Those who listened to the wisdom of ZPG (Zero Population Growth) back in the 1970’s may be wondering if their focus contributed to the lowering of US population. ZPG (an NGO), now called Population Connection, advocated for stopping at two children in order to ameliorate exponential population growth because larger families were trampling efforts toward becoming a more sustainable nation.
In addition to promoting sustainability, choosing to have zero, one or two kids has many benefits. Families can better afford to send their kids to college, take more vacations, and work less to spend more time with their offspring. Plus, on a societal level, less population growth translates into less traffic, less disruption from constant construction, less crowded cities, more wildlife – all of which contribute to an overall better quality of life.
For these and other reasons, America’s fertility rates have fallen from 2.54 in 1970 to a comfortable 1.66 children per female now. However, even after more than 50 years of American parents making the responsible decision to reduce their family size, the US population has not stabilized. In fact, the US has gained over 140 million people since the first Earth Day in 1970.
The mystery of a rapidly-growing population amid the effort to have smaller families seems puzzling at first. If the average family size has been shrinking since the 1960’s, then why does the US keep growing? How did we add the equivalent of Russia’s population to our 50 states in just 55 years?
Despite their best efforts to tame the high rates of population growth, the dedicated environmentalists did not account for the cynical push to grow our numbers through mass immigration. Although this has little effect on global numbers, overpopulation continues to be experienced locally. For example, places like Bangladesh, with 167 million people crammed into an area smaller than the state of Wisconsin living with extreme poverty clearly has exceeded its carrying capacity. We navigate the world in our own backyard, made up of our towns, cities, counties, states and country. Human numbers are controlled locally with legal and cultural tools within our political entities.
This has become hot-button topic, as the cancel ‘woke’ culture, embraced by much of the left in recent years, will not listen to those advocating for sensible immigration. This dismissal of facts was a contributing factor to the Democrats’ defeat in the last election. Rather than stand up to the nonsense of ignoring the ecological consequences of growth, many NGO’s who profess to advocate for population stabilization miss this critical part of the story. We can no longer dismiss the fact that the US is growing almost entirely by immigration. This is a deliberate and unforgivable oversight. It is a lie to encourage Americans to have small families while ignoring the fact that the US will continue to grow unsustainably unless stricter implementation of laws and regulations are followed (and humanely enforced).
The first thing one must understand is that too many people is a real thing and a huge problem. It cannot be solved by swapping out necessities. It cannot be solved with high rises, multi-unit buildings, or by temporarily containing urban sprawl. America’s overpopulation has to be tamed by small families AND sensible immigration policies.
Americans need to understand that we are not threatened by depopulation (i.e., birth dearth), locally or globally. Yes, the fertility rates are lower, which is a good thing, but a decreasing growth rate is not the same as a decline in real numbers. The world grew by 70 million people last year. The US grew by millions too. How does that spell depopulation? In two words, it doesn’t. The depopulation hoopla is a lot like an ad on social media. First the creators fabricate a problem, then they create a solution that won’t work, then they spend lots of money convincing you to order their fake cure. From wrinkle creams to “flushable” wipes, the world is full of those who make their living trying to convince consumers to buy things that aren’t true and won’t work. Growth in the US along with climate change has created a battleground for water between the increased demand of growing cities and the farmers who also need it to grow our crops.
The disaster is embedded in the lie that environmentally-minded consumers have been told for decades upon decades. We can’t get ahead with just solar panels and cloth bags or even small families. Getting ahead includes making room for wildlife. Our increase in population has squeezed them into smaller and smaller parcels of land.
It is essential that the messaging on all environmental and quality-of-life issues, from saving wildlife to preventing water scarcity and climate change, include sensible immigration policy. This is especially true with population NGO’s. Otherwise we will continue to be overwhelmed with the fallout of swelling numbers, when so many thought we were doing the right thing.