7 billion Time Bomb That Will Not Explode

7I decided to write the blog post today without any reference to articles primarily because most of what is being expressed about the world's population today is plainly overstated. For some reason based on forecasts and population models, it was decided that October 31, 2011 is declared as the day when the World's population reaches the 7 billion people mark. As usual, the neo-malthusians see this as another opportunity to scare people with the old and tired ideas about mass starvation and humanity running out of resources because over-population. Needless to say, this is all nonsense to me.  

I agree that a large part of the world's population today still live in materially deprived and sorry situations. I dispute the claim that these people living in sections of Africa, south Asia and Latin America are surplus and that the rest would of necessity be better off if they has just not been born. As if requires restatement, I concede that poverty is real and with employment, the primary issues that should concern people. At the same time, I am an unequivocal supporter of both the provision of contraceptives and maternal healthcare. What I find completely preposterous is that most articles in the major news outlets, including some that I have linked to before are using this opportunity to ring alarm bells about a crowded and heating planet.

So let me end with this: please stop patronizing poor people throughout the world and instead save our minds to think about providing females with more than basic education and opportunities for their advancement. Thereafter, get out of the way and let the population care for itself. 7 billion is not a problem, poverty and inflexible thinking are!