Nature's Model

Foreign Aid by definition means the voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another. The giving of lucrative assets to alleviate troubles facing the receiving country. Usually foreign aid is given to third world countries when their bleak reality has reached the point of no return and the industrialized world cannot remain ignorant to their problems any longer. Poverty, conflict and corruption are all some of the triggers for foreign aid because usually the population is cut off to necessary resources such as food, water, health care, when these events occur. Millions and millions of dollars are allocated to the budget to send to a particular country, we deliver the aid and go to bed at night feeling like good Samaritans. The United States has been giving aid for years. Helping Europe after the massive destruction brought about by World War II, giving assistance to Israel and Egypt to avoid political conflict, sending supplies to south Asia following the devastating tsunami and recently millions of dollars pledged to Afghanistan for humanitarian relief even though we are still occupying the country. But is foreign aid really good? Is supplying people, which without our help would most likely die, the right thing to do? Logically the answer is yes. If someone is in pain you take them to the hospital, if someone is on fire you pour water over them or if someone is drowning you pull them out of the water. These are reasonable conclusions to draw in situations that normally you wouldn’t consider the variety of options. Foreign aid given to other countries is not in the same category; it is not such a simple question.
Animals are a part of a natural cycle used to reduce their population. It is simple; the animal’s environment can only sustain a specific number. Once that number is exceeded, those that cannot survive die off, therefore returning the species back to a sustainable number. Nature understands the importance of keeping to a manageable population. It understands the importance of not depleting their environment for the purpose of their species expansion, and with this they also don’t give foreign aid. The last time I checked lions do not give aid to giraffes when they start running out of food. Maybe humans should consider emulated nature’s model of approach to overpopulation.
The international community has remained oblivious to the issue of human overpopulation for too long. A common misconception associated with overpopulation is its definition. Human overpopulation does not mean the number of humans on Earth; instead it is the amount of resources consumed by humans. Our species has drastically exceeded the sustainable number we need to be at. Valuable resources such as water, oil and food are being consumed at a faster rate than they can be replenished. At the rate we are going, the world’s population will increase by over three billion in the next fifty years, putting our final population at over 9.8 billion people. Can you imagine the resources that are going to be consumed then?
The elimination of foreign aid will decrease the world’s population. Is this a harsh solution? Yes! But before you think I am a heartless, cold bitch go a long with me for a second. Governments, specifically the United States, send millions of dollars worth of food and supplies to nations in need. But when they say send, they mean deliver these goods to the governments and hope they are distributed to those in need. We will give them the benefit of the doubt and assume all of the aid is delivered to their population. Once the aid is given to those usually suffering in poverty, what happens? They rely on the aid and have more children. This is not only breeding the cycle of poverty because more and more children are born into these environments but also increasing the world’s population. The world has exceeded the capacity we can sustain with the livelihood that is common today. The rate of consumption is not in balance with the rate the earth can replenish these resources. At this point our civilization is left with two options, reduce our population or face the consequences of our population.
The issue of human overpopulation is one of the most complex, complicated concerns in our civilization’s history. Unlike any other issue facing us, there is not a simple solution that can alleviate all of the effects of human overpopulation. Correlations can be drawn relating the issue to education, resources, conflict and corruption. The reformation of foreign aid is the only extreme way to reduce the Earth’s population. Maybe the population decrease will force those left to realize how destructive their excessive livelihood really is in the world.