Why is population control necessary?

What is Population Control?

Population control is a policy to control the number of individuals in a population. It aims at limiting the growth in numbers, especially of those who are living in poor and dense conditions. Population control is not a novice idea. Population control theories were given in ancient times in China, Greece, and many other regions. However, the practice of this theory started in the eighteenth century. To make the earth a sustainable planet to inhabit, we need to achieve a balance between resources and consumption. This is the primary motivation behind the idea of population control. Natural resources like water, air, trees, land, energy, etc., are limited in nature. Therefore, humans must take necessary measures to preserve them. One of the most wanted measures to preserve this ecosystem is population control. Man-made products have already severed the ecosystem and climate through water pollution, air pollution, and land pollution. This contamination of the planet earth urges ways to conserve it. Furthermore, it is necessary to maintain the basic living standards of humans against limited subsistence. Another important aspect that boosted the population control phenomenon was social reformation. Society started considering the health status of women and their families, improving sexual lives, and promoting freedom of parent’s choice at birth. In their earlier times, this theory was also closely linked with social Darwinism and Eugenics. Currently, more than 230,000 people are born onto this earth every day. They all consume resources to maintain their life. Population control, however, is not an impossible phenomenon to maintain. On the other hand, population control is often associated with a means in the hands of the rich to control the population of poor people, mainly the third world population, by drug experimentation and birth pill control.

History of Population Control

A book named ‘Fatal Misconception The Struggle to Control World Population’ written by Matthew Connelly, gave an overview of the history of population control. The book revealed that a meeting held by the world’s billionaires in 2009 had shown their commitment to controlling the world population. It is estimated that more than 90% of the 21^st-century world population was born in the poverty-stricken global south. The population control myth has a dark past and history. Connelly attempts to shed light on the history of population control by depicting a story of how few people tried to control others’ lives without being answerable to anyone. To him, population control is a densely conservative social attitude that looks on other people as a problem. Moreover, the denial of a woman’s right to control her fertility to produce less than she desires or vice versa is also a form of population control. A prominent name in US history before the first world war, Margaret Sanger, who gained prominence as a supporter of women’s right to abortion, gravitated from campaigners for the rights of working women to aid the restrictions imposed on working-class to parent children. This political compromise is not limited to Sanger, but many early activists have gone through the same course. The influential ideas of eugenics were the key motivations for Sanger. In the following years, she successfully launched many movements for world population control. Instead of educating women about birth and birth control processes, including contraceptives, they devised techniques that could be used by illiterate women to control their birth and suffer the side effects without prior knowledge. At the end of the 2^nd world war, population control movements started gaining mainstream influence. The world was gaining independence from the European masters. The capitalist west and the global south developed a huge wealth gap. The population explosion in the global south was exploited to make ‘population control’ a necessary thing. Paul Erlich’s book ‘The Population Bomb’ in 1968 encouraged world population as the biggest crisis. The groups like Population Council and International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) were established.

How to control population growth

Population control is necessary to prevent the ecosystem from overburdening and to maintain a healthy climate around sapiens. There are several ways depicting how to control population growth. Few are discussed below, which need individual as well as collective efforts to practically realize these solutions.

• Women Empowerment

Women’s empowerment can greatly help to control the world population. As women are more responsible for childbirth, educating them can bring real change. Educating the women would help women to access better health care resources along with acquiring a job. Research has shown that educated women gave fewer births as compared to illiterate women. Moreover, educated women can better use the methods which prevent birth.

• Family Planning Practices

Family planning is necessary to control unwanted and unplanned births. Educating men and women about the contraception methodology can increasingly benefit family planning and world population control. Iran started practicing family planning in 1989 in its policy. Within the timeframe of one decade, its fertility rate fell from 5.6 births/woman to 2.6 births/woman. Therefore, family planning is a great tool in achieving the goals of population control.

• Government Incentives

Governments must indulge themselves in population control efforts to realize practical outcomes. UK charities named Population Matters are waiting for government incentives and interests in the process of population control. The promotion of ‘Responsible Parenthood’ and restriction of subsidies after the second child must be ensured. These measures are related to the institutions that have great potential to address the issue of population control.

• Interest-based Education

Interest-based education has more potential to reach the target audience. As seen in the US-based Population Media Center, women are more likely to listen to and comprehend radio soap operas. It features stories about reproductive issues and has an audience of over 500 million people in more than 50 states. Therefore, entertaining, and interesting education is more likely to give ears.

• One-Child Legislation

Although China’s one-child policy used coercive methods and forced abortions to execute its policy as reported by Amnesty International, it was successful in executing the policy into reality. The fertility rate fell from six births/woman to 1.6 births/woman from 1960 to 2014. Therefore, this policy can play an important role in controlling the world population.

