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Here is a new essay for Georgetown...

Discuss a global issue and how you would solve it.


With the advent of technology and the expansion of human rights, an oft-ignored, yet grave problem is the overpopulation of our world. As resources everywhere are gradually exhausted, a question which will arise is how we as a society can effectively slow such population increases. Like something that no one has ever seen, a scarcity in resources could eventually force much of the world into poverty and hunger of unparalleled magnitude.

Developing countries with rapidly growing populations that were until recently headed for a doubling of their population are now looking at population stability or even population decline – not because of falling birth rates, but because of rapidly rising death rates. This reversal in the death rate trend marks a tragic new development in world demography. In the absence of a concerted effort by national governments and the international community to quickly shift to smaller families, events in many countries could spiral out of control, leading to spreading political instability and economic decline. By 2050, water availability per person in countries such as Ethiopia, Nigeria and Pakistan will be well below the minimum needed to satisfy basic food and residential needs. This incredible catastrophe can be avoided, however, through a system of governmental and societal planning. Though traditions may need to be forfeited, the current fertility rates in excess of six children per woman in these countries must be drastically reduced in order to curb the overpopulation crisis.

In countries that are implementing such plans, the combination of falling fertility, rising incomes, and rising educational levels will lead to population stabilization within the foreseeable future. Economic and social gains and the decline in fertility will reinforce each other. However in countries where these steps are not being taken, falling living standards will reinforce the prevailing high fertility that suggests children are a suitable form of income. By further aggravating this problem, many parts of the world are entering a demographic trap that will keep living standards at the subsistence level and eventually lead to rising mortality as the land and water resource bas deteriorates. Nations facing this crisis will thus either shift quickly to smaller families and advance, or eventually fall back into a pre-industrial system where the economic and social systems break down under mounting population pressure.

As we look to the future, the challenge for world leaders is to help countries maximize the prospects for breaking out of their population crisis before demographic fatigue takes over and nature brutally forces them back in time. Increased availability and awareness of contraception, improved literacy rates, and better economic prospects are all areas in which governments must step in. At issue is whether we as a species can understand the consequences of continuing population growth and act quickly to slow it. With the right leadership, I believe we can.


I like it, considering the prompt!

By Ilcapo (Ilcapo) on Tuesday, October 05, 2004 - 09:02 pm: Edit

I know...it might seem like a boring topic - but I need some input!

By Achat (Achat) on Tuesday, October 05, 2004 - 09:16 pm: Edit

What does "demographic fatigue" mean? Does it mean a group of people are (or will be) too tired and stretched thin to solve their own problems?

You haven't given specific examples of how population can be controlled. You have mentioned literacy but I'd suggest mentioning literacy among women. There are many studies that suggest that when female literacy is raised, childbirths per family go down.

I'll give more feedback later. Gotta go back to the VP debates! Liked it overall, although as you say, the topic does not give much room to say anything about you as a person.

By Ilcapo (Ilcapo) on Tuesday, October 05, 2004 - 09:34 pm: Edit

Achat - yes, that is precisely what demographic fatigue means. it means that a country is so burdened by its enormous population and the resources the population requires that it begins to fall backwards instead of moving forwards.


I will try to expand on the literacy and education stuff - but my main point was that fertility rates need to be drastically reduced...which I guess what your saying is I need to explain HOW those rates can be reduced.

By Achat (Achat) on Tuesday, October 05, 2004 - 10:48 pm: Edit

There is a link between female literacy and reducing childbirths per family. You should look it up.

By Achat (Achat) on Wednesday, October 06, 2004 - 07:52 am: Edit

I don't know what this sentence and the next has to do with overpopulation:
"Developing countries with rapidly growing populations that were until recently headed for a doubling of their population are now looking at population stability or even population decline – not because of falling birth rates, but because of rapidly rising death rates. This reversal in the death rate trend marks a tragic new development in world demography. "

And why "reversal in the death rate trend"? Don't get it.

By Ilcapo (Ilcapo) on Wednesday, October 06, 2004 - 01:15 pm: Edit

Let's see...

What I am saying is that instead othe populations increasing, a lack of resources (food, shelter) are causing death rates to soar. Thus the populations are stabilizing NOT because of low fertility rates, but because of high death rates. I'll try to fix it.