Should We Worry About Declining Birth Rates?

Friends, in 1968, a book called The Population Bomb written by entomologist Paul Ehrlich helped spark panic in the West that the global population was reaching a breaking point, saying too many human beings would soon cause widespread famine and social chaos.<br />
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This view that a growing human population is an existential threat to humanity remains widespread to this day. For example, University of Chicago political philosopher Martha Nussbaum recently stated that given the world’s current population, “no one should be having any children.” Contemporary empirical evidence, however, points in exactly the opposite direction. Deaths are already outpacing births in many regions of the world, resulting in precipitous declines in national populations. Is this good news for humanity? Are public policies aimed at population control justified? Is there such a thing as an ideal population size? Should anyone care about whether others choose to have children or not?<br />
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A listener asks whether we should continue going to confession if we keep committing the same sin over and over again.<br />
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00:00 | Intro<br />
01:49 | Seminarians kick off school year<br />
03:00 | Assessing population decreases across the globe<br />
05:36 | Increased attitudes against having children<br />
08:24 | Unpacking “culture of death,” ego-drama, and theo-drama<br />
11:33 | Childbearing as a societal good<br />
12:35 | Population capping through public policy<br />
14:07 | Human population and the environment<br />
17:03 | Utilitarianism as a faulty moral theory for addressing population concerns<br />
18:51 | Foregoing childbirth to spare potential children pain<br />
21:20 | Foregoing childbirth to favor economic security<br />
22:33 | Foregoing childbirth for lack of desire<br />
24:55 | Old age without children<br />
28:00 | The centrality of fruitfulness<br />
29:14 | Pope St. Paul VI’s prophetic ban on artificial contraception<br />
30:57 | How does the Church look forward?<br />
34:05 | Listener question: Does repeating sins disqualify me from Confession?<br />
36:35 | Join the Word on Fire Institute<br />
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———SHOW NOTES——— <br />
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Data for “Population Bomb”: www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/book-incited-worldwide-fear-overpopulation-180967499/<br />
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Article on Martha Nussbaum: www.opindia.com/2024/05/india-has-too-many-people-they-dont-have-enough-to-eat-philosopher-martha-nussbaum-makes-drastic-claims-population-reduction/<br />
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Quote citation: www.washingtontimes.com/news/2024/apr/16/bill-maher-inflames-abortion-debate-by-saying-its-/<br />
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Abortion statistic: www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/induced-abortion-worldwide<br />
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Pew Research citation: www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2024/07/25/the-experiences-of-u-s-adults-who-dont-have-children/<br />
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