The Greening of Hate

“Phrases like the population bomb and the population explosion breed racism. Few Americans know that, on average, woman round the world have less than three children each. They don’t breed like rabbits. And by 2050 a majority of the world’s population will be likely to live in countries with fertility levels below what demographers regard as replacement levels. It all avoids looking at the real issues on our own doorstep – of over-consumption, for instance.” Betsy Hartmann, interviewed by Fred Pearce

—The Greening of HateNew Scientist)

I’ve been a fan of the late economist Julian Simon for some time. Hartmann, as a radical feminist, agrees with some of Simon’s philosophy, particularly the notion that more population does not equal poverty, since more population (under the right economic and social conditions) means more hands to work. It’s impossible to tell from a printed transcript, but does Pearce seem… well, almost stunned when he asks Hartmann, “How can you be pro-choice and anti-population control?”