Andrew Meulenberg <mules...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On the other hand, with uncontrolled population growth . . . > Population growth is not uncontrolled. On the contrary, it has largely stopped. What I mean is, the only age cohort that is growing is people in the Third World over age 40. Their numbers are increasing because healthcare in the Third World is much better than it was decades ago, so people live longer. As soon as that cohort reaches age 80, it will start to die off, and population growth will stop. Population only increases when the cohort from age 0 to 20 increases year by year. That has not happened since the 1980s. To put it another way, worldwide, the average couple now has just over two children, the replacement rate. The main reasons people no longer have many children are: 1. Contraceptives are widely available. 2. Couples no longer fear their children will die, so they do not have many "extra" children. Infant mortality in the Third World is now at about the same level it was in the US in 1963. 3. Children are no longer the only source of support for elderly people. Many countries now have some form of Social Security. 4. People worldwide have far more wealth than they had decades ago, so they can support themselves in old age. Extreme poverty has been reduced 30 to 50% since the 1980s (depending on how you measure it). It could easily be eliminated. See this video starting around minute 21: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FACK2knC08E
