A short post on why you shouldn’t believe everything you read in the papers. In this Philippines Star column, Valerians Avila (aka the Freeman) argues that overpopulation is not an issue because:
Today, the best economies experiencing a phenomenal economic growth are China and India, whose populations are over 2 billion.
There is no follow up to this bold statement. No facts. Just an opinion masquerading as fact in one of the most well-read broadsheets in the nation. He is after all printed in the newspaper, so he must know what he’s talking about right? Wrong:
http://www.issuesinmedicalethics.org/143ss106.html
Both India and China are success stories DESPITE their acknowledged population problem, and for years (since 1979) China has been trying to curb it with their one child policy. The percentage of people in India living below $1.50 a day is 41.6%, the Philippines 22.6, and China (again after taking steps to reduce its population) is at 15.9. Even worse, 75% of Indians live below $2 a day!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_percentage_of_population_living_in_poverty
Is this the great “good” that he envisions for the Philippines? If so, then by all means, let the people propagate like rabbits! There are more debatable facts in his column if your’e interested in reading it, but I thought I’d tackle just the one issue, lest I lose an entire day’s work screaming at the internet.
