Page 34 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 16

Health & Healing

(b) The fundamental social and eco-
nomic development of poor countries in
which rapid population growth is both a
contributing cause and a consequence of
widespread poverty.
Is Government Population
Control Necessary?
There is growing awareness that
the world “population explosion” is
over or, indeed, that it never actually
increase their abortion, steril- this view is that mandatory pro- materialized in the first place.
ization and contraception-use grams may be needed and that
rates: “Pay women in the LDCs we should be considering these When the population scare began in
to have abortions as a method possibilities now.” the late 1960s, the world population
of family planning.… Similarly, • Considering using coercion in was increasing at a rate of more
there have been some contro- other forms, such as withhold- than 2% per year. It is now increas-
versial, but remarkably suc- ing disaster and food aid unless ing at less than 1% per year, and
cessful, experiments in India in a targeted LDC implements this rate is expected to continue to
which financial incentives, along population control programs: drop due to continuing population
with other motivational devices, “On what basis should such control activities.
were used to get large numbers food resources then be provid-
of men to accept vasectomies.” ed? Would food be considered The Kissinger Report predicted that
• Concentrating on “indoctrinat- an instrument of national the population of the world would
ing” [NSSM-200’s language] the power? Will we be forced to stabilize at about 10 to 13 billion,
children of LDCs with anti-na- make choices as to whom we with some demographers predicting
talist propaganda: “Without can reasonably assist, and if so, that the world population would bal-
diminishing in any way the should population efforts be a loon to as high as 22 billion people.
effort to reach these adults, the criterion for such assistance? Now it is estimated that by 2100
obvious increased focus of at- population will level out at around
tention should be to change the Throughout the implementation 11 billion, although many depend-
attitudes of the next generation, process, the United States must hide able estimates put the peak popula-
those who are now in elementa- its tracks and disguise its population tion at a much lesser number.
ry school or younger.” control programs as altruistic, by
• Designing and instigating using the euphemisms so well-be- The worldwide application of the
propaganda programs and loved by all elements of the culture strategies recommended in The
sex-education curricula intend- of death: Kissinger Report has resulted in
ed to convince couples to have regional population growth rates
smaller families, regardless of There is also the danger that some LDC decelerating so fast that they are
social or cultural considerations: leaders will see developed country pressures already causing severe economic and
“The following areas appear to for family planning as a form of economic social problems in Europe, the for-
contain significant promise in or racial imperialism; this could well create mer Soviet Union, Japan, Singapore
effecting fertility declines and a serious backlash.… The U.S. can help and Hong Kong. Many developing
are discussed in subsequent sec- to minimize charges of an imperialist mo- nations are now aging even more
tions … concentrating on the tivation behind its support of population rapidly than the developed world,
education and indoctrination of activities by repeatedly asserting that such which foretells even more severe
the rising generation of children support derives from a concern with: problems for their relatively under-
regarding the desirability of developed economies. The devel-
smaller family size.” (a) The right of the individual couple oped nations had the opportunity
• Investigating the desirability to determine freely and responsibly the to become rich before they became
of mandatory [NSSM-200’s number and spacing of children and to old; if a nation becomes old first, it
language] population control have information, education, and means to will never become rich.
programs: “The conclusion of do so; and

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