Unit III
This section of the book considers how the patterns and processes described in Units I and II present some “problematics” regarding important social, political, economic, environmental, and moral challenges we face as a global civilization. It is perhaps surprising that the idea that the world might be overpopulated is highly contested. In Chapter 7, we will explore the history of that debate and follow up with addressing the question of whether our problems are derived from there being too many people or if these problems are primarily driven by too much consumption by a small fraction of the world’s population. We will explore this question of whether the driving forces causing the social and environmental challenges we face are the fault of the wealthy developed nations of the world or the result of the overpopulated developing nations of the world. We take the position that this is a false dichotomy, and the path to a sustainable and desirable future will require a change from both the developed and the developing world. Needless to say, population policies have been developed and implemented in the past to address concerns related to these challenges.
The policies have manifested in a variety of national contexts. Some policies have been pronatal (encouraging higher birth rates), some policies have been antinatal (aimed at reducing population growth), some have been successful, others have been not so successful, and almost all have been controversial. At the time of this writing, it appears that the 1972 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision in the United States will be overturned by a conservative majority that now exists on the Supreme Court. This is a population-related policy that has enormous political implications. As we have seen, population and politics interact in many complex ways.
Chapter 8 explores some of the historical ideas and interactions between population and politics. Demographic realities must be acknowledged and considered when evaluating, funding, and implementing myriad social and economic policies such as social security, health care, and education. These issues are “problematics” in that they are multidimensional challenges that involve and require both objective assessments and normative judgments. These problematics have been recognized as challenging for centuries; however, the urgency of these issues is increasing dramatically and has garnered international recognition as manifested in policies such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Chapter 9 explores the SDGs, which represent a significant consensus among most nations of the world as to what our global objectives are and how we should measure our progress with respect to achieving these goals. Chapter 10 concludes with a variety of policy prescriptions for achieving a just, sustainable, and desirable world. We encourage you to use the knowledge you have developed in this class to augment your participation as an actively involved citizen of the world in meeting and overcoming these challenges.