Many can see that the world is suffering from a major overpopulation problem. There are few who think that the Earth can hold more than it does right now. Some optimists think over ten billion while many religious leaders believe the earth can support fourty billion people. Yeah right. The earth population is over seven billion today and steadily on the increase.
Why?
Well there are lots of things to consider. Technology has aided us significantly. With this we were able to create new treatments for illnesses and new medicines. Therefore the average age of death is getting higher and higher. Which means that people are sticking around much longer to create a greater population. Everyone wants a baby. And not just any baby, a perfect little white United States citizen baby. And in other countries they may only want a perfect their nationality baby. When there are millions of orphans all over the world. People are still popping out kids.
This brings me to The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement (VHEMT). The first time I heard about this I thought it was completely whacked. Of course when you hear Extinction you are thinking a lemmings style suicide or something else crazy like that. But VHEMT takes a different approach. In order to be part of the movement all you have to do is promise not to have children, not to add anymore humans to an already over populated earth. Members of the movement are aware of what we have already done to the environment and know that it isn't getting better anytime soon. Most members know that the movement will never really succeed but at least they are helping a greater cause. Many choose to adopt from foreign countries or right here in the states. Some also already have kids but have choosen not to add any more.
Its a fairly simple concept that makes so much sense. But so many people need that picture perfect life where they are married and have their two perfect little kids who have everything in the world. They have to build new house over old forests because the vacant places are big enough or good enough. They have to buy all nice new things instead of buying second hand. I'm not saying this is every family, some are very aware of what they are doing and have kids and do all the things that help the environment and themselves. But just consider not haveing kids to save the planet? Think about it and check out this site.
"May we live long and die out"
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Thanks for the insight - great article!
Although the pull of having my own children is obviously very strong, I am sure that someday I will consider adopting children from another country that need a safe haven. It's important for us to realize how lucky we are, and not continue to take it for granted.
If we all agreed to maybe only have one or two kids instead of so many more, it might make a huge difference - who knows?
One of the easiest dreams or wishes to realize and bring to life is unfortunately life itself.
Most people don’t consider the responsibility this involves and the impact it will have on there actual lives!
I wasn't aware of VHEMT until reading your blog. This has been my view on having children for a while now.. I'm only 17 and I plan on adopting children when the time comes, originally because of how many children there are in the world who don't have anyone.
Thanks for posting this; I'm glad I read it.
I have thought about the overpopulation issue myself and tried to think of what could be done to make it better. I had never heard of VHEMT before reading this, but I'm glad that people are trying to do something about this.
I still might a child of my own someday, but I'll definitely look into adoption if I decide that I want more kids than that.
Thanks for writing such a good article and introducing us to such an interesting organization!
The US actually has a pretty stable population. I think we should encourage adoption and try to avoid overpopulation through rational means (i.e. birth control, not infanticide), but the VHEMT is quite nihilist in its views. We are creatures of this Earth, too, and we should learn to live in harmony with it. Destroying our species is like giving up and confessing that we can't make it work.
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ce.apocryphalpublishing.com
Well, I personally think that it is a very silly idea because, an you admitted it, it will not work. The end goal is for humans to stop existing. For reason these people believe that this means that we will treat the Earth with more respect instead of less since a big reason to protect the Earth is for our children. Further more, even if thousands of people join this movement, even if millions do, there are, as you say seven billion people and even ten million people not having kids is not going to help the situation.
"Every man makes a god of his own desire."
-Virgil
The idea that over population will be an insurmountable problem is not new. Thomas Malthus, an english economist published it as an essay in 1798.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Essay_on_the_Principle_of_Population
He went as far as to project the disaster point being reached in the middle of the 19th century. As we all know the population is several times the number he posited the earth could not support.
His figures on population growth were not the problem, advancing food production technology was. Even today only a small fraction of land that could be used for food production is currently even close to the potential we now know to be possible. If we do not advance our technology (what are the chances of that?) all that is required is building desalination plants near sea coasts, and pumping fresh water to vast unused desert regions for the earth to support multiples of the present population. If these plants are nuclear they would also help meet energy requirements while they and the farms created would help reduce greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.
Another flaw in Dr. Malthus' bleak scenario is the rate of population growth. Large families were the rule in every culture at the time he lived (he was the sixth of seven children). This had always been offset by the high infant mortality rate. Medicine had just begun to improve child death rates during his life. The solution to this actually could be illustrated by his own family (he and his wife had only 3 children), and is better demonstrated by all advanced industrial societies today. Population growth in these societies is actually negative today if you account for immigration.
It is nice that people worry, but we are rocketing on a path to a better world. So smile!
A fact is always better than an ideal
The only reason the US has a growing population is immigration. European countries are facing declines in population because families are having less children and many are immigrating to the US. China will also soon be facing population problems due to their one child law.
http://www.progressiveu.org/user/bamers
Of course we have all considered the problem of overpopulation, and for a long time I thought that the solution was simple: just stop having children, but I know that someday I will want my own children. Of course I will adopt, and probably more than one kid, but I want to have my own as well. I know this might sound pessimistic, but the planet is being murdered anyway, and I don't think overpopulation is going to help slow down its death. It makes me sad that we are taking away nature and the homes of billions of other organisms, but what can we do when there are people like the Dugger family who have 17 kids and oppose birth control, because they want to have as many children as God will let them have? And what about those teenagers who get pregnant and think that it's wrong to get an abortion, when they are just adding to the problem? it's infuriating, but I could never join this group because, unfortunately, it is animal nature to have the urge to reproduce, and that it one of the primitive characteristics that most humans cannot suppress. But I do support those people who have decided to help the "movement" I suppose you can call it, because they aren't as selfish as the rest of us, and they are thinking about everyone and everyone's future.
--The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return--
If the population gets too big we'll all just die out anyway. So there you go. Human extinction either way.
lol