Having more than two children is immoral.
I came across an article arguing the myth behind overpopulation. As I was reading, I discovered an idea that I vaguely remember hearing about years ago, that having more than two children is immoral. The idea is that the earth is finite, and if we have too many children, we will face overpopulation. The logic is that each couple is to have two children, which would create an equal birth to death ratio.
People so passionately believe in this moral issue that they have come together and formed groups about it. They’ve even come to the conclusion of sterilization after a couple has more than two children.
Anyone else see any flaws in this logic?
I sure do. Here are some obvious factors that need to be considered:
-couples who are unable to have children
-homosexuals who do not have children
-people who remain single
-couples who are only able to have one child
-people who - I shudder to think - find a vocation in the religious life and dedicate themselves to being priests, nuns, monks, friars, brothers, etc.
And what about facts of life, such as war, that constantly kill off the population?
I would also like to point out: how many species of animals - especially those who we don’t regulate by farming, hunting, poaching, etc. - have only two offspring per pair? How many of them face problems of overpopulation?
If that doesn’t convince you, here’s some more logic:
-The world population is 6.7 billion [1]
-The land area of the world is 149 million km2 [2], or roughly 1.6 quadrillion ft2 (that’s 15 zeros)*
-That means that if each person in the world chose to live alone, they would be given 239,376.5168 ft2
-Imagine how much leftover space there would be if some people actually lived near each other, say, in an apartment complex - or maybe if they lived in houses that were next to each other - or even, I hesitate to suggest, live in the same house
Also, the world’s population growth is roughly 1.1% right now, which is a decline from the past 50 years [3]. I don’t believe that poses a real threat. The United States in particular has a growth rate of 0.66% [4], which is actually is not a “growth” at all, but a decline. This percentage would actually suggest that on average, every person in the U.S. is forming a couple and only producing one offspring.
We also seem to forget the renewable resources that the world has. The nonrenewable resources will always pose a threat, regardless of the population. That isn’t solved with having fewer children, but with finding more renewable resources to produce the kind of energy we have come to require.
Overpopulation is a myth. All it takes is a little digging.
[1] World population
[2] Land area of the earth
[3] World growth rate
[4] United States growth rate
*The actual number is 1,603,827,625,000,000 ft2, and is what I used for my calculations.
