At the end of his “The ravages of the overpopulation argument” column [Gazette, June 9], Greg White highlights one of the many things guest columnist Barry Roth’s column [“The ravages of overpopulation,” Gazette, June 2] on overpopulation was missing — a very big miss.
Overpopulation is not more important than climate change and certainly not its cause. Above all, White says he is “deeply in favor of giving families — and especially girls and women — the education and resources necessary to make decisions concerning reproductive health and family planning. Reproductive justice must be at the heart of genuinely sustainable development.”
Just look: The countries where overpopulation and other problems lead to massive numbers of refugees are all countries where women have neither the education nor the status to control their own bodies and have the number of children they want. Raise the educational level of women and overpopulation is not a problem. Western Europe, North America and Japan are good examples. Cuba is a very poor country with many problems (including political ones!) but it educates its women: Overpopulation there is not a problem, unlike nearby countries in Central America. Mr. Roth’s column was misleading in every way.
David Ball
Northampton