we elevate very large families to celebrity status, as if having 18 children is something to celebrate.

The outlook for worldwide population control looks bleak. There are too many factors, such as religions and economics, to thwart serious efforts to bring population under control. We have to rely on “natural” solutions such as war, pestilence and famine. Nevertheless, as individuals we can do our part, just as we can do our part not to pollute the environment, and so on.