A couple of doctors are urging other doctors in the UK to discuss family planning with their patients. Sounds reasonable. But when you get down into the arguments for this family planning, it becomes farcical, illogical and ultimately, unsustainable.
The reasons quoted for this “new” idea of birth control is the increased carbon gas emissions due to the rise in population. Strangely enough, they quote that a ‘birth in the UK produces 160 times more greenhouse gas emissions than one in Ethiopia’. They suggest that couples should consider having, at most, 2 children in order to slow down the population rate. They do not advocate a mandate (as they seem to do in China) but they do advise that couples should be educated on the impact that having larger families will have on the overall economy.
The arguments sound good and a reasonable person would sit back and think to themselves, “That makes a lot of sense.” That person may also think, “I’ve been saying the same thing for years.” Yeah, sure. That’s what I say.
Being inundated with ‘Be Green’ signs and advice in all aspects of our lives, I find this piece of advice to be over the top. Actually, I found it quite funny, along with many others. Not that I disagree with birth control. In fact, I’m already living the advice of these two doctors. We only have two daughters and are unlikely to have more.
But let’s look at the arguments. I am not a scientist and have no clue about how they went about measuring greenhouse gas emissions, so I will just take their figures for granted. Yet, can they explain how and why a birth in the UK produces 160 times more gas than one in Ethiopia? Is it due to the fact that the UK is more industrialized? Is it due to what is involved in giving birth in the UK? Perhaps, couples should consider going to Ethiopia and giving birth, then bringing the child home. Or, maybe, couples should adopt a child from Ethiopia rather than having one of their own. Or does the gas emission from one birth refer to the child’s lifetime gas production? In which case, if a couple adopts a child in Ethiopia, they should leave the child there.
It is the world’s entire population that is contributing to the greenhouse effect, not just Britain. I realise that these doctors are only trying to make an impact in their own country. But the major population growth in the UK, currently, is not the White British population. That is because most White British couples already think about controlling the population growth in addition to other factors, such as economics. The major growth has been and is still amongst ethnic minorities, most from Third World countries. It is difficult to educate these people due to language, cultural and social barriers. At the rate things are going and if we advocate birth control and if the White Brits are the only ones listening, Great Britain will become the new America, with the native Brit being a minority in his own country.
