The Freeman 1972 - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

1972 LIMITED GOVERNMENT OR LIMITED PEOPLE? 583ed Conrad Taeuber, associate directorof the U.S. Census Bureauand director of the 1970 census,to observe: "Our population problemis one of tackling the agendafor improvement of our total environment.A lowered rate of populationgrowth may facilitate thetackling of those tasks - but itwould be only one small elementin the programs which need to bedeveloped."3) Population control in theUnited States will not solve anyproblems. The purpose of populationcontrol is to reduce populationgrowth. But populationgrowth is not a major cause of anyproblems. Therefore, reducingpopulation growth through populationcontrol will not solve anyproblems.This is another way of sayingthat it is simplistic nonsense tosuggest, as the report of The Com-mission on Population Growth andthe American Future does, thatincreases in the "quality of life"-the Commission's favorite "buzz"phrase - can be achieved throughdecreases in the quantity of people.There is no automatic, inverserelationship between people qualityand people quantity.I t is true, of course, that whereverthere are people there areproblems. But this is a descriptionof the human condition, not a prescriptionfor population control.In a creative, free and rightlyordered society, people solve moreproblems than they make. This isthe source of increasing life quality.It is unlimited government ofthe type required· to achieve thestated goals of population controlthat makes more problems thanit solves. ,IDEAS ONLIBERTYSocialism's Poor RecordSOCIALISM has a poor record when it comes to eliminating problems:its answer adds up to eliminating people. In fact, one ofsocialism's major and chronic problems is simply people. Socialismon the one hand destroys production, and, on the other, breedsup the least desirable elements. Its answer is to find the peopleat fault. Socialism always faces over-population; a free economydoes not.ROUSAS J. RUSHDOONY, The Myth 0/ Over.Population