). But there is also real concerns to take seriously such as water shortage, migrations, wars, and so on that history has repeatedly show follow in unstable regions.When I was a kid I was seriously concerned about overpopulation of the world. At one point it concerned me so much that I thought it would be irresponsible to bring children into this world and was ready to go the length to avoid it from happening. I now know many who worry about the world also have these thoughts, but I am glad now I did not follow through. Here is my explanation why I now think it can be sensible to have children in a 7 billion rich world:
Immortality
Improved health care and focus on longevity has had the consequences of our exploding population not because we multiply more (on the contrary) - but we stopped dying! We become a lot better at surviving longer the last 150 years. Medical science is really doing a smashing job in solving those things that kills us off. Whether if this is a good thing ethically, even if it is a good longer life, it certainly will affect us on a mental and socially level. It is already happening as seen with the concerns of a growing elderly population with an expanding pension lifespan.
I thought about the search for immortality and found we are already in possession of it it! Having children IS immortality! Not just by passing your DNA to a new generation, but what you feed to their brains from yourself. Kids are incredible copycats. I was quite stunned when my oldest son began to speak like I did when I was his age. I had not told him to "save the world" - but explained him the wonders and problems in it when we encountered questions or discussed together. With his passion and interest I might give him a few clues to where I went wrong and prepare him on finding his own way to accomplish his own purpose. To me this is immortality!
Adding to seven billion people
Is it responsible to put 1 child into the world during these troubled times? Is keeping the number even, not giving or taking, with 2 children OK? Or can you allow yourself to statistically be lifting the growth curve of our population? In Western countries the population numbers are dropping; we are not reproducing fast enough - should that be affecting the choice?
To me I came to a surprising conclusion to myself very recently:
The amount of children doesn't matter on a global scale! What DOES matter (I believe) is what kind of world citizens you nourish to grow!Will I inspire, through example, for my children to be good moral people who will fight for their rights and against self-destruction and injustice? Do we need more or less of those kind of people today? I think more! If somebody who do not care, or are too busy surviving, to show their own children a future - this will not help our common future very much. But it will make good cannon fodder or drones since they will be hungry for something to aspire to and take what is fed to them. The same would go if the kids who grow up in a relationshit rather than relationship.
This is not just a theory. My brother and his wife just returned from Thailand where they guested an American couple who began an orphanage from scratch. Two people respecting each other and with the surplus to show life as a gift to over 20 children makes all the difference. The same children could have been left on the streets to sell morals and ethics to get through the day.
So, I think it does not matter how many "new futures" (AKA children) you create, but what direction you point them. This places the responsibility on the person having them to be a person worth aspiring to - you!
I know many will disagree on the above. This is largely philosophical and not converted into hard numbers and statistics. However, I hope it will give some thought to people with the same worries as I.
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