Some months ago I read Louisa May Alcott's Little Women for the first time. I do like it as a moral tale. I nominated her as a possible American equivalent of Anthony Trollope.
Today I read Little Men. It is also a fine moral tale. Since it is set in a school, it is full of opportunities for explicit moral instruction. Most of these do not take place in the classroom, but in developing the characters of the boys (and some girls) in their interactions with one another outside of class. The charm is in the mild and humorous incidents. The deep appeal of the novel, though, is about the shaping of good character.
In the comments on my post on Little Women, it was offered that we shouldn't compare Alcott and Trollope, since one was writing children's literature and the other adult literature. The more I think about this distinction, the less I think it holds up. I think what the authors have in common is more important than the age of the subjects they write about or for. They are both portraying a God-ordered world in which good character and good conduct are right and true, and in which those who do right can be happy, whatever their worldly fortunes might be.
Saturday, April 07, 2012
Thursday, April 05, 2012
You Still Have Only a Slim Chance to Have Your First Baby in Your Forties
The number of women in their forties trying Assisted Reproductive Technologies of all sorts has gone up dramatically in the last few years.
The proportion who succeed, though, has not. The Yale Fertility Clinic puts the success rate after 42 at 9%, where it has been for some years.
Yet many women coming to the clinic, who are highly educated and well-informed about many other things, have only a vague notion that fertility declines dramatically in their thirties. They are often surprised, even offended, when told that they waited too long.
The proportion who succeed, though, has not. The Yale Fertility Clinic puts the success rate after 42 at 9%, where it has been for some years.
Yet many women coming to the clinic, who are highly educated and well-informed about many other things, have only a vague notion that fertility declines dramatically in their thirties. They are often surprised, even offended, when told that they waited too long.
Wednesday, April 04, 2012
Good News From Burma
I am so encouraged by developments in Burma. The military government seems to be gradually letting go. They allowed 45 by-elections to go forward - not enough to control parliament, but enough to create a base for the previously banned opposition.
And the great news: Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nelson Mandela of Burma, was elected to parliament, and her party won 40 of the 45 seats.
We may see a free Burma within a few years. And if President Aung San Suu Kyi tells me to call the country Myanmar, I will happily comply.
And the great news: Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nelson Mandela of Burma, was elected to parliament, and her party won 40 of the 45 seats.
We may see a free Burma within a few years. And if President Aung San Suu Kyi tells me to call the country Myanmar, I will happily comply.
Monday, April 02, 2012
Manhattan Singles are a Life Stage, Not a Lifestyle
Eric Klinenberg, in Going Solo, notes that half of Manhattan households are made up of people living alone. New York is certainly the capital of solo living in this country. But they are not really representative of future trends elsewhere.
Many young people go to New York to try to make it big, or just to experience the cosmopolitan life - for awhile. Then they pick a more realistic option elsewhere, or marry and move to the suburbs, or run through their trust fund or parental subsidy.
I think the fact that Klinenberg is a professor at New York University in Greenwich Village gives him a distorted view of how common, or sustainable, solo living is.
Many young people go to New York to try to make it big, or just to experience the cosmopolitan life - for awhile. Then they pick a more realistic option elsewhere, or marry and move to the suburbs, or run through their trust fund or parental subsidy.
I think the fact that Klinenberg is a professor at New York University in Greenwich Village gives him a distorted view of how common, or sustainable, solo living is.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
"Going Solo" is Not the Wave of the Future
Eric Klinenberg, an NYU sociologist, has generated some interest with Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone. He starts with the fact that about a quarter of American households today are made up of one person - more than the number of married-with-children households.
Klinenberg does treat the mostly sad cases of poor people living alone, especially the frail elderly. But his real interest is in the young and financially secure solo living group, who make New York their capital.
Klinenberg shows that living alone and loving it is a growing fraction of the urban population in developed societies, which is true. He argues that solo living will become the prevailing form of life, especially if a Swedish-style welfare state subsidizes it. He particularly argues that proponents of marriage are fighting a rear-guard action for an anachronistic idea of togetherness. This, I contend, is not true. It is certainly not proven by his cases.
Most young singles, including the young divorced, are looking to marry, as his own evidence shows. Even Exhibit A, the founder of the blog Quirkyalone Sasha Cagen, says that as she gets into her late thirties she, too, is ready to settle down and would like to find a husband.
