Global one Child Policy: The Dangers of Unrestricted Breeding

Human beings have a natural drive towards reproduction that is both primal and socially reinforced. We desire to have children to bolster our self esteem, carry on our lineage, fit in socially and for many other valid reasons. These desires have led to a rapidly expanding population on the planet earth. At the beginning of the 20th Century, the world population was under 1.6 billion people, whereas today it has risen to a staggering 6.8 billion. The world faces problems in several key areas as a result of overpopulation: water supplies are diminishing, food production cannot keep up and poverty level living is on the rise. In order to curb these disturbing trends and ensure that the human race can thrive, the world must mandate and enforce a one child per couple breeding policy. According to demographic studies if this policy was enforced, the world's population would decline to a sustainable 1.6 by the year 2150 (Lamb, 2009, para 11).

The Earth does not contain infinite amounts of natural resources. The limited quantities of resources that we possess must be split amongst the population. One of the most precarious resources on the planet is water. Water is used for farming, dust control, thermoelectric power, basic cleaning, wildlife, fishing and of course drinking. As the population of the world has risen, the amount of water available per person has dropped to dangerous levels. By 2025 one billion people will be living in counties facing absolute water scarcity (Brown, 1999, para 12). By enforcing a one child policy, we can reduce our population to the level where water is freely available to all. In fact, we would return to a situation where we will have vast water reserves. With this increase in water availability, problems such as drought, dwindling fish schools and potable water for drinking would return to a point where they were no longer a concern.

Malthus (1798) stated that "Population, when unchecked, increases in a geometrical [exponential] ratio. Subsistence increases only in an arithmetical ratio. A slight acquaintance with numbers will show the immensity of the first power in comparison with the second." This becomes a reality in the world as we watch population levels swing wildly out of control. Based on current population trends, the world population could exceed ten billion within fifty years. The problem, as Malthus stated, is how to feed that number of people. Black, Morris, and Bryce (2003) state that over 16,000 children die of hunger every day. That number will simply become worse as the population continues to rise at a speed that food supplies cannot keep up with. By endorsing a one child policy the population level can be brought down to match that of food production. Failing to do so will result in the painful death of millions through starvation.

According to the World Bank 1.4 billion people live below the poverty line. That number has increased by half a billion people over only three years. As the population continues to increase, the number of people living in abject poverty will continue to increase. This is tied directly to economics. Conventional reasoning would hold that more people means more consumers which means more revenue. The truth is actually the opposite. Balkin (2004) explains it thus:

A study of GDP trends and population growth in 72 countries during 1968-74 and 1977-83 found that higher population growth slowed GDP growth in the short term. Another study of 82 countries found that in the 1980s average income per person grew 2.5% more per year in the 41 countries with the slowest population growth than in the 41 countries with the fastest population growth. (para 10).

Instituting a one child policy would help the economy improve globally. The end result of an improved economy is a better quality of life for all. But if the population continues to rise, then as the economy declines our children suffer needlessly.

The world is rapidly reaching a population crisis that will result in