My Blog

by Joseph Sylvester E. Pampliega

I’d like to begin this article of mine with a re-affirmed faith that “God works the mysterious of ways.” Somehow, man manages to imply, forecast or predict what will happen in the future, with the gift of a critical eye – through natural and social sciences – with what the present shows; but we can stand still at times and be amazed how God works “to order things” according to his Divine plan.

In times when people go frantic to lower population because a boom in the population would also mean more problems as implied in the equation “unlimited wants vs. limited resources,” reflecting the picture of depletion in natural resources, deforestation in order to convert forest and agricultural lands to commercial or housing lands; increase in population be it in air, water, soil (even noise pollution), all kinds of new diseases, global warming, even more wars over who takes control of these “limited resources.” It’s a picture of distress! Because of these, the advocacies to control population even to the morbid of means like abortion to genocide are somehow an option many pessimistic ones would tend to choose. The Philippines, for one as many of her pessimistic politicians work out the enactment of Reproductive Health and Population Development Act of 2008,” is not exempted.

But Fr. John Flynn, LC, in his news article entitled, “Boom and Bust: Aging’s Impact on Economy,” (full text: http://www.zenit.org/article-25237?I=english) presented another scenario, which proves two things; one, that desperate and pessimistic policies and programs of government institutions to control population – in the past - has in fact brought about more than a “systemic” problem in our existence as experienced now by many developed countries; and two, that controlling population by all means is more of a danger rather than a solution to the many problems we have now. In the past, economics caused advocacies to control population; now, it’s Mother Earth saying that we’re too many already and she cannot support us anymore! --- and so we are all the more alarmed, just as I stated Larry L. Rasmussen’s words in my last article, we have “no exit” to all the “consequences” of our doings. (I may have been pessimistic, too.)

Now, with Fr. Flynn’s article, optimism sprouted back to my senses --- God knows how to spite our wrongdoings. By the very fact that we have controlled our population before, and has developed everything that is within our means – from science and technology to economics, God says, “Now, what’s next after you old people? You killed your young ones.”

Fr. Flynn said that “the clamor of [green] activists tends to receive widespread media attention, while a more worrying situation --- that of an aging population due to lack of children --- often goes without attention. Following drastic falls in fertility in past decades, many countries face enormous economic problems due to a higher proportion of elderly people in the population.” As George Magnus, author of “The Age of Aging: How Demographics are Changing Global Economy and Our World,” adds, “By 2050 there will be almost 2 billion people over 60, around 22% of the forecasted total world population, a major change compared to this group’s current share of 10%. The shift in age structure will bring with it new economic, social and political issues…As for the over-80, they are expected to increase from the current number of 88 million, to over 400 million by 2050.”

Because of this, “An aging population means there will be less people working to support those who are retired. The working-age population, from 15-64, will grow, but only slowly…” To remedy the situation, several suggestions were stated like raising retirement age, encourage more women to the workforce, immigration (Filipinos have sought for the opportunity way back in the 60s, how much more now?). Realities were also presented which, in effect, may lag the remedies. “Younger people are delaying their entry into work…In part this is due to increasing numbers undertaking university studies (Come to think of it, it takes more or less 20 years to complete the required “education,” which is too long!), but many young people are also taking breaks before entering the workforce (maybe stressed by the demands of “being a student”) and living at home with their parents (bumming around for awhile).”

Magnus continues, “An older population means much higher health care cost and increased welfare spending. But with fewer taxpayers supporting government finances, funding this expenditure will be a real problem…Moreover…many people do not do enough to save for retirement…many people simply assume they will receive health coverage and a pension from their company and have only negligible savings.” Adverse economic conditions, he said, left many to either “undersave” or “overconsume.”

The article ends, “With aging set to bring about drastic demographic change in coming decades, the future prospects for many people are looking worrying.”

As I read through the article several times, I can’t help that surge of “Te, RH-bill, RH-bill pa?! Control of population pa?!!” at the back of my mind. God works the mysterious of ways, he may have known that population will boom “in his time;” granted us all the abilities, the talents, the capacity, the inexhaustible curiosity to discover and to invent all things, “great and small;” but he knows that, just as he allowed the “happy fault” of Adam and Eve that has granted us our “free choice,” now he is making us choose – “life or death? --- It’s up to you.”