Mei Fong’s recently released book One Child gives a harrowing insight into the continuing social cost of China’s one child policy. This approach continues in many international aid policies today.
It is a good reminder that international politics is not always well thought out, nor is the dignity of individuals always a key concern for international entities run by individuals with agendas. Such was the social hysteria of the time that the forcible violation of women’s bodies in pursuit of government policy won a United Nations award. However, in this context, it is easier to understand why the United Nations gave its first ever population award to the Chinese minister for population planning in 1983. Countries around the world are now battling the economic consequences of chronically low birth rates. Scientist, Paul Ehrlich, argued in his book The Population Bomb (1968) that “in the 1970s hundreds of millions of people will starve to death in spite of any crash programmes embarked upon now” - a claim so ludicrous it is hard to believe so many people took him seriously.
Many today almost forget, or were not around to remember, that back in the 1960’s and 1970’s concern about over-population was a serious and world-wide concern.
0 kommentar(er)
