Argument Outline 1
ARGUMENT OUTLINE 1: POPULATION CONTROL
Due Wednesday, September 24. The general format of an argument outline can be found in the sidebar to the left. Direct link.
The current global population is over 6.5 billion people. There is much evidence that at rates of Western consumption, the current population size cannot be sustained. Global population is forecast to reach 9 billion by 2050, and then to keep growing. At the most efficient rates of consumption, the upper limit for a sustainable population is estimated to be right about 9 billion.
Population size is an important issue for environmental ethics. Some argue it is the most important issue because all other policies are moot if the size of the global population is not brought under control. If current rates of population growth are not reversed, then famine and disease will limit population size. Nearly all problems of resource use and environmental degradation are in one way or another linked to population size. However, limiting population growth is a difficult issue because many policy options involve violations of what many believe to be non-negotiable individual freedoms and reproductive rights.
Give an argument supporting or criticizing a means of controlling population size through national policy. Limit your support to arguments that would be expressed either by a deontologist or a utilitarian.
For instance, you might choose to support China’s one-child policy and do so for a reason that a Kantian would approve of. (The objection need not be expressed according to any particular ethical framework.) Your position will be stated in #2. Also state the framework you are adopting in #2 or #3.
I would expect you to spend at least an hour on background reading and research. Not everyone will read the same thing or have the same interests, and this self-directed reading and research will be the basis for our discussion on Wednesday, Sept. 24. (Please do keep track of what you’ve read, as I may ask.)
Some suggestions for starting your research:
Global population size: what the problem is
Treehugger: “The Elephant in the Room: Overpopulation”
Hoover Institute: “The Population Bomb Redux”
Wikipedia: “Malthusian Catastrophe”
China’s One-child Policy
Wikipedia: “One-child Policy”
BBC News: “Has China’s One-child Policy Worked?”
The U.S.
CSMonitor: “Fuse on the ‘Population Bomb’ Has Been Relit”
Salon: “Ask Pablo, population control”
Other nations
Wikipedia: “Population control”
Committee on Women, Population, and the Environment: “Resources on Population Control”
For Bill McKibben Fans:
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Dr. Brister, you’re obviously someone concerned about the sustainability of our population. I’d like to offer a completely different perspective on the subject.
I am the author of a book titled “Five Short Blasts: A New Economic Theory Exposes The Fatal Flaw in Globalization and Its Consequences for America.” I think you may find this book to be very interesting because population density lies at the heart of this new economic theory. To make a long story short, as population density rises beyond some optimum level, per capita consumption of products begins to decline out of the need to conserve space. People who live in crowded conditions simply don’t have enough space to use and store many products. This declining per capita consumption, in the face of rising productivity (per capita output, which always rises), inevitably yields rising unemployment and poverty.
For most people who see never-ending population growth as a problem, their concerns are rooted in a concern for the environment. Economists, on the other hand, shrug off such concerns, claiming that man is ingenious enough to overcome any obstacles to population growth. Resources can be used more efficiently and recycled, pollution can be abated, and so on. Making matters worse, they can’t envision how an economy can remain healthy without further population growth. So our government and business leaders hold fast to their “pro growth” approach.
This book, however, finally offers the ultimate weapon for environmentalists and anyone concerned about population growth – a solid economic argument for a reduced population. It explains how everyone’s wallet is directly impacted by growth which has become cancerous, driving up unemployment and eroding their finances and quality of life. It’s written in plain language, not economic gibberish, and is aimed at average Americans.
If you’re interested in learning more about this important new economic theory, I invite you to visit my web site at OpenWindowPublishingCo.com. There you can read the preface, join in the blog discussion and, of course, purchase the book if you like. (It’s also available at Amazon.com.) However, in light of your role as an educator, I would be very happy to send you a complementary copy. Just E-mail me a shipping address and I’ll drop a copy in the mail. I think you’d find that this theory will add a whole new dimension to your class’ discussion of overpopulation.
Keep up your efforts to raise concern about our growing population problem.
Pete Murphy
Posted September 17, 2008, 6:49 amAuthor, Five Short Blasts