Why pop-control is not the Solution to Poverty

[rare_phoenix]

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My humble opinion about this, one way or another, overpopulation is indirectly causing poverty. The major reason I can think of is "lack of discipline" by many of us. Its all starting from our houses, so before we blame anyone let us start checking what kind of living we have in our homes.

[RMK711]

The thread is just idiotic, I don't even know where to begin. Poverty has many causes, so of course overpopulation by itself isn't THE cause of poverty, as if it were the only factor that causes it.

But simple math dictates that it is a major contributor to poverty. As an earlier post suggested, it is a simple maths game. Every family only has 2 income earners AT MOST, and some only have 1 income earner and such income has to be divided equally amongst the offspring. Naturally, a family with fewer offspring will be able to dedicate more resources towards the child's education and development.

And it isn't even just about money. Any parent can tell you that a child demands a lot of your free time. There are only 24 hours of the day, no matter how hard the Catholic church tries to make it appear that we miraculously have more. Most of that time is spent sleeping and working. The little time left over, is left for spending time with the kids. If you have more kids, you have even less time to dedicate to each one of them.

It is a numbers game and it boggles the mind how something so simple, basic and common sensical can escape the religious fanatic's mind. Does fanaticism cause mental retardation?

[lorenzoleo]

Lack of FInancial Literacy ato mga kababayan. Then dili pud gina post sa public ang financial markets nato, unlike sa laing lugar especially mga First world countries, nga ang mga investment ug economic market kay gina pasalida in public especially you go to their financial districts.

[kazki]

The thread is just idiotic, I don't even know where to begin. Poverty has many causes, so of course overpopulation by itself isn't THE cause of poverty, as if it were the only factor that causes it.

But simple math dictates that it is a major contributor to poverty. As an earlier post suggested, it is a simple maths game. Every family only has 2 income earners AT MOST, and some only have 1 income earner and such income has to be divided equally amongst the offspring. Naturally, a family with fewer offspring will be able to dedicate more resources towards the child's education and development.

And it isn't even just about money. Any parent can tell you that a child demands a lot of your free time. There are only 24 hours of the day, no matter how hard the Catholic church tries to make it appear that we miraculously have more. Most of that time is spent sleeping and working. The little time left over, is left for spending time with the kids. If you have more kids, you have even less time to dedicate to each one of them.

It is a numbers game and it boggles the mind how something so simple, basic and common sensical can escape the religious fanatic's mind. Does fanaticism cause mental retardation?

I would definitely agree with you on this one, my friend. It's so simple yet fanatics make it look so complicated.

[emow]

again and again, overpopulation will only be a problem when we don't know how to make them productive.... there will always be those who will be smarter and those who are not, but it doesn't mean we have to be indifferent to those who needs help, a genuine help that makes them productive... We can only begin to speak of poverty in terms of a national problem when we include ourselves as part of the solution...otherwise, just do what the status quo is doing....nothing..

[Romeojin]

Im still sticking to Simon Kuznets analysis

[gayle sacol]

wait... CHINA has a big population... how come they are not having problems like us? maybe its not because of OVERPOPULATION, but CORRUPTION...

[fight4love]

from the point nga dghn ug religion ang pilipinas..

u cant say the church should stay away from state ky abig dghn ug religion..
unsa dy tawag sa simbahan/church sa lain religion?

the word "church" means sa katoliko ra diay?
kung muslim ka ang mosque d diay na church?


just my point though..

[The_Child]

isn't poverty caused by bad genes?

[vipvip68]

Let’s look at hard data and see if the RH bill’s argument that overpopulation causes poverty is spot on.
Indonesia
* has a population of 240 million
* Land Area: 1,811,569 sq km
* GDP – per capita (ppp): $4,300 (2010 est.)
Philippines
* has 90 million population-
* land area: 298,170 sq km
* GDP per capita – $3,500 (2010 est.)
Japan
* 120 million population;
* land area – 364,485 sq km -
* GDP – per capita (ppp): $34,200 (2010 est.)
North Korea
* has 24.5 million population;
* land area – 120,538 sq km -
* GDP – per capita (ppp): $1,800 (2010 est.)
The argument that overpopulation is a cause of poverty is negated because for such a principle to hold true then Japan, too should have the same GDP per capita as the Philippines and Indonesia. Obviously – the numbers don’t add up.
There is so much wealth in the world today that can provide food, clothing, water, and shelter – however access to it such wealth or the lack of it is a function of economic policy – regardless of whether you have no child, one child, or five children. In an environment where economic policy is skewed in favor of vested interests – you can have small family sizes – and people with very low purchasing power. For example, North Korea has 1.9 births per woman and GDP per capita of $1,800. If one were to buy the argument that lesser population size equals prosperity, North Korea should be roaring over the Philippines GDP per capita income right now. Obviously that’s not the case.
For short – the RH bill’s attempt to connect overpopulation with poverty is quite a stretch. The facts show that the position is not defensible. Therefore am not buying the assertion that overpopulation causes poverty

If you go to impoverished areas and see families with 6 children or more per family you will understand that there is something wrong with our society.
The church has always preached that children are blessings from God and more population equals more human resources.

-Notice how public schools are maxed out with young kids having to go to school at night.

- Public hospitals are like baby factories and can't cope with the daily "production". Healthcare services are spread thin and there is not enough for everyone.

- We are seeing a huge exodus of our labor force because they can't find jobs. It's not only a matter of quantity of jobs.. but also the lack of high paying or quality jobs. OFWs are a result of our inability to provide jobs to people. We keep saying education is the key... but just look at the statistics because for every 100 people that enroll in gradeschool, only a handful actually graduate high school. Then from those only a few proceed to college. Then only a few of those few actually finish college. And after all that, they end up taking their skills outside working for another country.


Saying that RH Bill's argument of equating overpopulation to poverty is overly simplistic. First and foremost, we have to have clear definition of what overpopulation is.

Overpopulation is not merely the number of people per sq km of land area. Overpopulation deals as much with the distribution of resources and GDP.

Another factor is the inequality of the distribution of resources in our country. The rich become richer, the poor become poorer. Add to this the fact that rich people have less children to poor people and you will see increased disparity between the rich and the poor.

A friend of mine went to the urban poor slums and interviewed these impoverished families asking why they had so many children. They simply replied that they would not use contraceptives because the church says it's a sin. Others simply do not have the concept of responsible parenthood or family planning because they were not taught this in the first place.

The church tries to label the whole RHB as an issue just about contraceptives and abortion. They fail to understand the more significant purpose of the bill which is to promote and imbue responsible parenthood to our citizenry.

To those who are not in favor of the bill... please read the bill and state the parts where you disagree with it. Do not listen to what I or other people are saying about the bill. Read the bill then decide for yourselves if it is right or not.

Ang akong question back at you is.... What is your definition of OVERPOPULATION?