All this talk about natural selection - what about the demographic transition? It is a proven fact that when women have access to education, they can make informed decisions about birth planning and pregnancy. The more educated a woman is - the less children she typically has. The 'third world' countries that currently have such high birth rates typically also have extremely high infant mortality rates as well - often times more than 50% of the children born are dead by age 5. The life expectancy in these countries is also typically less than 50 years old. So rather than trying to determine the ecological footprint of these communities and their families and how they compare to the developed world - we should be concerned with access to education and healthcare so that all women can make informed decisions about childbearing and the children they do have will grow up to adulthood - hopefully able to make informed, educated decisions about environmental stewardship.
LR Lewis
