Video Dares Suggest Responsibility to Choose Small Families – World Population Day

The UN-declared World Population Day, observed every July 11, generated a flurry of media coverage and conversations this year, perhaps more than ever. On the Wall of Fame today is a bold video that dares to say what we know needs to be said:

Yes, that is an attention-getting title. You can probably say it’s not as diplomatic, gentle, or sensitive as this topic requires. I have a little inside information about the selection of that title, because I co-produced this video. This is a GrowthBusters video. I almost NEVER honor our own work on the Wall of Fame here. But I do make an exception when the work really warrants our attention.

During brainstorming our incredibly talented college intern, Kaitlyn, responded positively to my suggestion of this title. It was my idea, so blame me if you want to. We chose it to get your attention. We chose it because it is so challenging to get attention out there in the massive smorgasbord of news, blogs, commentaries, videos, etc. I believe we accomplished our objective. We also offered a very thoughtful explanation of the video at my blog.

At this writing our Facebook post has reached over 20,000 people, with 173 reactions (Like, Love and Wow), and 75 shares. The video view count on YouTube is at 449. That’s our mission in life – to raise awareness and get people thinking and acting. Admittedly, 449 views is a little disappointing when you consider that PSY’s Gangnam Style video has been viewed over 2.8 billion times.

But truth be told, that title statement should not be offensive. As we explore in the video, it IS time we have the conversation about everyone’s responsibility to choose to have very few children. That’s just an inconvenient truth on an overpopulated planet.

Watch the video, and you’ll see we handled the subject with our usual sensitivity. We got a lot of views and many congratulations for a job well done. But we also flushed out some critics. On the GrowthBusters Facebook page a small minority took exception to the whole notion of overpopulation:

“Total bullshit and you know it. This is a fascist idea from right wing fossil fule [sic] lovers who want to burn more stuff. Economic development and education and heathcare sort out the massive family issue…. Those are historical patterns.”

“people have been so conned … look at the planet it is empty apart from a few areas very few indeed … and we grow food for time and a half the world pop as we are conned conned and conned we probably can have 60 billion here and be fine … but fear of lack is a control tool of fantastic power”

“There is more than enough for everyone, it is just a question of fair sharing!”

These are the exceptions, and I think you can tell where these commenters get their alternative facts. But 17 people unsubscribed from the GrowthBusters email update list yesterday. Was this because they weren’t comfortable with the conversation, or with our position? That disappointed me, but we must remain committed to truthtelling.

Let me know what you think of the video. If you think it serves an important purpose, please share it.

I would like to share the Wall of Fame today with UK-based Population Matters for their excellent, and perhaps a little more politically correct, World Population Day message:

World Population Day 2017: A Call for Action

And with the UK Guardian’s environment editor, Damian Carrington, for this excellent report:

Want to Fight Climate Change? Have Fewer Children

We’re seeing more and more of this topic in the media landscape. That’s why we thought it time to hit the streets and see how the general public would react. We got a very high percentage of very favorable responses.