@astrologica wrote:FD.....Yes, I believe that we absolutely do have the right to ask people to limit their families. Indeed....I think it is our absolute duty to do so, for the sake of our children, and our children's children. There is no way that the human race can carry on reproducing at the rate that it has. Overpopulation is the one single biggest threat to this planet and the Human race. If anyone doesn't believe this, I would suggest a visit to Populationmatters.org.
The world's resources are finite, and if people want to have the same sort of lives for their children as we have had, then those resources will have to be shared out between fewer people. Anyone who can do basic Arithmetic should be able to work out that a family of four is easier to house, feed, educate and keep healthy, than a family of eight or ten. You talk of restricting people's rights to have as many children as they want. Well...along with rights come responsibilities. No-one should have a child that they cannot hope to feed, clothe, educate etc. The religions that I specifically mentioned in my post are very Medieval in their practices, and have no thought for the type of lives that their children will have. We can't blame them...this is how they are brainwashed and brought up....to reproduce as fast as they can. They do not stop to consider what sort of life their children will have. Do we want that attitude here in this country? NO! Resources are finite here too. This is a tiny Island and the population per capita is already far too high. So I think it is absolutely right for this country to discuss limiting the size of families...we can't afford not to. The days of rights to do as we please are long gone as far as population goes...we need to exercise responsibility instead.
Sorry to go on about overpopulation, but it is a particular interest of mine. I have been interested in it for years, and to me it is simple common sense, but no-one wants to bring the ugly subject up. Visit Populationmatters.org.
Overpopulation has always been of great concern to me too Astro. Take a look at these two links as a perfect illustration of what you've outlined above.
These are the 20 countries with the highest birthrates in the world today, as you can see all but one of them are on the African continent.
http://www.statista.com/statistics/262884/countries-with-the-highest-fertility-rates/
Now take a look at the world's 20 poorest countries.
http://www.rantlifestyle.com/2014/06/18/20-poorest-countries-in-the-world/
As you can see all but two are again African countries, in fact the lists are almost identical. How can these people not see what results their lifestyles are going to have long term? It's a complete no brainer, they are breeding themselves out of existence. It is largely people from these countries that are gathering in their thousands in Calais, how many more will be making their way here if we allow them in? How big will their families become in the future when they have more resouces at their disposal? How much longer can the rest of the civilised world keep dipping in their pockets and providing aid to support this totally unsustainable situation?
