A knowing of the necessity for humanity to exercise
restraint regarding procreation.
Over population is not
the only cause of our problems to be sure, but never the less it is a
significant factor. And it should not just be viewed as a problem creator; there
are serious quality of life issues involved with this problem. What is it that
makes us feel that all life is about, is production and work? Well, when
resources become less and less and of poorer and poorer quality, that is all
life becomes; it's degrading and it is a shame to spoil such potential for life
and beauty. Are we really happy that in general our landscapes are so blighted
and devoid of large trees?
It's not about telling
others what to do, the world is doing a fine job of chopping each other up
with machetes and making plans to nuke each other out of existence, without any
outside
interference. But if we truly have this conviction about population control, it
seems we
should be able to demonstrate how to do it and it's benefits. And that we care
more about children, not less.
How it would look in
this theoretical community is hard to say exactly and would be up to
the community to decide; but basically what is being suggested is
that of an example of what a stable
population would look like, not a continuously expanding one. The common
understanding is that two children per couple is what maintains a
steady population and if that's true that's what should/would be
adopted, basically. However, China has that policy and is
still growing. Some think the number looks more like 1.5.
The calculations really await, it seems, an unbiased and
unprejudiced effort. And sometimes having more children is called
for, in other words, increasing the population base because of
something like natural disasters, disease and so on.
It is assumed "the family" is the center or
foundation of society..... and that this is the way it has always
been and will always be. This may be akin to those who say they will
always be war, there will always be poor, there will always be
prisons and "disease" is just a fact of life. Most intelligent
people at least question the latter, and in this person's opinion,
the more intelligent feel these pathological conditions are most
definitely within the possibility of transformation.
I am in no way suggesting we should not know who
are parents are; as a matter of fact, I suspect that committed
couples will always constitute the vast majority of members in
successful communities. This said however, there is a great
deal of social and economic pathology in society that may well be
traced back to the unquestionably esteemed "family".
Particularly as regards to overpopulation. Overpopulation, while possibly involving many issues, the family at center, as
seen as a primary source of social interaction and the generating of
some sort of favorable economic situation, is unquestionably (in
this thinker's mind) associated with a great deal of negatives.
This proposal, while in no
way should threaten the sanctity and privacy of the couple, "the
family" or husband-and-wife, it does of course, emphasize community
over family. And this would be seen as acknowledging our
interdependence and the striving towards sanity and maturity.
