It has been said that taken as a whole, the problem with world population usually manifested in the shortage of resources is not due to population growth as such but to the inequitable distribution of wealth and resources. What are your views?


Many not so well-to-do countries often cite inequitable distribution of wealth and resources as a reason to their sluggish, if not backward, development. In my opinion, that is one of the most irresponsible alibis. First of all, what equitable distribution of wealth and resources really mean? Does it mean that if one nation has more trees, it will be in an advantaged state? Or does it mean that all nations should have an equal amount of annual income regardless of their effort in striving for a higher standard of living for their respective people? or does it mean that if I have a bigger population, I will have the right to ask for a bigger piece of land from others? Of course not! It is a fact that certain nation has a greater share of certain kinds of natural resources but it is solely due to their geographical location and nobody can deny this fact and no body has the ability to alter it. So, what is the point of talking about equitable distribution of resources? In this era, population problems across the globe are diverse. In developing nations like India, over-population is a tough issue; in developed nations like France, under-population, being coupled by ageing population, is threatening the nation’s sustainability. Certainly, the former is mainly due to speedy population growth but not inequitable distribution of wealth and resources. As for the latter, it is due to slow population growth mainly because of changes in social values and higher standard of living, nothing to do with distribution of wealth and resources.

The problem with world population is often manifested in the shortage of resources when taken as a whole. Naturally, food and other basic necessities would be demanded in great quantity, if one has a huge population. A large amount of resource would have to be channeled to feed and take care of the population. This is mainly due to population growth. India is a big nation with a big reserviour of natural resources. Yet, it is facing the problem of over-population. It would be unfair to say that India’s population problem is due to inequitable distribution of wealth and resources because its government is not poor, considering the progress in its economic development in recent years. In my view, the government has not reacted prompt enough to curb the high population growth. A bigger population does not entitled one to declare a greater share of the world resources. The government knows the best the amount of resource available in its nation, thus it is the government’s responsibility to ensure a healthy population growth for the country so that it will be able to survive and sustain. If the distribution of resources of wealth and resources is determined by the size of a nation’s population, I believe many nations would come out with absurd and desperate policies to boost their own population in order to have a bigger share of the Earth’s resource. That is unthinkable! Resources would soon be depleted and the problem of population and environment would be greatly aggravated in the end.

In many developing nations, the problem of population is mainly defined by ageing population and under-population. As standard of living increase, people tend to have less children or delay their parenthood because they do not need many children to ensure security during their old age as they are likely to have savings. Due to advancement in medical science, infant motility rate has been lowered, which further reduce the need to have more children to ensure survival. In addition, women in many developed are recognized for their ability to contribute to the nation’s economy. Many of them tend to view career as a priority in life and reluctant to be fettered by house chores, hence, delay their marriage. As the younger population starts to dwindle and people’s life expectancy starts to increase, ageing population is resulted in many developed nations like America. For example, more than 16% of Pittsburgh’s population is above the official retirement age of 65. This problem is due to slow population growth and has nothing to do with inequitable distribution of wealth and resources!

The problem of population in the world today is mainly due to either too high or too slow the rate of population growth. It is not because of inequitable distribution of wealth and resources.