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‘Let’s face it; the party’s over’; Mark Slyman; Beaver County Times; January 23, 2011.
Mr. Slyman has written at least seven letters since March 2009. This is the first Slyman letter I critiqued.
Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.
“With the world population at 6.5 billion people - with approximately 308 million of them in this country, and that’s not counting an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants - do you think it’s about time for people and governments to do something to finally slow down this dangerous population explosion?
“In the early ‘70s, China enacted a law that made it illegal for a family to have more than one child. However, I’ve always believed that every child should have at least one sibling to grow up and share the wonders of life with.
“But let’s be real. The era of large families should be over for our own good. It’s bumper-to-bumper traffic in our major cities. Our public schools and prisons are overcrowded, and there’s not enough money to build new ones.”
[RWC] It appears Mr. Slyman did little research before he wrote this letter. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. birth rate has been below the replacement fertility rate of 2.1 births per woman for years. The fertility rate for most other industrialized countries tends to be lower than the U.S. The U.S. population growth is primarily due to legal and illegal immigration, not “large families.”
“In this computer-generated economy, more and more blue-collar workers will find themselves out of work. Only three years ago, 700 people applied for a lone janitorial job at a high school in Ohio.
“Many prominent scientists predict the world is going to suffer a major food shortage within the next 20 years.
“That’s not the kind of world I’d want to see a child born into. Let’s face it; the party’s over.”
[RWC] In 1968, author Paul R. Ehrlich wrote the book “The Population Bomb.” According to Wikipedia, “The Population Bomb” “warned of the mass starvation of humans in 1970s and 1980s due to overpopulation and advocated immediate action to limit population growth.”
© 2004-2011 Robert W. Cox, all rights reserved.