Most of the old singles are widows who lived out their marriages until death them did part. The fact that they are living alone is not proof that marriage is an anachronism, but that we are a very rich society who can support the old in their own homes. In fact, those who stay married are more likely to have the resources to maintain independent living in their widow or widowerhood.
Going Solo is more of a life stage than a lifestyle.
Klinenberg does treat the mostly sad cases of poor people living alone, especially the frail elderly. But his real interest is in the young and financially secure solo living group, who make New York their capital.
Klinenberg shows that living alone and loving it is a growing fraction of the urban population in developed societies, which is true. He argues that solo living will become the prevailing form of life, especially if a Swedish-style welfare state subsidizes it. He particularly argues that proponents of marriage are fighting a rear-guard action for an anachronistic idea of togetherness. This, I contend, is not true. It is certainly not proven by his cases.
Most young singles, including the young divorced, are looking to marry, as his own evidence shows. Even Exhibit A, the founder of the blog Quirkyalone Sasha Cagen, says that as she gets into her late thirties she, too, is ready to settle down and would like to find a husband.
Most of the old singles are widows who lived out their marriages until death them did part. The fact that they are living alone is not proof that marriage is an anachronism, but that we are a very rich society who can support the old in their own homes. In fact, those who stay married are more likely to have the resources to maintain independent living in their widow or widowerhood.
Going Solo is more of a life stage than a lifestyle.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
The Silver Lining of the Trayvon Martin Case
Trayvon Martin was a black teenager who was killed by an aggressive neighborhood watch member in a gated community in Florida.
The killer has not been arrested. So far, the local police seem to have barely investigated the shooting.
There has been national outrage that, as it seems now, a trigger-happy vigilante is getting away with murder because his victim was a black boy in a hoodie.
So what is the silver lining?
That there is national outrage over the killing a black boy in a hoodie in Florida. And, as a result of that national outrage, something like justice may be done.
The killer has not been arrested. So far, the local police seem to have barely investigated the shooting.
There has been national outrage that, as it seems now, a trigger-happy vigilante is getting away with murder because his victim was a black boy in a hoodie.
So what is the silver lining?
That there is national outrage over the killing a black boy in a hoodie in Florida. And, as a result of that national outrage, something like justice may be done.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
The Capitol of Panem is Galt's Gulch
Mrs. G. and I are working through the Hunger Games trilogy, as are many around the world. The story of a slave rebellion in a dystopian future America is gripping.
The inspiration for Panem, the brutal dictatorship in which the Capitol forces the oppressed Districts to send children to die in gladiatorial combat, is obviously the Roman Empire. Suzanne Collins, the creator of this world, says her inspiration came from watching a juxtaposition of a reality show and the Iraq war on television.
I have had another strong feeling while listening to the story, though: The Hunger Games is a kind of sequel to Atlas Shrugged.
In Ayn Rand's novel of a dystopian future America, the competent few are besieged by the incompetent many. The competent must run everything and invent everything to maintain the little worlds of the helpless masses. These Atlases carry the world on their shoulders. All they ask is to be unrestricted in making a profit and living as they please. I will not be spoiling the plot to reveal that these Atlases get tired of carrying the world, and shrug it off, to let it collapse into Dark Days.
Atlas Shrugged is the most preposterous story I ever finished, for reasons I have detailed here.
The place these Atlases all sneak off to is an impregnable valley in the Rockies known as Galt's Gulch.
The Capitol of Panem is an impregnable location in the Rockies.
I can see a direct line of continuity between the little city of the competent few who should rule over the incompetent many, and the brutal capital of a police state in which the technologically advanced control the many, whom they regard as incompetent.
I don't mean that Suzanne Collins intended Panem to be derived from Atlas Shrugged. But I can see how the descendents of the intentionally selfish John Galt and Dagny Taggert could become the intentionally cruel President Snow.
The inspiration for Panem, the brutal dictatorship in which the Capitol forces the oppressed Districts to send children to die in gladiatorial combat, is obviously the Roman Empire. Suzanne Collins, the creator of this world, says her inspiration came from watching a juxtaposition of a reality show and the Iraq war on television.
I have had another strong feeling while listening to the story, though: The Hunger Games is a kind of sequel to Atlas Shrugged.
