Coming to final part of this series on overpopulation, let us look back at what we have covered so far. In part 1, we addressed myths of India already having an overall high population number, and high population density. In part 2 we addressed myths of India not having enough land and water to support a large population. Now we must move on to what is perhaps one of the most contentious issues, i.e. high population causes unemployment.
Myth 5: Over Population causes unemployment
This is a very pernicious lie, perpetuated by even the supposedly RW economists. Over population has not caused unemployment per se, nor will it do so, without mismanagement of the economy by the government. For example, the unemployment rate in India was far higher in the 1980s, during era of Indira’s license raj than today.
Consider a self-sustained village of 1000 people, running near full efficiency, with enough doctors, engineers, public servants, police officers, lawyers, judges, traders, business owners, farmers, bankers and laborers. Suppose 5% are unemployed. If the population grows tenfold, the village will need roughly ten times as many people in each profession and may still retain roughly the same unemployment rate. The same model can be extrapolated to much larger populations.
Like most arguments about overpopulation of India, the argument that it is responsible for India’s backwardness is based on raw numbers. India has fewer doctors per capita than developed nations not because of overpopulation, but because India has not invested adequately in health care and is thus unable to produce enough doctors per capita.
Over population is actually more efficient for some sectors of Economy
There are sectors where the larger population will actually make the population wealthier with the same efficiency, one such is the defense sector. A larger population can support a much larger military while spending a smaller share of total national output.
This is why most people consider increased spending on defense as bad for the economy, while simultaneously claiming that increased spending of the society on healthcare or education is a good thing. There can be no better example for this phenomenon than a comparison between India and Pakistan. Per capita income level of India is only modestly higher than that of Pakistan but since India is far more populous, and hence overall economically bigger, it can spend far more on defense while devoting a smaller percentage of GDP.
This is also the reason USA is presently the sole superpower of the world. Many nations match USA in terms of per capita income and wealth. However, none have the same military might, partly because the USA’s population is several times higher than most individual European countries.
It is also the reason Japan could never have taken over as the prime super power of the world like it was feared in the 1980s. Japan only had about half the population of USA, and a number that was already in decline.
This is why it is considered inevitable that China, and eventually India, will start to out-produce the west, to become the most dominant force on the planet. Population can be a positive force for Indian society, and not a negative one. It is about time that Hindus get out of this paranoia against population, which was created by incompetent socialist governments.