The More The Merrier

October 2006 is the month in which the population of the United States is expected to pass 300 million. (Here.) That's a lot of people and some find the population increase to be very scary. Georgie Anne Geyer indulges in a little bit of scaremongering and argues that the United States is heading towards overpopulation.

"...if immigration is not controlled, it's not far to the 1 billion mark and all that means, in terms of more cities such as Los Angeles, where people can already barely move, severe shortages of water (not only in the Southwest), deadly competition for water and land between farmers and cities, and the domination of the country by the cynical philosophical view that sees man merely as an economic creature." (Here.)

Geyer gives over the bulk of her column to the Earth Policy Institute's Lester Brown, to make an argument in favor of so-called sustainable growth and against population growth as sapping the human spirit.

This is so much hogwash. Every human being who is born isn't just another mouth to feed. Every human being is born with a brain for solving problems and adding creativity to human culture, as well as two arms and two legs for working and creating wealth for themselves and others. People aren't necessarily a problem. People are also an asset. Sustainable growth advocates such as Brown claim to value human beings but their true view of humans is that people are nothing but a threat to the environment.

Population growth does not threaten the United States. On the contrary, population growth benefits the United States. The United States is the only developed country among the countries with the highest population growths. Most developed countries are either barely producing enough people to replace their current populations or they are actually declining in population. The other countries with high population growths tend to be undeveloped nations. Let Europe die a slow death of depopulation if it wants to. America's population growth adds vitality to our nation, both through immigration and reproduction, and helps our country remain number one.

-tdr