POPULATION PROBLEMS

As early as 1798 Thomas Robert Malthus, an English economist, expressed his concern about the rapid growth of the world’s population in his “Essay on the Principle of Population”. He stated that population increased in a geometrical ratio, while subsistence increased only in an arithmetical ratio. Consequently, unless there were checks on the growth of the population, a dearth of material for subsistence would soon prevail. All plans for social reform would be in vain unless they included a lowering of the birthrate.
It is now early 200 years since Malthus’s views were first published, and even though science and technology have advanced far and been very successful in increasing subsistence, there is still no certainty about the future unless population groth is checked. “Zero population growth” has become a popular motto in campaigns for family planning and birth control.
In 1930 Indonesia had a population of 60 million; in 1954 it was 81 million; the present estimate is about 150 million. The average annual rate of increase is around 2.2 percent. If the population continues to grow at this rate, in the year 2000 we will have a population of over 200 million.
To get an idea of how enormous and complex the problems are, let us suppose that the population increases by 2 percent per year. That means about three million more people each year, which means that each year there will be three million more people to be fed, housed, clothed, and educated; in short to be taken care of. Cities will grow larger and larger, streets will be more and more crowded.
There will be more cars, moremotorcycles, and consequently accidents will be more likely to happen. As peopl’s needs increase, so industries will grow up to product the things needed for building roads, houses and cars; for making clothes, food stuffs, and so on. However, besides its positive role as a producer of goods and employer of labour, industry has an undesirable side effect.Itis a source of pollution. It pollutes the air, the soil, the water in wells and rivers, and sometimes even the water of the sea. Legislative measures should be taken to prevent,or at least minimize pollution.
It is, therefore, of the greatest importance that population growth be checked. To do thisit is necessary to know its causes. They are a high birthrate and a low death rate. Of course, if the death rate is low, it should not be tampered with; it is in fact, the result of better living conditions, and better medical care. Thus there is no alternative but to lower the birthrate by encouraging birth control. The government’s campaign for birth control must succeed. If it does not, all our plans and all our efforts to improve the nation’s prosperity will be in vain.