Where would all the people go?

[QuasiCatholic]

Not sure this is a theology question or a statistical modeling question (ha ha) but If all abortions ended tomorrow, what would we do with all the extra people in a generation or two?

We already have overcrowding in a lot of areas (think India), high unemployment, water shortages and other natural resource depletion problems that are expected to get much worse, etc…

Catholicism teaches that we shouldn’t terminate pregnancies, that we shouldn’t commit suicide, that we should not use birth control and that we should take all reasonable measures to try to extend our lives in the face of disease, etc.

That sounds like a perfect recipe for overcrowding … and for the poverty and widespread diseases (think the plague) that often do with it.

 

[Hoosier_Daddy]

We would collect taxes from them. Perhaps one of them would discover a cost effective alternative energy, or increase crop production 100 fold. Or desalinate water cheaply.

Overpopulation is a myth.

All the current population of the entire world could live in single family dwellings in the state of Texas. That leaves the natural resources of the entire rest of the world.

 

[Valhk]

We would collect taxes from them. Perhaps one of them would discover a cost effective alternative energy, or increase crop production 100 fold. Or desalinate water cheaply.

Overpopulation is a myth.

All the current population of the entire world could live in single family dwellings in the state of Texas. That leaves the natural resources of the entire rest of the world.

I’ve also heard it expressed that the entire population of the world could fit shoulder to shoulder and only take up the city of Los Angeles.

But yes, the methods of producing more food would have to advanced very quickly in order to accommodate (or we could stop throwing away food)

Just found this; it’s an interesting article for the UN’s environment program

unep.org/wed/2013/quickfacts/

 

[petra22]

Did I not hear that the world’s population (Russia and US for instance) has declined to a critical low? Something about not enough births to replace the deaths…

 

[Valhk]

Did I not hear that the world’s population (Russia and US for instance) has declined to a critical low? Something about not enough births to replace the deaths…

I am unsure about Russia in this instance, but it is true with the US. That’s why Social Security will have to be either done away with or changed. There are more people taking out of the bucket than people who are putting in. Baby Boomers growing older and families are generally encouraged to be smaller these days.

 

[Gertabelle]

Not sure this is a theology question or a statistical modeling question (ha ha) but If all abortions ended tomorrow, what would we do with all the extra people in a generation or two?

We already have overcrowding in a lot of areas (think India), high unemployment, water shortages and other natural resource depletion problems that are expected to get much worse, etc…

Catholicism teaches that we shouldn’t terminate pregnancies, that we shouldn’t commit suicide, that we should not use birth control and that we should take all reasonable measures to try to extend our lives in the face of disease, etc.

That sounds like a perfect recipe for overcrowding … and for the poverty and widespread diseases (think the plague) that often do with it.

Interesting thought experiment…

If all abortions ended tomorrow, maybe unmarried couples would stop fornicating

It could happen

Gertie

 

[seagal]

If all abortions ended tomorrow maybe people would be a lot more careful about not participating in baby-making activities.

 

[chimo]

Not sure this is a theology question or a statistical modeling question (ha ha) but If all abortions ended tomorrow, what would we do with all the extra people in a generation or two?

We already have overcrowding in a lot of areas (think India), high unemployment, water shortages and other natural resource depletion problems that are expected to get much worse, etc…

Catholicism teaches that we shouldn’t terminate pregnancies, that we shouldn’t commit suicide, that we should not use birth control and that we should take all reasonable measures to try to extend our lives in the face of disease, etc.

That sounds like a perfect recipe for overcrowding … and for the poverty and widespread diseases (think the plague) that often do with it.

We have all the resources to feed and clothe everyone on this planet many times over and we could still clothe and feed millions more. The resources of this planet sadly is not shared.

 

[PaulfromIowa]

We are hardly “overcrowded”, just the opposite. The industrialized world is facing disaster from our low birth rates.

 

[thistle]

Not sure this is a theology question or a statistical modeling question (ha ha) but If all abortions ended tomorrow, what would we do with all the extra people in a generation or two?

We already have overcrowding in a lot of areas (think India), high unemployment, water shortages and other natural resource depletion problems that are expected to get much worse, etc…

Catholicism teaches that we shouldn’t terminate pregnancies, that we shouldn’t commit suicide, that we should not use birth control and that we should take all reasonable measures to try to extend our lives in the face of disease, etc.

That sounds like a perfect recipe for overcrowding … and for the poverty and widespread diseases (think the plague) that often do with it.

The world is not and never will be overpopulated. Do not confuse the widespread suffering of the poor and starving as meaning there are too many people. There are not. The problems are caused by unfair distribution of resources by the powerful and the corrupt.

 

[JosieN]

There is always room for more.

Matthew 6: 26-27

“Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them, are not you more important than they?”

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

That sounds like a perfect recipe for overcrowding … and for the poverty and widespread diseases (think the plague) that often do with it.

That kinda makes the problem solve itself don’t you think? It’s a grisly one but do realize that it also explains why advocating the misconception of overcrowding will eventually make one wonder why the same advocates aren’t the first to make room.

 

[KennC]

Seems then that these kids flooding across your southern border is actually going to help you out! Tax payers after they’re grown and educated!

 

[grafs50]

I could be wrong but Im pretty sure the answer has to come from a bigger picture view (if overpopulation would actually be a problem). I doubt overpopulation would be a problem if everyone that had a call to the religious life went and couples only had children as the church intended.

