Unit 4 Ethical Issues Essay

Human population and its impact on the world and its resources has been an issue I have been aware of for quite some time. This gave me a new opportunity to learn much more than I had before about the subject and the many dimensions of it.

I found the argument that two children do much more than simply replace the parents. It seems to me than many reproduce out of habit, please don’t get me wrong I am not condemning having children I have just known many people who later in life look back and don’t really remember a conscious decision to have children. That being said it is amazing what one couple having two offspring can create? There is no guarantee that those children will grow up to have the same moderate number of children. Also there is the trend that shows that those whom have lower number of children use more resources. However I don’t think that the consumption of resources is that black and white, so-called “civilized” nations simply have grown accustomed to a very different type of lifestyle. Still it is important to consider the impact of the children we bring into the world, and for those that are brought into the world to raise them to be stewards of the earth. Especially because I see no real solution to the energy crisis, the methods that fuel corporate pocketbooks will always be the most popular.

Then there is the very interesting reality of Asia’s aging population. Again I find myself worrying for the people of China. It is undoubtedly a tough road ahead at least if things keep to their current trend. With China’s habit of poor decisions that adherently affect their population’s livelihood.

Finally the issue of the sex ratio imbalance is a fascinating one. I have always heard that there is a larger number of females world wide, one contributing factor to that was that more men fight in wars than do women, hence an exasperation of the difference. This seems a much more uncontrollable issue than the others that have been discussed. It is hard to argue with Mother Nature, but some may and have gender based abortions to bring more women into the world. I also can’t imagine the heart ach of so many not being able to marry.

Still I think that inevitably things work themselves out. While there may be problems coming the future due to changes in demographics, problems often also present new solutions and innovations.