Anyone out there read "The Vegetarian Myth"? page 2

[Katt]

Education is a must for both women AND men. But women, as the childbearers, really should be first priority, IMO. Education among the poor is especially vital.


The problem I see when you mandate childbirth by governmental decree, is that it can lead to some serious potential abuses of the system down the road. Also, there are cultures/religions that believe that preventing childbirth is against (insert version of deity here)'s commands. Other cultural systems gain benefits from having more hands to work fields, or more mouths to feed to get benefits.


Third world populations are booming, while first world populations are slowing. Unfortunately, the third world makes up the majority.

[chocolatechip69]

In Iran, all women are required to stay virgins until marriage. It doesn't matter how long the woman has to wait for the wedding, so when she finally does get married the child birth in the family are an overwhelming event.


Like Katt mentioned, this situation is very different from culture to culture and I doubt that we all would be able to confirm to the same standards.

[OnTheBayou]

CC, education is not gender symmetrical. Educated men have just as many kids as uneducated, historically. It's only when the women get an education, do birthrates drop. There are a number of reasons, from realizing that they are no longer a doormat to delayed marriage and childrearing since they don't need a man for economic reasons.

[SerialSinner]

Religion would also play a very important role in overpopulation. Secular societies tend to have a way lower birth rate than theocracies.


I think CC and OTB have a good point. It could be argued that average men are hardwired to breed with anything that moves, and that average women, risking to be abandoned and having to carry the physiological burden of pregnancy by themselves, are hardwired to be more picky.


The empowerment of women would probably result in lower birth rates. And anything contributing to the secularization of societies would also help a lot.

[pandapuffs]

Something else to note is that in many cultures, men are already educated but women aren't, and it's entirely a power and control issue. Just as peasants were prevented from reading the bible when it was written in Latin, women can be kept at the bottom of the power structure. Also, consider those cultures where educated women are more likely to make decisions based on the health and well-being of women and children, unlike the men in power.


Men and women are both responsible for producing a child, but to have the education and knowledge necessary to take control over one's own body is essential and empowering.

[SerialSinner]

Funding organizations promoting Christian Science could help as well.

[chocolatechip69]

But that would involve religion again. Not the best option in this case.

[robinbrooke]

I think a place to start when we want to feed the planet is to look at the reasons that people aren't able to get enough to eat. Some areas are arid and cannot support their populations. However, it seems to me that a lot of the famines and general malnourishment find their cause in human evil and greed. For example, some of the poorest people in the world, Haitian peasants from the central plateau of Haiti became landless because their land was appropriated for a dam. They didn't even get electricity from the dam which was built to benefit the only the cream of the crop. And then there was some sort of pig disease so the U.S. had all their creole pigs killed and replaced with regular pigs, who basically couldn't flourish there. So all they were left with was hardly arable land and few animals, no wonder they have nothing to eat.

I don't think the whole world could go primal, but I think that we can do a much better job supporting the population if we are willing to address injustice and war as a cause of malnutrition and global poverty. A lot of people are getting screwed over so a small global elite can enjoy a very comfortable lifestyle. The African kid in a village uses a whole lot less resources, with his garden, family cow, and cooking fire, than an American kid who fits into a whole social structure that requires foreign oil, cell phone minerals that have to be extracted in war zones, and all kinds of resource consumption.

[OnTheBayou]

I'm with ya, Robin. The causes of hunger and poverty weave a cloth that is hard to find the threads in. I believe culture is a huge factor in the well being of people. I break with my liberal friends, all cultures are not equal (in results.)


Take the island of Hispanola. The western (I think) half is Haiti. Dirt poor as we all know, deforested, everyone is trying to leave. The other half is the Dominican Republic. Poor by our standards, but not shabby by third world standards. I've heard that the border between the two is stark; trees and no trees.


So there is an island with the same land, the same climate, and two very different outcomes. Maybe it's because the DR makes all major league baseballs?

[Acmebike]

I've read the book. It is an important thing to read. I've been down the Primal road 2 years+, always evolving and growing. "The Vegetarian Myth" was an all-encompassing paradigm shift for me. I'll make it a point to re-read annually. I've loaned my copy out a fair bit. One of the most important successes I've had in converting people over to the Primal way of living, involved my 16 year old nephew reading "The Vegetarian Myth". He now possesses knowledge and the resolve to implement it for his lifetime. He's got a few other high school buddies heading down this path as well.


THAT is where our future, the human races' future, lies. Getting this info out and getting it applied. "The Vegetarian Myth" is certainly THE single book to read if a person wants to understand the full import of the Primal way of life.