Digest 715 - Population Control Policy Issues

--- In spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com, Al Globus wrote:
>
> On Wednesday, October 1, 2003, at 10:25 AM, Ed Minchau wrote:
>>
[Snip]
>>
>> The question then becomes, given this crisis situation, what
>> solutions are available to the colonists?
>
> First, note that in any large complex system it is difficult to
> determine its exact limits, so there will always be some
uncertainty as
> to whether the next child can be accomodated.
>
> Options:
>
> 1. Kill someone.
>
> 2. Convince someone to commit suicide.
>
> 3. Hope someone dies.
>
> 4. Abort the pregnancies.
>
> 5. Think about your system. Gather data. Find a way to be more
> efficient. Any system that large is bound to have inefficiencies
that
> can be removed. A sufficiently focused and creative thinker can
often
> come up with ways to solve resource problems that are difficult
(or
> impossible) to predict.
>
> I vote for #5.
>
> Al Globus

Hi! Glad to have you in the discussion! I'd like to make ask
two questions about your options above though - In number four,
instead of abortions, could the number of conception be managed?
And in number five, does this actually solve the root problem, or
just buy time?
It seems to me that there are four dimensions to approaching
the growing-population, finite-resources problem:
1 - Mortality, lower the number of people already alive.
2 - Fertility, lower the number of infants born.
3 - Efficiency, lower the LS burden of the existing population.
4 - Production, increase the LS resources available.
I had originally assumed that 3 and 4 had already been maximized,
and 1 and 2 were the only tools left for solving the problem. This
leaves us pondering what measures can fairly, effectively,
economically (insert any other criteria here) be taken to alleviate
or avert the crisis.
Hope to hear more from you on this,

Joe