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China Is Worried About Population Decline, But, Why Worry?
Are we more worried about too few people, or the right kind of people?
Roaring Rivers
Torrents, currents, and ripples by Christyl Rivers
Not enough babies in China!
China is in the news because officials are worried about a serious decline in population. For the first time in modern history, there are more people dying in China than are being born.
China is always treating emergencies by pinning a tale (story) on the dragon, calling the dragon the enemy, slaying the dragon, and then finding out that, in fact, it was the dragon that laid the golden egg.
In 1958, the dragon was a humble little song sparrow. People were urged to stomp, poison, snare, smother, and by any means necessary, slay every single sparrow until every seed was safe and every grain was available to feed the people.
But song sparrows, silent and still, don’t eat hordes of locusts. Locusts, and other pest insects, do, in fact, eat more grain than birds do.
Crops were ruined. More than 45 million people died of starvation. How many sparrows died? Like many species today, they perched on the brink of extinction until some immigrant sparrows flew in like superheroes.