In Kevin Swanson’s talk, “The Myth of Overpopulation and the Coming Demographic Bomb,” he explained that fears about overpopulation are rising. According to a recent poll, 72 percent of the population is worried, up from 65 percent in 1990.
Yet this trend is not new. The early Christian apologist Tertullian had to address similar concerns in his day, around 200 A.D. Malthus renewed concerns in 1798 with his thesis that populations increase geometrically (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 ...), while resource supplies only increase arithmetically (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 ...).
Significantly, Malthus was proven gloriously wrong between 1800 and 2000, as world population increased 6-fold and world resources increased 80-fold; life expectancy increased from 30 to 65. Although Malthus rightly recognized that poverty can often result from lack of character, his wicked solution was to eliminate the poor by means of placing their cities near swamps to perpetuate disease, encouraging unclean living, withholding charitable assistance, and similar measures.
From Malthus, who gave us “survival of the virtuous,” Darwin learned about the struggle for survival among ostensibly rapidly increasing populations competing for limited resources. In time, Darwin would refine Malthus’ thesis into “survival of the fittest.” Galton, a relative of Darwin, devised the practice of “eugenics” to deliberately select and breed a superior race. Chesterton rightly described eugenics as “survival of the nastiest,” and Hitler was the most consistent practitioner in history.
Sanger, also heavily influenced by Malthus, gave us “survival of the smartest.” She paved the way for social programming, including forced sterilizations in many states, starting in the 1920s and continuing through 1981. Sanger believed in extermination of the lesser races to make room for those she considered to be superior. Oliver Wendell Holmes, in the 1927 Buck v. Bell case regarding forced sterilization, infamously declared in his 8-1 majority opinion, “Three generations of imbeciles is enough.”
The social programmers would come to discover that propaganda through the media and schooling establishments is more effective than coercive measures to reduce populations. For example, China’s one-child policy, enforced in a horrifically totalitarian manner, has resulted in a birthrate of 1.6. South Korea, without any coercion, has reduced its birthrate to 1.1, the lowest in the world. Statistics show that higher levels of schooling correlate with lower birthrates. The key is not education and intelligence, but that the women have been more effectively propagandized in the established system with a narcissistic and existentialist worldview.
Here is an important principle of history we should learn: When men apostatize from a foundation and upbringing in the faith, as did Malthus, Darwin, Galton, Nietzsche, and others; the synthesis of backgrounds — mixing the city of God with the city of man — leads to something like the nephilim of Genesis 6. The most fearsome and horrific men are the apostates from Christianity. They believe they can predestine history in the absence of a sovereign God to carve out a pretended meaning in a chaotic world.
Overpopulation is not and never has been the problem, Kevin emphasized. Worldviews and character are the best predictors of prosperity or desolation, as the real issues are spiritual and moral. This fact is clearly demonstrated by the fact that the great famines of the 20th century were created by communists, Islamists, and animists. The issue is this: Men have been immature and are not taking dominion. They are immoral, fat, and lazy. We have wicked economic systems from men like Keynes which have led to massive debt and will result in inevitable collapse.
Psalm 33 is our hope. We should not fear man, Kevin encouraged, and we should not trust in princes or horses. We must serve and fear the sovereign, loving God alone, Who frustrates the counsel and schemes of the wicked and preserves His people in famines.
As hopelessness spreads around us concerning the supposed “myth of overpopulation,” Kevin advocated this objective: that Christians disciple the nations and restore godly liberty in family-based economies rather than relying on the state.
Posted by Caleb Hayden