Developing Countries: Birth Control?

As far as impact on the global enviroment is concerned, an American child uses the resources of about seven Bangladeshi children. Of course, local population densities will place stress on the local environment, but what are the local people to do?Second, it has been shown that providing education to girls has a big, big impact on the size of families in Africa. The more educated a girl is, the longer she will wait to have her first child, and the fewer children she will have overall. If someone is concerned about third world over population, then suggest supporting girls' education.Finally, remember that poverty in the third world is largely due to continued exploitation by the Western capitalist structure. In recent decades, every time a country has met the IMF's demands to cut taxes, cut support services, open the economy to foreign investment, and loosen currency controls, living conditions decrease dramatically, and this is not temporary. Basically, the reason people in the third world cannot support their children is because they are supporting Jon's friend's children.

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Kings were put to death long before 21 January 1793. But regicides of earlier times and their followers were interested in attacking the person, not the principle, of the king. They wanted another king, and that was all. It never occurred to them that the throne could remain empty forever. -- Albert Camus

And selective abortion and infanticide of females. It will be interesting to see what happens in China when all those boys grow up and realize they all can't find wives.

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Kings were put to death long before 21 January 1793. But regicides of earlier times and their followers were interested in attacking the person, not the principle, of the king. They wanted another king, and that was all. It never occurred to them that the throne could remain empty forever. -- Albert Camus

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These nations 'allow' those companies to exploit their own people, because essentially they are ending up exploiting the companies who are exploiting the workers.

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"These nations" allow nothing -- "nations" do not allow anything. It is the ruling classes of these nations that do the "allowing".Often, these ruling classes don't have a choice in the matter. International aid organizations, notably the IMF, place restrictions on the governments ability to run their own countries. In order to recieve the aid, they must cut taxes and social programs, anything that smacks of state intervention in the economy is forbidden in favor of "free market" principles, which proves to be disasterous.And what other choice do the rulers have? Look at the examples of popular, often democratically elected, leaders that attempt to run the economy for the benefit of the people rather than a few upper elites and foreign corporations. Mossadegh in Iran, Arbenz in Guatamala, Allende in Chile, the Sandanistas in Nicaragua, Chavez in Venezuela -- every one of these have been declared dictators, a threat to peace, and removed from power with the help of foreign governments (although the last attempt in Venezuela was not successful).If the nations were allowed to run their own countries the way the people felt they should be run, then in most cases the elites who are "allowing" this to happen would not be in power.In fact, China is a case in point. A fairly brutal dictatorship -- in fact, used by fundamentalists as an example of the evils of "official atheism" -- and at least a potential threat to its neighbors. Yet, simply by deciding to do business with the West, it has gone from brutal Communist dictator to friendly trading partner, even though it is the same people in power, treating its citizens in the same way, and posing the same threat it always has to its neighbors.Sure, I agree that the current methods of colonialism relies more on the concept of nominally independent vassals states "voluntarily" doing the bidding of the dominant powers than it does on the old methods of actual foreign occupation; however, that doesn't change the fact that it is the West that dictate the terms of the relationship, and that opposing the West has harsh consequences.

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Kings were put to death long before 21 January 1793. But regicides of earlier times and their followers were interested in attacking the person, not the principle, of the king. They wanted another king, and that was all. It never occurred to them that the throne could remain empty forever. -- Albert Camus

Hey, nem.

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The IMF doesn't make sanctions like the UN does.

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Sure, but it can deny needed loans and aid. Without loans and aid, the nation in question cannot even pay back its previous loans, loans usually taken out by a previous dictator, much of which often went to pay for the dictator's whims. What do you think would happen if the country went into default? No more loans. No more aid of any kind. Probably trade sanctions. Maybe, if the country were obstinate, direct military intervention.

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Mossadegh in Iran, Arbenz in Guatamala, Allende in Chile, the Sandanistas in Nicaragua, Chavez in Venezuela -- every one of these have been declared dictators, a threat to peace, and removed from power with the help of foreign governments (although the last attempt in Venezuela was not successful).

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I don't know where you are going with this. Can you explain it to me?

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I'm not going anywhere with this. I was answering a previous comment you made: These were governments that didn't allow companies to exploit their own people. The first three were overthrown in Western backed coups and replaced by repressive dictatorships. In the fourth case, the people used the democratic process to signal their surrender in the face of US backed terrorism and elected a government they did not, in fact, support. In the last case we have seen an attempt at a coup by individuals that recieve funding from foreign NGOs that recieve money from the US government.Countries have tried to not allow their people to be exploited. They, and their people, have been punished when they have attempted to do this.-

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Really, I'm just objecting to you placing the blame squarely on successful companies, as if they are the sole proprietors of power.

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I am no more placing the blame solely on the companies than you are in placing the blame solely on the governments. Like I presume you are doing, I am simply pointing the complexities of the actual situation, and that saying that "countries shouldn't allow their people to be exploited" doesn't really do much to illuminate the actual situation.

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Kings were put to death long before 21 January 1793. But regicides of earlier times and their followers were interested in attacking the person, not the principle, of the king. They wanted another king, and that was all. It never occurred to them that the throne could remain empty forever. -- Albert Camus

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You act like giving birth is the lowest form of activity around....

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Actually, she's not acting anything of the sort. She's asking pretty reasonable question. Becoming pregnant and giving birth are things that women's bodies do automatically, with very little conscious control by the women themselves -- about the only thing that women can voluntarily do is to decide to use contraception and/or to terminate the pregnancy once it occurs. Basically, it's like growing hair. It is an automatic physiological process. Some people can grow nice hair, and some people are bald. I guess some people do feel proud that they can grow nice hair, and more power to them, but how much pride should a person really feel about it before it gets silly?

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Kings were put to death long before 21 January 1793. But regicides of earlier times and their followers were interested in attacking the person, not the principle, of the king. They wanted another king, and that was all. It never occurred to them that the throne could remain empty forever. -- Albert Camus

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But some people can't have children, and it hurts them deeply.

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Sounds like my brother. He's losing his hair. He's been spending money on all sorts of treatments to keep his hair intact. My mother warns me to not bring the subject up with him because he does take it very seriously. Me, I think he's taking it waaaay to seriously. But, then I have a full head of hair (actually, I'm just losing it much more slowly than he is), so I guess I take it for granted.

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Kings were put to death long before 21 January 1793. But regicides of earlier times and their followers were interested in attacking the person, not the principle, of the king. They wanted another king, and that was all. It never occurred to them that the throne could remain empty forever. -- Albert Camus

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ny Peace Corps alumni in the house?

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Tanzania, 95-98; secondary school physics and mathematics.

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Kings were put to death long before 21 January 1793. But regicides of earlier times and their followers were interested in attacking the person, not the principle, of the king. They wanted another king, and that was all. It never occurred to them that the throne could remain empty forever. -- Albert Camus