In Ayn Rand's novel of a dystopian future America, the competent few are besieged by the incompetent many. The competent must run everything and invent everything to maintain the little worlds of the helpless masses. These Atlases carry the world on their shoulders. All they ask is to be unrestricted in making a profit and living as they please. I will not be spoiling the plot to reveal that these Atlases get tired of carrying the world, and shrug it off, to let it collapse into Dark Days.
Atlas Shrugged is the most preposterous story I ever finished, for reasons I have detailed here.
The place these Atlases all sneak off to is an impregnable valley in the Rockies known as Galt's Gulch.
The Capitol of Panem is an impregnable location in the Rockies.
I can see a direct line of continuity between the little city of the competent few who should rule over the incompetent many, and the brutal capital of a police state in which the technologically advanced control the many, whom they regard as incompetent.
I don't mean that Suzanne Collins intended Panem to be derived from Atlas Shrugged. But I can see how the descendents of the intentionally selfish John Galt and Dagny Taggert could become the intentionally cruel President Snow.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
The Main Points of the "Book of Mormon" are OK.
Mrs. G. and I went to see "The Book of Mormon." It is quite funny in the over-the-top way that you would expect from the "South Park" guys who wrote it. The show is also respectful and even affectionate about Mormons as clean-cut, decent, nice people who want to help everyone. They are not as respectful of some of esoteric elements of Mormonism, but mostly they just tell them straight and let the audience react.
The main points of the musical are:
a) prophets speak in metaphors; and
b) kind acts are not wrong.
I can't go all the way with them to the actual conclusion of their story, but I can accept these main points.
Oh, and there is a subsidiary point with which I heartily agree: Orlando is not all it's cracked up to be.
The main points of the musical are:
a) prophets speak in metaphors; and
b) kind acts are not wrong.
I can't go all the way with them to the actual conclusion of their story, but I can accept these main points.
Oh, and there is a subsidiary point with which I heartily agree: Orlando is not all it's cracked up to be.
Friday, March 16, 2012
More Love in Domestic Violence Cases Than in Paternity Cases
A Family Court judge visited our "Family Life" class today. He talked about the young couples he sees in paternity court, and the repeat customers in domestic violence court.
The judge said, as he has said to us in past years, that the mothers in paternity court want the fathers of their children to be involved in their child's life, but hesitate to simply share custody - because, they admit, they don't really know the man they had a child with.
The judge also told us, as he has before, that it takes a beaten woman an average of seven strikes by her boyfriend before she leaves him for good. She keeps going back to him because, usually, she does love him - she just wants him to stop hitting her.
This led me to a question I had not thought of before. Is there more love in domestic violence relationships than in paternity relationships?
Yes, the judge answered without hesitation.
Paternity court cases come from high school romances, or the equivalent a few years later, that happened to produce a baby. They never were a strong couple, and were often not very mature.
Domestic violence cases, by contrast, usually involve couples who are invested enough in each other and in their children to keep coming back even after dreadful blowups.
Please don't misunderstand - I am not saying that love makes domestic violence in any way acceptable. But seeing that love is involved in many domestic violence cases does help me, whose life is far from first-hand experience of either domestic violence or paternity court, have a more realistic picture of the lives of those who end up before a judge in each case.
The judge said, as he has said to us in past years, that the mothers in paternity court want the fathers of their children to be involved in their child's life, but hesitate to simply share custody - because, they admit, they don't really know the man they had a child with.
The judge also told us, as he has before, that it takes a beaten woman an average of seven strikes by her boyfriend before she leaves him for good. She keeps going back to him because, usually, she does love him - she just wants him to stop hitting her.
This led me to a question I had not thought of before. Is there more love in domestic violence relationships than in paternity relationships?
Yes, the judge answered without hesitation.
Paternity court cases come from high school romances, or the equivalent a few years later, that happened to produce a baby. They never were a strong couple, and were often not very mature.
Domestic violence cases, by contrast, usually involve couples who are invested enough in each other and in their children to keep coming back even after dreadful blowups.
Please don't misunderstand - I am not saying that love makes domestic violence in any way acceptable. But seeing that love is involved in many domestic violence cases does help me, whose life is far from first-hand experience of either domestic violence or paternity court, have a more realistic picture of the lives of those who end up before a judge in each case.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Professors Don't Like Evangelicals. Let's Be Careful About That.
