..continued

What succeds is explaining to people that too many kids leads to poverty, and long-lasting free contraceptive implants. Eventually compulsary education and urbanisation also drive down birthrates, because they make kids expensive. This tends to come along at the same time as education for all, which creates the feminist myth that only educating women decreases birthrates... it does, but that's only a small part of the picture.

On the other hand, why is the 'aging population' such a bad thing here in Australia? Surely it means we are living longer, and isn't that a good thing?

The problem is not an 'aging' population, it is that we are suiciding... failing to produce enough kids to replace ourselves.

Here we need to give tax reductions for kids so middle class parents can afford the kids we want. Those on welfare are pumping out kids like there is no tomorrow because of the welfare bribes to have lots of kids.

Meaning that single mums are pressured into having more kids than they can look after. And the payment incentives which ensure that few get married, as this reduces their welfare paynments.

Also making divorce fairer, because Australian men don't want to become dads... because they are afraid of having their kids stolen by divorce lawyers.

The author is wrong to imply that this issue is ignored. Think tanks like the CIS do look at the interface between religion and economics from a free market social conservative perspective, and CIS hosts a regular Acton lecture on this topic.

http://www.cis.org.au/events/category/2/The-Acton-Lecture

However, I doubt the American Acton Institute’s rather unusual blend of free market economics and Roman Catholic social conservatism will attract much support in Australia. Most Australian free marketers I know see economic, personal and social freedom as indivisible, and would certainly not support an anti-abortion, anti-contraception agenda, even if they might not share green fears of the perils of population growth.

Roman Catholic social conservatives tend to be ambivalent at best towards big business and free markets, while the left of catholic social thought is positively hostile to them.

A facile identification of abortion/contraception bad, babies/population growth good is not going to persuade many people, even those like me who are not alarmed at population growth.

Babette of course belongs to the same stable of propaganda hacks as Bill Muehlenberg wherein everything is framed in the language of binary exclusions.
Meanwhile Acton is a strange kettle of rotting fish too. It has very strong links with opus dei and other right-thinking "catholics" who like to pretend that the "catholic magisterium" is the ONLY source of Truth in the world.

And of course the "catholic" church itself is the worlds largest and most influential think tank, the agenda of which is now set by various right-wing outfits such as opus "dei".

“Unlike bacteria, people have the ability to rationalise resources, with a view to the future.”
Do they?
Passenger pigeon, hunted to extinction
American bison, hunted to the brink of extinction
Whales, several species hunted to the brink of extinction, saved only by international (government) treaties.
Orange Roughy, slow growing and of low fecundity, currently being hunted to extinction, and still being sold in most supermarkets.
I have a lovely set of photos of a beach in Costa Rica, where plump, well dressed people are harvesting all the sea turtle eggs they can find as fast as they are being laid, and carrying them off in feed bags to sell. Caption: “Global Warming ain't driving sea turtles to extinction”. All those people could be described as 'free independent capitalists', and no one of them could -individually- be accused of causing the extinction of the sea turtle.
Peak Oil, probably already passed.
Peak Coal, possibly within as little as 15 years:
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=5869
Peak Phosphate, probably within 30 years.
If the bacteria in the example were as clever as people, would they realise they were only 3 minutes away from disaster when their container was still 87.5% empty?
BTW, I'm guessin' Professor Mises doesn't qualify as an 'egghead'; maybe because all the good little libertarian capitalists who haven't been born yet can't possibly have any influence in his wonderful Economic Calculation theory.

Part time...."The problem is not an 'aging' population, it is that we are suiciding... failing to produce enough kids to replace ourselves.".....You have to be kidding!

The myth with over population, is that the only one's that see prosperity, is in the business ends of the scale. At the currant rate of NEW Australians floating in by what-ever means, we are, by NO means, committing population suicide.

300,000 new migrants were expected to arrive in Australia, the highest number since World War II. However, in March 2009, the Australian Government announced a 14 per cent cut in the 2008-09 permanent skilled migration program intake from 133 500 to 115 000 in response to worsening economic conditions, this was further reduced to 108,100 for 2009-10. In November 2009, specific skills are still in shortage in Australia, especially in the areas of Health and Social Welfare.

Country of birth Estimated resident population

United Kingdom 1,153,264
New Zealand 476,719
China 279,447
Italy 220,469
Vietnam 180,352
India 153,579
Philippines 135,619
Greece 125,849
Macedonia 120,649
South Africa 118,816
Germany 114,921
Malaysia 103,947
Netherlands 86,950
Lebanon 86,599
Sri Lanka 70,913
Serbia and Montenegro 68,879
Indonesia 67,952
United States 64,832
Poland 59,221
Fiji 58,815
Ireland 57,338
Croatia 56,540
Bosnia-Herzegovina 48,762

Yes I can see we are in trouble all right...rollies eyes:)

BLUE

Then there's the environmental damage control, which all like yourself, thinks the worlds life support systems will go on for ever, with no consequences. lol.....2050....the estimated population for Australia will be more than it can sustain.

But, I guess you think the same as the in-sane one's, that's running this country/world. ITS all for GREED! More people...more money right?

Capitalism will get us all in the end.

BLUE