Think of it… in China the population was growing way too big so the government made it “one child per couple” and the population ceased to grow as much.
Why not do this in Africa? I mean, Africa may not have a population raging out of control but a lot of these children are born into poverty and during droughts, famine, war, etc. there is hardly enough food for all the children. Why don’t the African governments force the Chinese law on the people? And don’t say because they are democratic. I know about African democracy, it’s not the same as we in the West know it.
Less people = more food, health care, and so on for everyone else.
I mean, even in times of war women in Africa still continue to produce children even if they will be born in unstable, unsafe enviroments. Why?
Okay, not force… advise. How about that?
Would doing this not be an intelligent move to combating poverty?
We can’t really force the law on the Africans, they have to do it themselves.
Comment by 豆腐さん — October 5, 2006 @ 8:34 am
Nice thought, but who’s going to enforce such laws? A large percentage of those women are pregnant because they were raped. I think giving harsher laws to rapists should have a higher priority than birth laws, don’t you think?
Comment by thezaylady — October 6, 2006 @ 10:25 am
You should know that China’s one child policy did start until 1979 and the birth actually increased about a half a percent when it was instituted. So it is not a very favorable means of population control.
Comment by YG&B — October 7, 2006 @ 8:34 pm
The problem is, Africa is not as industrialized as the rest of the world. Many of the children are thought of as needed for their labor force. Also, alot of the African tribal rituals focus on having large families. It is what it is, and I think the government in any African nation would have difficulty forcing that particular decree because many of them are not stable, or don’t believe in what you’re demanding. Plus, life expectancy there is shorter.
People’s desire for children isn’t dependent on whether a drought is coming or not. They have them and deal with the problems as they come.
Comment by JAdorE — October 7, 2006 @ 10:26 pm