Population Control

Dare I say it?

Inspiration for my blogs comes from perusing the news - both national and international. On the BBC this morning I read a fascinating article about population control. Secretly, I'm an advocate for this idea. There are 7 billion people, and counting, in the world. Over 80% of us Earth citizens live on less than $20 Belize dollars a day. 3 billion people live on less than $5 Belize dollars a day. To contrast, the average Belizean enjoys a GDP per capita of $43 Belize dollars a day.

With numbers like that, it would seem that we are living in a good country. Mind you, $43 isn't a lot of money, but no one in our beautiful Belize is dying of malnutrition. We all do the best we can.

Should this idea of culling , however, apply to Belize, with it's small population and low population density? We're not China. We don't have a billion people, and we don't need a one-child policy. If we ever want a good Social Security system or an Universal Health Care system, we need a strong young healthy working population who can fund them.

To be frank, the poor and uneducated produce more children than the rich and educated. And most of the time, they can't afford to take care of their children without help from the state. But from these poor masses, some of the greatest Belizeans have risen and have contributed significantly to our society. It is undeniable, however, by and large, these stars are a minority. Most often the circle of poverty continues throughout generations. It's hard for a good man {or woman} to get ahead.

What we should want, not only as Belizeans, but as a species, is to be able to live in a sustainable society. We should procreate to the sufficient number that we can take care of all our young. That we can take care of all our citizens. We've evolved as a species to the point where one's "rights" are more important than economic or environmental issues. {Quote me on that one}

When God said, "Go forth and multiply in number", he didn't give a cap. I, for one, wish that he did. The world can sustain 1.5 billion people without permanently diminishing all our other natural resources.

It's hard for me to express all the variables on this controversial subject in just one blog. I think we should create a national population cap, then after our sustainable population has been achieved, financial penalize those who have more than the prescribed number of children. It is desperate, I know. And I pray that as a species we will never have to come to the point where this is the only course of action for our continued survival, but we're rapidly approaching this point. As a small nation, we shouldn't have to control our actions because of the excesses of the rest of the world. But as a species, we can't afford NOT to think about the global ramifications of our actions.

Sometimes I think AIDS, all these wars, the stronger hurricanes and typhoons, tsnumanis and earthquakes are all the Earth's way of screaming ENOUGH! Already 256,000 children die PER DAY as a direct result of poverty. That's almost the population of Belize! Be concious.