We hit 7 billion people just 11 years ago, in October 2011, and 6 billion in October 1999. And we’re still growing – the UN predicts 9.7 billion humans by 2050 before potentially topping out at 10.3 billion at the end of the century.
The text challenges exaggerated concerns about catastrophic population growth and opposes the need for extreme measures to control it. It highlights China's abandonment of the one-child policy as progress and stresses the importance of establishing family planning as a universal human right. By referencing economist Julian Simon, it suggests that historically, food production has matched or surpassed population growth. Despite the global population doubling since initial worries about overpopulation, famine deaths have significantly reduced due to increased food output, reduced prices, and decreased malnutrition worldwide. The text champions human innovation as the ultimate asset and concludes that stringent population control regulations are not only morally objectionable but also illogical and lacking scientific justification.