It Is Noble ... Or Is It?

I keep reading and hearing about various aid projects in Africa. From creating new wells to providing safe houses for child soldiers, all these efforts are beautiful and worthwhile. Regretfully, no one has mentioned family planning. Without this essential component any good project is doomed to failure.

I was horrified by a recent editorial in the Atlanta newspaper that went on and on about water projects in Africa. It was written by the president of a local women's college. At least she talked about women's empowerment and education, which are two essential components to slowing birth rates. But she did NOT mention universal access to family planning, which is essential for any aid project to work in the long-term.

When you provide water and food without family planning, it is like throwing kerosene into a fire — the population simply swells. Sure, you've done some immediate good and you can feel good about yourself, but you are only setting up future generations for an even greater humanitarian crises. This is simple common sense, so I'm amazed that so many intelligentsia miss this basic point.

I applaud the good organizations like World Neighbors that do incorporate family planning into their programs. If you want to support a worthwhile aid organization, support them. Organizations like World Vision mean well, and do provide immediate relief, but in the long term they are likely doing more harm than good.

The Christian evangelicals don't like to deal with family planning. On the opposite extreme, I'm told that ultra left women's organizations are opposed to family planning programs because they feel it's a form of control. Thus, it appears that few people are willing to promote family planning and contraceptive use.

Ultimately, there are only two ways an individual can impact the planet — family size and lifestyle. As we continue to pack more billions of people onto Earth, it is essential that we all reduce our family sizes and adopt a more modest lifestyle. Eventually, we need to reduce human population to where it is permanently sustainable. I don't know what that number is, but it should be at a point where other species and the long-term viability of the Planet are not jeopardized.

The Goose