Brood Nations

Monday, September 12th, 2016 @ 12:00PM

Biology is a powerful thing – especially the biological drive to reproduce. Just as nature, it is said, “abhors a vacuum” (at least here on Earth), biology abhors a habitable environment devoid of life. The reproductive drive across non-human species is so powerful that the world’s myriad populations of these organisms are pushed to fill every nook and cranny of habitable space on the planet. Such non-sentient creatures are incapable of resisting their own innate reproductive drive which results in the expansion of populations checked only by the absolute limits of available space and sustenance.

Of course, when it comes to humans, things should be different. As sentient beings, humans have the ability to think and to reason. Further, we have the ability (or at least we should) to resist certain urges. Regrettably, when it comes to reproductive drive, it seems some humans are no more capable of resisting their biological urges than the rest of nature’s creatures.

Images of starving children with bloated bellies from famine-ravaged countries in Africa depict some of the saddest and most desperate conditions known to humanity. And, yet, it seems that despite the loss of tens of thousands of lives every year to such terrible circumstances, the survivors go on to produce ever more children year after year after year. Witnessing such events, one might ask the question, “How, in good conscience, could a person bring a child into such deprived circumstances?” The answer is simple: the biological drive to reproduce.

In fact, it is this very biological drive that causes the human populations of certain nations to swell beyond these nations’ inherent ability to sustain them.  Consider Mexico. In 1900, Mexico’s population was 13 million. Today it is 125 million – an increase of 112 million people. Mexico is ravaged by poverty, unemployment, corruption, and drug-trafficking, among other problems. In fact, Mexico’s population has long since exceeded the ability of its government to deal with the problems that such rapid population growth creates. As a result, millions of Mexicans enter the US illegally each year searching for work. It is no secret that one of Mexico’s chief exports is unemployed emigrants.

The situation in Bangladesh is similar. In 1900, Bangladesh’s population was 30 million. Today it is 166 million – a difference of 136 million people. Just as in Mexico, the population of Bangladesh long ago exceeded the country’s ability to sustain it. And, just as in Mexico, one of Bangladesh’s chief exports is unemployed emigrants. These emigrants pour into neighboring countries by the hundreds of thousands, mostly illegally. The problem is so bad that the government of India has ordered its border guards to “shoot on sight” Bangladeshis attempting to sneak into that country. In addition, several years ago, India began construction of a 2,500 mile fence along its border with Bangladesh.

A country whose population exceeds that country’s ability to sustain it such that unemployed emigrants become a primary export has become, in essence, a brood nation whose burgeoning population exacts a significant toll on neighboring countries. It should be remembered that it is not the responsibility of a neighboring country to shoulder the burden of another nation’s overpopulation. It is the responsibility of the governments of such brood nations to develop effective means of dealing with population growth and the many problems that such growth creates. Compassionate nations such as the United States can only do so much to alleviate the suffering that results from rampant population growth in countries such as Mexico, Bangladesh, and numerous countries of sub-Saharan Africa among others.

It should also be remembered that the government of every sovereign nation has a duty to its citizens to protect them from the effects of illegal immigration. When a nation such as the United States is ravaged by crimes committed by illegal immigrants (30 percent of federal inmates are illegal immigrants) and when its healthcare system is overburdened by illegal immigrants ($2.5 billion spent annually on Medicaid for illegal immigrants) and, when its welfare system is drained by illegal immigrants (nearly $100 billion annually for welfare and other social services for illegal immigrants), it is time for compassion to end and enforcement of anti-illegal immigration legislation to begin.

Developed nations around the world face their own challenges in dealing with internal population growth. They should not and, in fact, cannot be expected to deal with problems resulting from unchecked overpopulation of neighboring countries. If developed nations do not stem the flow of illegal immigrants across their borders, they will all, in time, become brood nations. And just where will the illegal immigrants go when that happens?

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