It is worrisome that professors have the most unfavorable view of a group that constitutes about a third of all Americans.
I urge my fellow faculty members to bend over backwards to be fair to evangelical Christians. It is easy for both groups to feel like a beleaguered minority. This situation leads to fear and reaction.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Moderates Expect a Broader Range of Views on Facebook Than the Extremes Do
Most Americans use social networking sites such as Facebook. About 60% of all liberals and moderates do, and about half of all conservatives do. This is from a new study by Lee Rainie and Aaron Smith.
I was drawn to three particular findings of this study.
First, 38% were surprised to find that some of their friends had different political views than they thought they did. The moderates were the least surprised: only 33%. By contrast, most of those on the extremes - very liberal (52%) and very conservative (54%) - were surprised to find out what their friends' views were.
I think this means that moderates are more attentive to what other people think, and less likely to assume that their friends agree with them.
Second, the extremes were more likely to say that they always agreed with the political posts of their friends - 20% of very liberal and 17% of very conservative, vs. only 5% of moderates.
This suggests to me that the extremes are more likely to live in an echo chamber of people who agree with one another.
Third, liberals were more likely to block someone because of their liberal views (28%) than either conservatives (16%) or moderates (14%) were. This part of the study did not distinguish between liberal and very liberal, on one end, and conservative and very conservative, on the other.
This suggests that liberals are more intolerant of differing views than other people are.
I was drawn to three particular findings of this study.
First, 38% were surprised to find that some of their friends had different political views than they thought they did. The moderates were the least surprised: only 33%. By contrast, most of those on the extremes - very liberal (52%) and very conservative (54%) - were surprised to find out what their friends' views were.
I think this means that moderates are more attentive to what other people think, and less likely to assume that their friends agree with them.
Second, the extremes were more likely to say that they always agreed with the political posts of their friends - 20% of very liberal and 17% of very conservative, vs. only 5% of moderates.
This suggests to me that the extremes are more likely to live in an echo chamber of people who agree with one another.
Third, liberals were more likely to block someone because of their liberal views (28%) than either conservatives (16%) or moderates (14%) were. This part of the study did not distinguish between liberal and very liberal, on one end, and conservative and very conservative, on the other.
This suggests that liberals are more intolerant of differing views than other people are.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Arab Fertility Decline Means a Less-Scary Future for the Middle East
The Arab world is having a population explosion now. This is an important push-force behind the "bloody borders" of Islam that Samuel Huntington cited in the "clash of civilizations" argument. This youthquake is also an important push-force behind the Arab Spring, of democratically oriented youth not willing to live under another generation of tyrants.
But the demographic tide is already turning. As usual, economic growth, educational improvements for women, and, eventually, democracy, lead to a fertility decline down to replacement levels or below. The young adult bulge in the Arab countries is scaling back their own fertility as they enter full adulthood.
Stable fertility in the Arab countries and Iran will match the stable fertility in Israel. All of which promises a future in which the push-force of demography, at least, will ease up on the many strains in that region.
But the demographic tide is already turning. As usual, economic growth, educational improvements for women, and, eventually, democracy, lead to a fertility decline down to replacement levels or below. The young adult bulge in the Arab countries is scaling back their own fertility as they enter full adulthood.
Stable fertility in the Arab countries and Iran will match the stable fertility in Israel. All of which promises a future in which the push-force of demography, at least, will ease up on the many strains in that region.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
The Medium-Term Impact of Normalizing Mormonism
Mormons today are like mainline Protestants in the 1950s. They are church-going, family-oriented, pro-business, mostly Republican, and don't see much difference between taking care of people through the church or through the state. Governor Mitt Romney exemplifies this way of dealing with the world. Candidate Romney feels obliged to step away from his position, at least temporarily.
But that is not my main point today.
The thing that happened to the mainline Protestant churches was the Sixties. Many good things came from that cultural revolution, especially for the equality of the races and the sexes. But the Sixties were mostly a disaster for the mainline churches. From that moment their cultural decline began, which has not slowed down to this day.
I think the Mormons are in for their own Sixties.
If Mitt Romney is the Republican nominee for president, as I expect he will be, that will go a long way toward fully normalizing the LDS church as a regular American denomination. In that way, a Romney nomination would do for Mormons much what John Kennedy's election did for Catholics.
