What are the worlds most important population problems?
The discussion of the world’s most important population problems is extremely necessary and timely. The essay correctly observes that the two most important population problems are population growth and international migration. The first problem endangers the environmental balance of our planet and puts excessive strength on resources. The second problem contributes to conflicts and tensions in many societies around the globe. The essay argues that social structures in poor countries are the cause of exponential population growth.
It is true that industrialization makes labor more automated, thus decreasing the need for a constant supply of labor. However, no clear link is drawn between social structures and desire to have more children. The essay notes that poor countries lack essential social services, such as education, and families lack their own economic resources to equip children with necessary skills and knowledge. Paradoxically, this does not lead to a decrease in the number of births; the essay fails to explain this phenomenon. As concerns international migration, few reasons are given to support the claim that it is one of the world’s most pressing problems.
The only reason cited is that immigrants are the burden on a country’s social service sector, resulting in increased costs for medical care, education, and other costs. Other negative developments associated with the influx of immigrants are left without attention. These developments include higher crime rates, interethnic tensions, and increased costs of providing multilingual services to immigrants from different ethnic backgrounds. More far-reaching implications, such as the danger to national identity and unity, are also not discussed.
