Thomas Friedman’s follow-up to “The World is Flat” is currently slowly integrating it’s message into my brain. ”Hot, Flat, and Crowded” preaches the message of the coming problems the world is expected to face in the next generation.
Most of his focus is on increased energy demand. The middle class is expected to grow by 1 billion people, which will substantially increase demand for energy. On top of that us current middle classers increase our per capita demand for energy every year. Energy is finite as of now, because we use fossil fuels for most of our energy needs. Much of this new demand will come from the rising middle classes in China, India, Brazil, and Russia, among others. There isn’t much in the way of “green” technology being used in these countries. There is also no indication these countries will embrace green technologies either. Yes Brazil uses ethanol fuel, but that takes an enormous amount of farming and even green people acknowledge it’s shifting the problem from one area to another. It is not a fix.
In Global Warming Week I sided with the nay-sayers of global warming, attributing much of the current rise in temperatures to Earth’s normal cycles. But I never denied that humans should curb their energy use and I believe we should do what we can to reduce emissions. Friedman tells us to invest in green technologies. Since all the other countries of the world seek to copy what we do in the states, we should set the example by embracing a green revolution in the “Energy and Climate Era.”
That’s all fine and dandy, and we’re headed down the green path whether we like it or not. But Friedman has missed the big picture with regards to energy and climate (either that or he just doesn’t want to go there). There’s all this talk about overcrowding in cities, African nations being swarmed by starvation, and a Chinese middle class the size of the US. Rising populations, increased energy demand, and more resulting pollution can all be attributed to rapid population growth. What creates rapid population growth? Sex! Yeah baby.
The populations of the world are having too much sex. By slutting it up and getting knocked up, you’re making energy-craving pollution babies. Every little “Mini Me” you make requires more coal, more oil, and more food to keep alive and moving. Sex control of some kind should be encouraged to keep these baby booms from happening all over the world. You know this to be true because we’ve witnessed population surges when we know more sex is going on. After WWII soldiers came home with raging hormones and willing women, the lack of contraceptives contributed greatly to the baby boom. Next take notice of how many pregnant people you see this spring and summer. That’s because people stay indoors and mess around during the cold winter months. The problem exists in other parts of the world in varying factors as well. It’s so bad in China that you must pay taxes on each baby you have after one. Africa, after going generations with having 1 in 3 babies survive, is now seeing more children per house-hut thanks to modern medicine. More children, more energy, more pollution.
So how do we fix this? We can’t simply throw away babies, though people have tried. We can’t cease aid to Africans, that would be inhumane. We can’t round up all the sluts of the world (men & women) and sterilize them, that robs freedoms. Before we know what could work, let’s look at what won’t. The policies of the previous administration banned all aid to foreign family planning clinics that offered information on abortions. That means those same clinics didn’t have the money to give out free condoms. Clinics were forced to preach abstinence over all other types of birth control (because that has worked so well in the States)*. As I said before, China’s one-child policy makes it financially detrimental to a family with more than one kid.. This has caused many Chinese families to dump first born daughters. Why? Because men are able to make more money in their society (and most others) and therefore able to care for the parents when they are older. Even Australia has considered a baby tax. Broad exterminations of people is also not encouraged. These are not the ways to fix the problem.
This isn’t a message of abstinence, nor is it one of abortion. Both of those topics are too big for this little blog, so I’ll simply say everyone has a right to make choices. Moving on…
The only solution is full-scale, massive campaigns preaching the virtues of all birth control methods. Invest more in sustainable, and cheap, birth control for women. New developments in medicine may make it possible to simply turn fertility on and off. Make condoms as free as mints at a restaurant. Share these birth control methods with the rest of the world. Sure it will cost money to do this, but it can’t be more expensive than the costs of having 10 billion people on the planet to feed, generating trash, and using up all the oil.
While many people would be happy to embrace a birth control camp gain, certain religions condemn the use of birth control and thusly still have large families. In the US, Catholics are well known for this. Hispanic families are mostly Catholic, which plays a role in why their families are so large. We can’t force birth control on anyone, but what we can do is create a society that makes large families “weird” and let the religion sort it out themselves.
More and more garbage is being dumped every day, despite recycling efforts. More oil is used every day, despite fuel efficiency increases. More trees are flattened to make farms. We can invent all the green technologies we want to, but it isn’t going to fix all our problems. My suggestion is population control. Without world wide collaboration on population control, we will no longer fit on this planet.
What’s your suggestion?
*President Obama is no fool to this; he introduced new looser rules on funding as one of his first acts. This is a step in the right direction.
 By The Weakonomist |
The Weakonomist is the founder of Weakonomics. Clicking the picture of the puppy will tell you more about him. If you like what you're reading consider subscribing to the blog, following him on Twitter, and checking out the related posts below. Please consider a donation if you really enjoy Weakonomics. Also keep in mind that nothing I say can be construed as financial advice. |
