WOF 455: Should We Worry About Declining Birth Rates?

WOF Show Podcast - Word on Fire

Dr. Matthew Petrusek

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.

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?

A listener asks whether we should continue going to confession if we keep committing the same sin over and over again.

00:00 | Intro
01:49 | Seminarians kick off school year
03:00 | Assessing population decreases across the globe
05:36 | Increased attitudes against having children
08:24 | Unpacking “culture of death,” ego-drama, and theo-drama
11:33 | Childbearing as a societal good
12:35 | Population capping through public policy
14:07 | Human population and the environment
17:03 | Utilitarianism as a faulty moral theory for addressing population concerns
18:51 | Foregoing childbirth to spare potential children pain
21:20 | Foregoing childbirth to favor economic security
22:33 | Foregoing childbirth for lack of desire
24:55 | Old age without children
28:00 | The centrality of fruitfulness
29:14 | Pope St. Paul VI’s prophetic ban on artificial contraception
30:57 | How does the Church look forward?
34:05 | Listener question: Does repeating sins disqualify me from Confession?
36:35 | Join the Word on Fire Institute

Links:

• Data for “Population Bomb”: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/book-incited-worldwide-fear-overpopulation-180967499/
• Article on Martha Nussbaum: https://www.opindia.com/2024/05/india-has-too-many-people-they-dont-have-enough-to-eat-philosopher-martha-nussbaum-makes-drastic-claims-population-reduction/
• Quote citation: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2024/apr/16/bill-maher-inflames-abortion-debate-by-saying-its-/
• Abortion statistic: https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/induced-abortion-worldwide
• Pew Research citation: https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2024/07/25/the-experiences-of-u-s-adults-who-dont-have-children/
• Word on Fire Institute: https://institute.wordonfire.org/

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