 

[sw85]

Did I not hear that the world’s population (Russia and US for instance) has declined to a critical low? Something about not enough births to replace the deaths…

The U.S. is hovering at replacement-level fertility only because of unchecked mass immigration, most of it illegal. Russia very nearly hit lowest-low fertility (a kind of demographic point-of-no-return beyond which population collapse is virtually guaranteed) a few years ago but they seem to be turning things around. World population is still increasing, mainly because of the Third World, which, curiously, despite poverty and all those other ills, isn’t in fact dying en masse.

But yes, all the talk of overcrowding is silly. Westerners are so fat and so far from the outermost edge of survival that they haven’t the faintest idea what it takes to actually survive. There’s about 1700 calories in a pound of oats, and I can buy a bushel (that’s 32 pounds) on the international commodities exchange right now for about $3.60. Do the math.

 

[QuestLove]

We have all the resources to feed and clothe everyone on this planet many times over and we could still clothe and feed millions more. The resources of this planet sadly is not shared.

Totally agree.
The live birth rate in many industrialized countries is around 2 live births for every woman, however, in some places it is even as high as 7 live births for every woman (eg. places like Niger and Mali). Health and education policies in these developing nations are moving towards to decreasing these rates. Some places have even seen a drastic decrease in the rate from 6:1 to ~2:1 over a 20 year period.
So if one is interested in maintaining the higher rates, it would be more prudent for churches/societies to address areas of inequalities in some of these areas rather than only relying on banning contraceptives.(I did not mention abortion because I don’t know of any region where that is endorsed as a family planning method)
I have always been of the view that a woman (or couple) is more likely to have a larger family if they can afford it. Although “afford” is a relative term. In the developed world, I think people use it to mean can I send my kids to a good school or college while in the developing world it may mean can I feed my kids.

 

[QuestLove]

Interesting thought experiment…

If all abortions ended tomorrow, maybe unmarried couples would stop fornicating

It could happen

Gertie

Lol…I don’t know about that. I see lots of unmarried couples (at work etc.) who find no problems shacking up and having babies out of wedlock. It’s the lack of accountability that’s the aphrodisiac.
If that happened to me me when I was younger I would have to explain to parents, grandparents, aunties, uncles, my pastor etc. It just wouldn’t be worth it…
Stuff like that keeps you in line.

 

[Auntie_A]

If all abortions ended tomorrow maybe people would be a lot more careful about not participating in baby-making activities.

While this may seem an improbable idea, it actually brings up the premise of what abortion has done to our society and how we view our ability to procreate. I know way too many people who criticize those who view sex as a procreative act, yet they seem to focus on sex as merely an expression of affection or pleasure only; when an “unexpected” pregnancy results, there is such a din about mistakes, embarrassment, shock, and poor planning. Yet in other cultures and in our past, there has always been an acceptance of birth being a consequence of sexual intercourse.

The entire focus on abortion as an “alternative” has created a complete change in responsibility in both men and women.

I don’t think the past is always the complete example of improvement either; many men still played around, many women and children were still abandoned. I just think that the more recent era’s abortion mentality has created a disposable mentality in far too many people. The value of life has definitely deflated.

This thread’s question could be answered by further questions: what would happen if people understood and accepted that the sexual act, while pleasurable, was primarily procreative, or open to the creation of a new person endowed with a right to live; how would this change dating, mating, family pressures, marriage, child rearing, and society as a whole? School? Education? Media? Entertainment? Healthcare? Finance?

Have we yet found our way to a humane approach to our sexuality? Something life giving and life affirming that does not exploit, but respects and supports?

 

[Qaletaqa]

Interesting thought experiment…

If all abortions ended tomorrow, maybe unmarried couples would stop fornicating

It could happen

Gertie

Guess married people don’t have abortion then, guess they also don’t cheat

 

[PennyinCanada]

When I was a kid, dating someone did not have the expectation of recreational sex. When young women moved out on their own, if they didn’t have enough for rent they got a female friend to move in to share the rent. Not their boyfriends. Living together was frowned upon in society, and it was supported by the media. Shocking by today’s standard. I remember seeing the Dick Van **** show with Mary Tyler Moore and any bedroom scenes showed them fully clothed, not in bed, and the room had twin beds that were nicely made. Television at that time had a sensitivity to the fact that young children were watching. And they were a married couple in the show. If there was the kind of tv on that we have now, parents would have thrown the tv set out the door. My point is, there was a time not long ago that abortion was illegal and the explosion of sexually transmitted diseases and types of diseases you could catch, and babies born out of wedlock, and young women with babies abandoned by their boyfriends, were all in small numbers. I think if young people today could be beamed back in time, which wasn’t that long ago, they would be shocked at how different life was then. Girls did get pregnant, yes, but not in the numbers we see today, and girls going through pregnancy without being married was a sober reminder to young women that they take on a great risk when sexually active and not married. So abortion was illegal a few decades back and the pill and the following demand for abortion has brought all this on our heads. We’ve disconnected the fact that sex makes babies. (We live in a society now where we have government sanctioned abortion, murdering babies in the millions, but we can’t have Dick Van D8ke’s name on a forum. The insanity.) Maybe if abortion was no longer available, women would say they will not take on the risk of pregnancy and men would change their hearts not to put women in such a position. Sounds like real love to me, love that waits.