Authentic Development, Kids, and the Hypothetical Case of Yougaria

This week's been off-schedule from the start:

• "Wednesday's Post Came Monday, Monday's Will be on Wednesday: Confusing, isn't It?
  (August 14, 2012)
• "Oops. Right Time, Wrong Post
  (August 13, 2012)
• "Still Here, Still Proclaiming Jesus
  (August 13, 2012)

I spent more time on non-writing tasks than I'd planned today. All of which has very little to do with "Caritas in Veritate."

Population Growth and Assumptions

I pried apart the first two sentences of "Caritas in Veritate," 44, as I often do to make the ideas clearer. That works for me, anyway: your experience may vary.

Benedict XVI says that population growth is:

• Associated with
  • Development
  • Problems
• A very important part of authentic development
  • Because it concerns inalienable rights
    • Life
    • Family
  ("Caritas in Veritate," 44)

Benedict XVI is talking about population growth here. Not surprisingly, the Pope's view of humanity isn't quite the same as the establishment's, here in America.

There's a lot more: a bit over 500 words in the English translation. I can see I'll be writing about this section at least once more.

Who Needs Children?

Not surprisingly, the Pope says that families are a good idea, and that having babies isn't a "risk."

Aside from ethical concerns, Benedict XVI points out that babies are important for grimly practical reasons. There's not much point in preserving cultural traditions, or anything else, for future generations: unless there's a 'next generation.'

This flies in the face of establishment beliefs about the Population Bomb: but I think Benedict XVI has a point.

Growing Up, Growing Old, Carrying On

For the most part, human beings last about a century, give or take: at most. Normally this isn't an issue, since quite a few of us have raised children before we die.

When women in an area have fewer than about 2 children, total, on average, there won't be enough kids growing up to take the place of adults who - inevitably - die. I could talk statistics, but feel like telling a little story instead.

No Kids, No Worries: For a While

Let's look at Yougaria, a hypothetical country with a large population, abundant natural resources, and a very 'advanced' outlook.

Yougaria's people read that their country was overpopulated, overcrowded, and on the brink of collapse. Besides, they were told, raising a family cost too much and gets in the way of having a good time. Convinced by these arguments, they stopped having kids.

Yougarians noticed that they had a lot more money to spend, now that they weren't wasting it on raising children.

Yougaria's economy thrived. Folks had money to spend, and plenty of leisure time. There was even an unexpected 'growth industry:' services that catered to the elderly.

Eventually, a few Yougarians noticed that the local theater crowd looked a lot older than it had when they were young. Services catering to the elderly had a growing clientele: including many of their former employees.

The last Yougarian finally died, in a nice elderly care facility: which was owned and operated by folks who had moved in from neighboring countries.

Over-Simplified? Yes

I doubt that any country has been as single-minded as my fictional Yougaria. It's hard to imagine everybody in a country deciding that having kids was too much trouble.

On the other hand, a remarkable number of countries aren't having enough babies to maintain their population. I've written about this 'birth dearth' before.

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More posts about "Caritas in Veritate" (Charity in Truth)
"Caritas in Veritate"

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Related posts:

• Population growth & shrinkage
  • "Population Explosion, Birth Dearth, and a Changing World"
    (June 9, 2012)
    Particularly
    • Fallout From "The Population Bomb"
    • Japan's Population Crisis, 2012
    • More Statistics - or - The Incredible Shrinking Countries
    • Living in a Big World
  • "7,000,000,000 People, More or Less: Why I'm Not Alarmed"
    (October 31, 2011)
  • "Saving the Planet, Saving Haitians"
    (September 1, 2010)
  • "Sustainable African Development: And Swift's Modest Proposal"
    (May 6, 2010)
  • "The 2010 Winter Olympics, Russia, and Babies"
    (March 2, 2010)
• Economics
  • "The Status Quo Must Go"
    (July 30, 2012)
  • " 'The Breaking-Down of Borders' "
    (July 30, 2012)
  • "South Sudan, the Táin Bó Cúalnge, and Working for a Better World"
    (January 6, 2012)
  • "America's Economy Isn't Doomed?!"
    (August 10, 2011)
  • "Is the Church For Capitalism? Yes: and No"
    (March 13, 2010)
• Life issues
  
  • "My Take on the News: The San Jose Articles, Natural Law, International Law, and Getting a Grip"
    (December 2, 2011)
    Particularly
    • Some Things Change
    • Some Things Don't Change
    • Natural Law?
  • "New Hungarian Constitution: Good News from a Former Workers' Paradise"
    (August 22, 2011)
  • "Sex Selection, Newspeak, and Getting a Grip"
    (August 11, 2011)
  • "Pedophobia? The Doctor has a Point"
    (September 4, 2010)
  • "Inconvenient Classes of Persons and Health Care"
    (July 26, 2009)

More:

• "Populorum Progressio"
  Encyclical of Pope Paul VI on the Development of Peoples (March 26, 1967)
• "Decree on the Apostolate of Laity - Apostolicam Actuositatem"
  Paul VI (November 18, 1965)