World Health Organization Population Control

The World Health Organization has played an important role in health and nutritional issues since the end of the Second World War. However, the World Health Organization in population control has taken very limited measures. World Health Organization (WHO) played a significant role in research projects of human heredity studies. The little-known knowledge of the genetic structure of our population was a concerning issue for public health and human population control. WHO conducted a medico-anthropological, demographic, and genetic study of the human population to maintain their focus on population growth and trends? In the post-cold war era, WHO considered population growth and control as a socio-economic concern. Later, WHO turned to population control as a central health problem in the last quarter of the twentieth century. The organization’s core values are deviating from the agency to pursue a large-scale fertility limitation and related commitments to population control. These core principles are the agency’s commitment to standing as a technical and nonpolitical organization and adhering to its focus on providing health services around the globe. Moreover, its quest to maintain friendly and cooperative alliances with health institutions in the developing world. The retention of autonomy and freedom under the umbrella of the UN is its core value. These values restrict the global agency from pursuing any aggressive population control initiative by limiting fertility or using related techniques.

Impacts of Population Growth

Population growth means the uninterrupted growth of population in the already scarce availability of resources. Therefore, the impacts of population growth include more ecological degradation, a rise in conflicts, and a greater risk of extensive disasters. All these impacts are owing to the rise in consumption of resources like food, water, energy, healthcare, housing, transportation, and more.

• Ecological Degradation

The rise in population would put constant pressure on available resources. The unhealthy processes of deforestation would spike the damage to biodiversity, therefore, disturbing the natural ecological system. Moreover, the increased rate of pollution and hazardous emissions in the environment are other impacts of population growth. According to research conducted by Wynes and Nicholas in 2017, 58.6 tones of CO2 emissions would be reduced if the family had just one fewer child.

• Rise in Conflicts

The rise in the global population put pressure on the available natural resources. The threats of wars and conflicts over natural resources like water, land, or sea are likely to occur. The conflicts over natural resources have already begun in many regions of the world, which are likely to tense if the population growth is unchecked.

• Greater Risks of Extensive Disasters

The increased risk of extensive disasters is expected of the population explosion. The core reason is that the increased rate of the population leads to the aggressive exploitation of natural resources. This led to the destruction of natural habitats available to animals and wildlife. In turn, humans are getting in more contact with wildlife where the transmission of fatal diseases is common. The common examples are the Ebola virus, Zika virus, Covid-19, and West Nile Virus.

Advantages of Population Control

Population control has several advantages. Population control fosters a prosperous and healthy life. The controlled population has better chances to get good health, education, and development. Furthermore, population control is imperative to maintain a balanced and optimized ecosystem. These advantages of population growth are detailed below:

A Healthy and Prosperous Life is assured with a Controlled Population

 Poverty surfaces when the income of a certain group of people is lower than the normal expenses required to maintain. They find it difficult to feed themselves and their facilities. Moreover, unemployment is certain to occur due to the rise in competition and restricted employment. Governments find it difficult to provide basic health facilities to all. On the contrary, countries with a limited population enjoy several benefits. They are more likely to give basic life needs like health and education free to their citizens. They are more likely to introduce welfare packages. Governments can build their infrastructure, scientific research, and other advancements.

Population Control is significant for Environmental and ecological Preservation

All humans are dependent on the earth and its environment. Humans are consuming natural resources for their basic needs. The delicate balance of planet earth is disturbed when humans use its resources in a less balanced way. The balance is not possible if there is a difference between resources available and their consumption. Therefore, it disturbs the natural ecological balance of the planet earth. The outcomes of exhaustive use of natural resources are deforestation, mining, and the rising pollution of land, air, and water. Thus, population control can prevent damage to the environment and ecology of our planet.

Effects of Population Control

The effects of population control are numerous. They include both the positive effects of population control and the negative effects of population control. A few effects are listed below.

• It reduces the rate of births per region, thus contributing to ease in competition.
• It can help in the reduction of pollution, deforestation, and global warming.
• It helps to enhance the quality of life and increase age expectancy.
• It can help in the preservation of natural habitats.
• The marginalized gender of humans, women, are expected to prosper and grow healthy.

Conclusion

To sum up, population control is crucial for prevalent and coming generations so that a balance between nature and the human population is maintained. To control the population, several tools are utilized to achieve this end. For instance, education, family planning, contraception techniques, etc., are used for birth control. Multiple advantages are observed for humans as well as for ecological preservation. Therefore, population control is necessary to maintain a balance between human life and available natural resources. The coming generations must not struggle against the scarcity of resources, hazardous pollutants, and extensive disasters.