But I think the counterpart of Mormon normalization now would be a cultural revolution in the next generation. Normalizing Mormonism will also normalize Mormon diversity.
But that is not my main point today.
The thing that happened to the mainline Protestant churches was the Sixties. Many good things came from that cultural revolution, especially for the equality of the races and the sexes. But the Sixties were mostly a disaster for the mainline churches. From that moment their cultural decline began, which has not slowed down to this day.
I think the Mormons are in for their own Sixties.
If Mitt Romney is the Republican nominee for president, as I expect he will be, that will go a long way toward fully normalizing the LDS church as a regular American denomination. In that way, a Romney nomination would do for Mormons much what John Kennedy's election did for Catholics.
But I think the counterpart of Mormon normalization now would be a cultural revolution in the next generation. Normalizing Mormonism will also normalize Mormon diversity.
Thursday, March 08, 2012
Spanx is a Happy Success Story
Sara Blakely is a self-made billionaire selling very effective women's underwear, Spanx. She is, at 41, the youngest woman who made her own fortune on the Forbes list of the world's richest people.
She invented her product and her business herself, while also being married and a mother. This fact would not be remarkable for a man, but is very unusual for a female CEO.
She cites as her influences, all from afar at first, Wayne Dyer, Richard Branson, and Oprah Winfrey. She learned from failure. She overcame her fears. She seems to be a decent person.
And now she promotes other female entrepreneurs, just to give back.
She invented her product and her business herself, while also being married and a mother. This fact would not be remarkable for a man, but is very unusual for a female CEO.
She cites as her influences, all from afar at first, Wayne Dyer, Richard Branson, and Oprah Winfrey. She learned from failure. She overcame her fears. She seems to be a decent person.
And now she promotes other female entrepreneurs, just to give back.
Wednesday, March 07, 2012
Better is Better: A Response to Impossible Perfectionists
Bill McKenzie, a columnist for the Dallas Morning News and an old friend, asked a variety of religious leaders and professors in Texas to respond to my post on "The World is Getting Better." Some agreed with me, some disagreed. A few, though, seemed not to accept the idea of "getting better."
My favorite response along these lines came from Cynthia Rigby, professor of theology at Austin Presbyterian Seminary. She wrote:
It is part of the Gruntled creed to believe that better is better. Making things better is worth doing, even if we don't - or can't - make things perfect.
My favorite response along these lines came from Cynthia Rigby, professor of theology at Austin Presbyterian Seminary. She wrote:
Until every stomach is full, until every family is housed, until every child can go to school healthy, clothed, and with a pencil and notebook in hand, the world has not improved enough to throw around such generalities.
It is part of the Gruntled creed to believe that better is better. Making things better is worth doing, even if we don't - or can't - make things perfect.
Tuesday, March 06, 2012
The Least-Happy City is Still Overwhelmingly Happy
Gallup has a nifty new well-being index of the 350 largest metropolitan areas in the country.
One of the items measured was happiness.
The lowest-scoring city: Springfield, OH, at 82.3%
The highest-scoring city: Caspar, WY, at 94.2%
You know what is even more important than the happiness gap between these two cities? How high the happiness percentage is in both of them. Even in the least happy city, the overwhelming majority of people are happy.
One of the items measured was happiness.
The lowest-scoring city: Springfield, OH, at 82.3%
The highest-scoring city: Caspar, WY, at 94.2%
You know what is even more important than the happiness gap between these two cities? How high the happiness percentage is in both of them. Even in the least happy city, the overwhelming majority of people are happy.
Monday, March 05, 2012
College Town Story Has Shocking Omission!
College Towns are Happy Towns. Yes.
The omission: Danville, KY.
(And I thank my sister for the title of this post.)
The omission: Danville, KY.
(And I thank my sister for the title of this post.)
Sunday, March 04, 2012
Is Hooking Up OK if Your School Is Far From Home?
I read a paper on premarital sex that offered a reason and reasoning about hooking up vs. seeking a serious relationship that I had not heard before.
In one case, a young man was going to school out of state. He reasoned that he was not going to settle near the school, so any relationship he started there could only be temporary. Thus, he justified hooking up - often and exclusively.
In another case, a young man went to a school near home. The author, who knew both men, thought this was because the second fellow was looking for a wife who would settle with him in his hometown.
