Well said, Yobbo. The people who think China's one child policy was the key to the economic success should explain how come India is achieving a similar economic takeoff without a one child policy. Ditto for Vietnam, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia and Thailand.

Perhaps Ludwig would like to visit one of those numerous mountain gullies where unwanted newborn baby girls are left to die of starvation, thirst and/or predator attack.

The one thing all of these economic take-offs have in common is the fact that they all stopped listening to ideological nutters who put their own extreme and abstract objectives before common sense, justice and equity, and basic human rights.

Yobbo and Perseus,

My personal preferences about crowding or the cultural advantages of cities are irrelevant. It isn't good for anyone to spend most of his/her income on housing or to put up with substandard hospitals, crumbling transport systems, or underclass gangs. Apart from retired people, the problems of getting jobs outside the cities keep most people there. Unemployed people will have their benefits cut off if they leave. Staying in the city or starving is not a genuine choice.

Some countries have done fine without a one-child policy. South Korea obviously doesn't need one with a fertility rate of only 1.26, too low even if they want to reduce their population size. In the 1950s India and China were on about the same level. Right now (from CIA World Factbook figures) India has a fertility rate of 3.04 (China 1.72, lower than Australia's). It has a GDP per capita of $US2,200 (purchasing price parity), as opposed to $US6,200 in China, where I suspect you and Perseus would much rather be average citizens. Even though India has never had a one-child policy, it also has serious gender imbalance and female infanticide problems. (Why waste resources on raising a girl, who will have to be given a dowry and handed over to some other family once she gets big enough to be really useful?) The availability of ultrasound and cheap, safe abortion is what matters in both countries.

Yobbo… oh Yohhbbo

What about my questions of 20/2. They are pretty highly relevant. Have you just overlooked them or are they too hard to answer?

Here are some more facts that should speak for themselves:

- Human population of Australia: 20 million
- Number of humans that can be fed by the grain and soybeans eaten by Australian livestock: 93 million
- Percentage of corn grown in Australia eaten by livestock: 75%
- Percentage of corn eaten by humans: 15%
- Percentage of oats and wheat grown in Australia eaten by livestock: 85%
- Percentage of protein wasted by cycling grain through livestock: 90%
- Percentage of carbohydrate wasted by cycling grain through livestock: 99%
- Percentage of dietry fibre wasted by cycling grain through livestock: 100%
- How frequently a child dies of starvation: Every 2 seconds
- Amount of potatoes that can be grown on 1 hectare: 12000 Kilos
- Amount of beef that can be grown on 1 hectare: 85 kilos
- Percentage of Australian agricultural land used to produce beef: 49%
- Amount of grain and soybeans needed to produce 1 kilogram of beef: 7.1 kg
- Amount of protein fed to chickens to produce 1 kilogram of protein as chicken flesh: 2.3 kilos
- Amount of protein fed to pigs to produce 1 kilogram of protein as pig flesh: 3.4 kg
- Number of children who starve to death every day: 40,000
- Number of pure vegetarians who can be fed on the amount of land needed to feed 1 person consuming meat-based diet: 20
- Number of people who will starve to death this year: 60000000
- Number of people who could be adequately fed by the grain saved if Australians reduced their intake of meat by 10%: 60000000

I think this was an extremely good article.

A well written article. It is very refreshing to see the courage demonstrated by the author to write about a topic that for some reason almost seems taboo. It lets me know that at least are few people are awake in the 21st century and not still sleeping in the dark ages. It is disappointing that there is not more discussion on the topic of population. The organisation Sustainable Population of Australia (SPA) - is an organisation that promotes such intelligent discussion. Any attempts to promote debate on the topic of sustainable population in the media has been without success to date. Well done author Tom Gosling