In a previous blog post, Desire ≠ Wisdom, Part 2, I mentioned the issue of people having more than two biological children. Before posting, I reconsidered. I worried that readers with more than two children might feel judged by me. Many of my friends have more than 2 biological children, so let me be clear: If you have more than 2 biological children, I don’t judge you! And I hope you won’t judge me for flying overseas for vacation, which I also mentioned in my post. I raised the issue to point out that there’s a slippery slope when we judge others and their choices; none of us is perfect, and the key is to try to make MOGO choices consciously and with integrity to the best of our ability.

But today I realized that if I refuse to speak about pressing issues like human overpopulation, and instead just use them as examples of personal choices, I run the risk of moral relativism at best, and participating, through silence, in potential environmental catastrophe at worst. So it’s time for me to speak about this topic directly. But let me be clear again: I am speaking to my educated, largely privileged, computer-using audience. I am not speaking to parents who are unlikely to watch most of their babies grow into adults, or who need extra hands to plow barely fertile soil, or who have no access to contraception, or who are raped. Around the globe, 1 billion people have no access to clean water, let alone contraception. Many African women spend 5 hours each day obtaining water. Hundreds of millions of people are malnourished. There is overpopulation in these countries and not enough basic resources for the citizenry. Yet one can hardly blame a family for having 10 children when the likelihood of even a few reaching adulthood is in question.

On average, a child in the U.S. will consume as much as dozens of children in poor countries, proportionally causing far greater environmental harm and using a vastly greater share of the earth’s limited resources. So, even though there is enough food and water in wealthy countries for the most part, overpopulation is an issue in rich nations, just as it is in many poor nations. This is no either/or. Some western European countries are urging their citizens to have more children because their populations are in decline, but surely these same countries could welcome more immigrants, and their citizens could adopt orphaned children — maintaining their workforce but not bringing more people onto a finite and overcrowded planet.

But human overpopulation has become a taboo subject. When Sarah Palin was named John McCain’s Vice Presidential candidate, her many children were considered a plus. She was seen as a good, loving mom of five beautiful and patriotic children. When the news recently reported that a California woman gave birth to octuplets, no one dared to raise the question of whether it’s ethical, seemingly through artificial insemination and technologies, to bring that many children into an overpopulated world, use that many disposable diapers, cause that much pollution, and use up that many resources.

I believe that a sustainable human population on planet earth requires far fewer than our current 6.5 billion people and growing. Yet, we don’t talk about this critical subject. We thank God for the blessing of each baby, and despite millions of orphans, dare not suggest that perhaps families who want many kids stop at two biological children and adopt others who desperately need good and loving homes.

This taboo must end. We mustn’t judge people for having more than two biological children, but we must have a spirited discussion and debate about this most pressing challenge and issue and provide the education and opportunities so that people can make wise, healthy family planning choices for themselves and the world.

I invite your comments.

~ Zoe

Zoe has been away on business, so this is a repost, originally posted 2/4/09.

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Filed under: MOGO (Most Good), population issues, systemic change, third side thinking, U.S. policy | Tagged: children, Environmental Preservation, human overpopulation, human rights, population issues, social justice, systemic change, taboos | 2 Comments »