As Birth Rates Hit Record Levels In the U.S., Are We Becoming More Like China?
By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog.
More babies were born in the United States in 2007 than in any other year in American history—that according to new government figures.
U.S. population is now growing so quickly, it is time for a national conversation on where Americans want to go and what we want this country to look like 50 years from now. Do we want the teeming poverty of China or India? Do we want more urban sprawl? Is the business community's need for cheap labor so important that Americans want, in return, dirtier air and water, more competition for jobs, more loss of green space, and bigger traffic jams?
Mass legal and illegal immigration during the past two to three decades was originally promoted because conventional wisdom was, as long as the U.S. population grew, so would the economy as a result of more consumer spending. This recession has shown us that booming population growth is no guarantee of a strong economy.
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Reader Comments
Re Population explosions
Yes we have a lot of immigration,legal and illegal anda huge amount of children comming into the world.....the moral question is what percent of the parents will actually take good care of the children that they have brought into the world ... the statistics are not too good.....Thomas Malthus , the english economist addressed this problem and worried about food production in his day but it is not hard to see that our planet cannot support an endless amount of people...and he suggested that the search for space and nutrition is in fact a leading cause for hostility and war.....the Chinese by the way are not exactly a peacefull and happy people from all appearances...
Population
I don't think there is much if any controversy among the people about the detrimental effect of immigration and increased population, but...
1. The Democrats want millions of immigrants to consolidate one party control. Immigrants vote Democratic. Watch for Obama to push for Comprehensive Immigration "Reform," i.e., add 30 million illegals to the voting rolls and continue the breeding of Democrat-voting anchor babies.
2. The Republicans want the low cost labor. Yes, people like Bush and elite free traders see migration of low cost labor into the US as a plus, for them, of course. They do indeed want a Chinese or Indian kind of labor force.
http://www.watchingamerica.com/diewelt000007.shtml
"In this conflict, George W. Bush, for once, has adopted a liberal position. Back in the summer of 2001, he and Mexican President Vincente Fox had reached an agreement on a policy of open borders, including wide-ranging legalization and dual citizenship. The INS – the then Immigration and Naturalization Service, now part of the Department of Homeland Security - objected vehemently,and in the aftermath of September 11th the plans of the two presidents were in any case, shelved."
3. Then there are the actuarial problems of social security and Medicare. Doubling the population will enable Congress to Ponzi-up these programs for one more generation before overpopulation destroys the country forever.
So what can we do? With both major parties corrupted by the advantages to them from population and immigration--the Hispanic vote, the cheap labor, the potential of economic growth and tax base growth from population growth (at the expense of natural resources, especially non-renewables)--I see no hope for saving this country myself.
Incorrect Title
The title is misleading. The graph in the study shows that the birth rate has remained steady since the mid-1970s, and is far lower than in the 1950s-60s.
I would like to hear more from Ms Erbe. This is a serious issue. Just recommending a "national conversation" doesn't help anyone.
So what can we do? Ban legal immigration? Pull the Army out of Iraq and Afghanistan an put it on the Mexican Border? Get rid of child/daycare tax credits and deductions for middle class families to discourage parenthood? Offer free tubal ligations to women on welfare (or perhaps even pay them to get the procedure done)? I don't think these measures would go over very well with the American people, but are mild compared to the population control measures in China.
Ms Erbe, please give us some of your suggestions to get the conversation started.
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