Overpopulation

[Clueless Morgan]

I'm not saying I do or don't believe that overpopulation is a problem.

I do.

...But for those of you who firmly believe that overpopulation is indeed a problem, how do you view having children?

I don't know that I "firmly" believe that overpopulation is a problem, but I do believe that human populations have reached a level that it is negatively impacting the environment and other animal species on this planet that have just as much claim to the Earth as we do.  That's not to say that if population levels were lower we would be significantly less of a threat to animals or the environment (I can see pro and con arguments on these issues), but I do think that human population levels are stressing the planet and that our technology (for example, technology related to food production, water-purification and general resource management) is not sufficiently advanced to offset the damage we're doing as population levels increase.

how do you view having children?

I'm choosing not to.

Correct me if I am wrong,  but if you think overpopulation is a problem, it seems like it would logically follow that you would consider it immoral or at least unfavorable to have kids.

I don't see it as immoral, I see it as more amoral.

I do, however, find having children to be an unfavorable action, but that's because I don't particularly care to ever be pregnant and I don't have a desire to raise a child.  But just because these are my own feelings doesn't mean everyone else has to agree with me, or that I should dictate what other people get to do.

Is this the case? Why or why not?

Calling procreation immoral implies, to me, that everyone else agrees that overpopulation is problem (which they don't) or that everyone should "know better" than to procreate (which they don't).  Many people, in fact, are doing nothing more than following their biological urges which just so happen to result in the birth of a child.

Ultimately, I see overpopulation as a "tragedy of the commons" type issue: individuals acting out of self-interest and (unintentionally?) squandering a resource.


I do find the Catholic Church's stand against contraceptive devices like condoms to be absolutely, 100%, reprehensibly immoral, though.  I mean, if you want to talk about things that are actually immoral.