by M. Alexander Wright
We’ve all heard stories about parents with more than two children who suffer from the nasty comments of other people in public places; it is implied that their choosing to bring more children into the world is unacceptable. The underlying beliefs of these comments are simple: There are too many people in the world and children are a burden. Jacqueline Kasun’s revised edition of The War Against Population: The Economics and Ideology of World Population Control shows that these beliefs are as true as the belief that Columbus defied when he set sail from Spain. What is more, just as Columbus sought a new route to the West Indies but ended up introducing Western civilization to a new continent, Kasun’s arguments could help unveil a lie and introduce a Western-dominated world to a new world of reduced poverty and greater self-sufficiency for developing nations, in addition to a greater appreciation for the dignity of the human person.
Kasun’s work dissects what she aptly calls “Overpopulation: The Unexamined Dogma.” Reading through the author’s well-documented argument, a person can only wonder how the fallacy of overpopulation—and its believers’ destructive solutions—has continued to survive this century’s assault of measurement and examination. The ultimate reason lies in the problem of power and the prideful blindness that comes with its assumption. Politicians, bureaucrats and activists ignore extensive contrary evidence so that they may continue in their attempts to control people. It is not a new problem; in Plato’s Republic, Socrates demonstrates that any attempt to control a society will ultimately break down when its rulers try to direct procreation. When any government seeks to socially engineer human action, it must progressively control the number of people it rules or failure will be its result.
The author, a professor of economics, investigates the assumptions underlying the overpopulation theory, its erroneous economic ideas and the corrosive effects of economic planning. In addition to sex education and trends in adolescent pregnancy, she also reveals the connection between population control and U.S. foreign policy. Finally, Kasun looks at the movement’s history, leaders and future. Each of the eight chapters provides a wealth of references and citations. While some parts require careful reading, this book can be read and enjoyed by both casual and scholarly readers.
Illustrating the flawed economic thinking of population control proponents, Kasun addresses the idea of “lifeboat economics” and contrasts this with proper economic consideration: “Not the least of the differences is that in economics humanity is viewed not only as the raison d’etre of other forms of wealth but as one of the sources of wealth; human labor and ingenuity are resources, means for creating wealth. In the lifeboat, human beings are pure burdens, straining the capacity of the boat. Which of these views is closer to reality?”
The contrast between these two understandings can be better grasped by comparing the movement’s catch phrases and emotionally charged terms to sound economic examination. One side suggests that we are facing “catastrophe” because the world has expanded “beyond the environment’s carrying capacity,” so we must reduce population to a “sustainable” level. The other side estimates that current worldwide agricultural production could be improved to heartily nourish six times the present population.
Unfortunately, as Kasun points out, the developed and developing worlds are limited by governments’ control attempts, especially those that have experimented with socialism. Leaders of developing countries receive aid in exchange for acquiescence to population control programs. Global environmental agreements constrain the poorest of people because of specious predictions. Much of the impetus, however, comes from the “West” through U.S. foreign policy and the United Nations.
Underlying it all, though, is a devious belief system that originated from the ideas of Malthus, Darwin and Marx, and was set in motion by the likes of Margaret Sanger and John Rockefeller III. These beliefs suggest a process of social evolution wherein the “unfit” are marginalized through abortion, birth control and sterilization.
Jacqueline Kasun’s book is an important work. We can only hope that the perception of an overpopulated world will ultimately meet the same fate as the perception that world is flat.
The War Against Population
Second Edition
Ignatius Press
Ph: 1-800-651-1531
ISBN: 0-89870-712-9
PRICE: $17.95
M. Alexander Wright has a Master of Politics from the University of Dallas and lives with his wife and daughter in Providence, R.I.
(This article courtesy of HLI Reports, a publication of Human Life International.)
