The plebian problem

The word 'people' has its roots in many languages. It can be traced from the old Latin word Populus, from middle English word peeple, from middle old french word pueple etc. all meaning a group of people. It is these people who make up the population of any place; from an island to the whole world. Every single human being irrespective of their wealth, employment status, or even behavioral characteristics make up this population. It is like we are all just a drop in the ocean.

The human population is diverse and dynamic. Therefore it is important to direct the masses. To channelize and influence this humungous population, understanding it is very important. Population geography is one such discipline of social sciences which helps us in this task. It is the study of how spatial variations in the distribution, composition, migration, and growth of populations are related to the nature of places.

This heterogeneous nature of the human population can be looked at in two ways. One side is where the differences in skill sets and abilities complement each other in the development process. The differences are very beneficial in this sense and hence are appreciated.

People work together with tolerance because each realizes her incapability in some areas which can be fulfilled by the other. There is mutual dependence to achieve a common goal important for all.

The more we know about our social surroundings, the better we would be able to control it. The other side of the population can only be dealt with by this approach. A huge population has some disadvantages too.

There can be no better example to understand this than our own country INDIA. If we try and look at the problems which India faces as a country.

Poverty, illiteracy, low per capita income, pollution must top the list. By doing an in-depth inquiry into these issues, one would realize that a large population number is intrinsic to all. In the maze of national problems, the number of people traveling in the maze affects everyone's ability to come out of it.

But India is the second-most populous country in the world. What about the number one on the list, CHINA. In many economic and developmental aspects, China is doing and has done impeccably better than India.

There can be many reasons for this success but a major thrust in transforming China from a developing to a developed nation was provided by the endeavors of the Chinese in channelizing themselves. Population control played a major role. When the number of people in a country reduce to a desired level, many problems can be tackled.

Now that the one-child policy has come under scrutiny and has shown negative results on the social life of Chinese, it is no longer followed.

India is in desperate need of population control and reduction measures. With limited resources and continuously increasing problems, we can no longer bear the burden of unproductive people.

Reduction in numbers can be achieved by slowing down the reproductive rate and eliminating the futile.