Reproductive Ethics

* There are several measures that the US should and could take to encourage family planning in overpopulated countries. Our current policies are stupid.
* Fifty years ago, as a naive college student, I wrote an essay examining the ethics of reproductive choices. I was aware that a biological species, having all of its needs well satisfied, will expand exponentially - the needs including water, minerals, essential building blocks (containing carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, etc), energy source, waste separation, space to occupy, access to tolerable temperature, dearth of predators and germs. This prosperous circumstance, in which sentient beings are happy, is rarely found among species living in their historic habitats, for they have already expanded to the point where poor satisfaction of at least one need limits longevity and reproduction. Thus, pain and misery are common among wild sentient species, in the form of thirst, hunger, weakness, crowding, infectious disease, parasites, and fear and injury from competitors and predators.
* My thesis was that, given the contraceptive technologies of our time, human populations suffering resource deprivation can reduce their numbers peacefully, and human populations with all needs well satisfied can avoid expansion to the point of resource limitation and resulting misery, such as war, civil disorder, famine and pestilence. I predicted that political and religious leaders worldwide would soon espouse small families and that contraception would eventually be seen as mankind's most valuable technology. Had they done so over the last half century, today's local conflicts, wars, starving millions, population dislocations and migrations, environmental degradations and resource depletions could have been avoided.
* My generation has witnessed unspeakable atrocities, but none of them worse than the atrocity that we are visiting on future generations for lack of will to address overpopulation and its consequences. It is my generation's biggest ethical failure, bigger than our mindless waste and unjust wars. I recently read Lester R Brown's book, "Plan B 2.0", which documents the degradation of the natural support systems upon which populations depend as well as numerous policies and technologies that could restore those systems to support our 6 billion people comfortably, even an anticipated 9 billion. But that relief will be temporary without restraint of population expansion.
* With this agenda in mind, I tell people that world peace will be possible only when all religions and nations embrace gender equality, as that might provide the needed restraint. It would help if we could all learn to distrust and examine our tribal and chauvinistic instincts, but that's too much to hope for.