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Originally Posted by Sparrow  If China had not worried about overpopulation decades ago there would have already been mass starvations and perhaps the kind of civil unrest you only read about in trashy doomsday novels. |
In the last year or so, I read in the Economist** a report that suggested that China's One Child policy might lead to civil unrest in the future. The writer's reasoning was as follows:
- More parents seem to want a male child than a female child.
- The are (or will be soon; I forget) millions, perhaps tens of millions, of males without any prospect of having a family, simply because males outnumber females.
- In the past, an excess number of single males in China has led to revolts, exacerbating other conflicts (such as economic problems).
It seems hard to believe that China would resort to counselling to solve such unrest; I'm thinking it would be more along the lines of the PLA waving (and firing) guns and "the kind of civil unrest you only read about in trashy doomsday novels".
Which isn't to say that there's no problem - there is - only that the one child policy may not be the best solution to it.
** - Sorry, but I can't recall the date of publication and the Economist is not at all keen on non-subscribers reading their reports online.