As of Halloween (October 31
st) of last year, the world passed the 7 billion mark in terms of population. Much of that population growth took place in asia, in China, India, and the South Pacific. However, the
demands of increasing populations are being felt everywhere, and that is placing a strain on economies, governments, and our global environment. The question then becomes, do nations implement population control interventions to help to mitigate these strains, and if so, what will those programs look like?
China, which is one of the most widely recognized countries to have adopted population control measures, is a regulatory and hierarchical culture by nature. It’s population controls, which may be viewed as Draconian by some, have nonetheless allowed it to monitor and direct population growth, and to implement interventions where needed. For instance, with so many people there is an enormous demand for organ transplants, yet only about a hundredth of the viable organs needed for those transplants each year. As a stop-gap they have harvested healthy organs from executed prisoners; a practice they plan to stop within the next several years. Likewise, there are a number of government-subsidized incentives and disincentives for people to have boys rather than girls, and adoption of Chinese girls out-of-country is significantly easier than adoption of boys for that very reason.