I have never run across this line of reasoning. If I had only heard the first case, I would have thought it was a creative but particularly bogus way for a man to justify promiscuity. But hearing the second case - and the author taking both kinds of reasoning as normal - makes me think I am meeting a subculture I have not met before.
My first guess is that these are working-class guys who always expected to settle near family, and find a job and wife in the area. They went to college because they were good athletes, not primarily for an education that would transform them as people.
Any thoughts on this matter?
In one case, a young man was going to school out of state. He reasoned that he was not going to settle near the school, so any relationship he started there could only be temporary. Thus, he justified hooking up - often and exclusively.
In another case, a young man went to a school near home. The author, who knew both men, thought this was because the second fellow was looking for a wife who would settle with him in his hometown.
I have never run across this line of reasoning. If I had only heard the first case, I would have thought it was a creative but particularly bogus way for a man to justify promiscuity. But hearing the second case - and the author taking both kinds of reasoning as normal - makes me think I am meeting a subculture I have not met before.
My first guess is that these are working-class guys who always expected to settle near family, and find a job and wife in the area. They went to college because they were good athletes, not primarily for an education that would transform them as people.
Any thoughts on this matter?
Friday, March 02, 2012
In Praise of James Q. Wilson
Noted criminologist James Q. Wilson died today. The author of the "broken windows" theory of improving social order. Sometimes it is treated simply as a crime-control strategy, but really it is much broader.
The idea is that if a community lets a broken window stay broken, it sends a signal that the community is not organized enough or concerned enough to fix it. And if no one is watching little things, soon it loses the capacity to pay attention to big dangers, too. Thus, the best way to start fighting serious crime is to vigorously respond to quality-of-life crimes. These ideas have been tried in communities large and small, which has correlated with a significant drop in crime.
The larger sense of Wilson's theory, though, is in line with Tocqueville's insight that what makes American democracy work is the dense network of voluntary associations that come together to do whatever needs doing in our communities. The broken windows, literal and figurative, in our communities are not mainly fixed by government, nor by a few saintly individuals. They are addressed by small groups of ordinary people who get together to deal with something that affects their corner of the community.
The next time something seems out of order in your neighborhood, call the neighbors, find a few who want to actually do something, and fix that broken window. And raise a toast to James Q. Wilson.
The idea is that if a community lets a broken window stay broken, it sends a signal that the community is not organized enough or concerned enough to fix it. And if no one is watching little things, soon it loses the capacity to pay attention to big dangers, too. Thus, the best way to start fighting serious crime is to vigorously respond to quality-of-life crimes. These ideas have been tried in communities large and small, which has correlated with a significant drop in crime.
The larger sense of Wilson's theory, though, is in line with Tocqueville's insight that what makes American democracy work is the dense network of voluntary associations that come together to do whatever needs doing in our communities. The broken windows, literal and figurative, in our communities are not mainly fixed by government, nor by a few saintly individuals. They are addressed by small groups of ordinary people who get together to deal with something that affects their corner of the community.
The next time something seems out of order in your neighborhood, call the neighbors, find a few who want to actually do something, and fix that broken window. And raise a toast to James Q. Wilson.
Thursday, March 01, 2012
The World Is Getting Better
I gave a 20-slide lecture tonight on this topic, in the wonderful Pecha Kucha format.
I share with you four of those slides.
In addition to the massive decrease in violence, the subject of several prior slides,
Anything Else Gotten Better?
I share with you four of those slides.
In addition to the massive decrease in violence, the subject of several prior slides,
Anything Else Gotten Better?
•Sex
discrimination
•Race
discrimination
•Sexual-orientation
discrimination
•Handicap
discrimination
•Imperial
control of colonized people
•Totalitarianism
and authoritarianism
Is that all
you’ve got?
•Food
production has increased gigantically
•Transportation
is cheaper
•Communication
costs a tiny fraction of before
•Information is
available on unprecedented scale
•The air is
cleaner
•World
population is under control
Wait, What Was
That About World Population?
•The population
bomb was a dud
•No developed
nation has enough kids to replace itself
•The two most
populous countries, China and India, are at or below replacement fertility
•Nearly all the
large developing countries are down to replacement fertility or very close
Is Anything
Worse?
•Rich-World
Problems Are on the Rise:
•Obesity
•Cancer
•Heart disease
•Divorce and
unmarried parenthood
•Global warming
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