Lady Liberty laments freedoms lost with conception of  too many people.

In 1970, both Houses of Congress authorized massive studies by their newly-created Commission on Population Growth and the American Future. That “save some for later” commission released powerful insights in 1972. But pro-growth religions, other businesses and pressures favor more growth-till-you-croak policies. Population aggressive growth is already happening.

In contrast, China earlier recognized that too many people would impair their ability to improve their lives, develop heavy industry and military power to defend against the population aggression of others.

The third five-year plan of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) (1966-1970) was quite clear in articulating the importance of population policies to Chinese survival. (See A Letter to Dear Children at p. 166, Amazon).  Slower growth in numbers would allow “concentrated investment on inland military industry” and intense development of the infrastructure necessary to support such power.

Population policies, including some careful incentives toward appropriate growth and disincentives toward damaging overpopulation, would be a stairway to China’s pre-eminence in the world.

The U.S. continues to lose precious opportunities as Rockefeller’s “Save some for later” Population Commission recommendations continue to be ignored.

Nixon’s vision had started in the right direction with his words to both Houses of Congress in 1969.

“One of the most serious challenges to human destiny in the last third of this century will be the growth of the population. Whether man’s response to that challenge will be a cause for pride or for despair in the year 2000 will depend very much on what we do today. If we now begin our work in an appropriate manner, and if we continue to devote a considerable amount of attention and energy to this problem, then mankind will be able to surmount this challenge as it has surmounted so many during the long march of civilization.” UCSB’s Nixon’s Message to Congress favoring population-enlightened policies

Three years later the U.S. Population Commission issued recommendations based on literally hundreds of painstaking studies.

“Recognizing that our population cannot grow indefinitely, and appreciating the advantages of moving now toward the stabilization of population, the Commission recommends that the nation welcome and plan for a stabilized population.”  The U.S. “Save some for later” population commission

But the report came out shortly before the 1972 Presidential election. Cardinal Cooke threatened Nixon’s campaign in writing. Exploiting population-aggressive religions and other business interests, Nixon adopted the “Amnesty, acid, and abortion” campaign that would ultimately defeat his opponent.

After the election, Nixon revived population concerns he shared with U.S. Defense agencies. Kissinger mandated National Security Study Memorandum 200 (NSSM 200). That Executive Order would require assessment of defense threat levels associated with budget-busting growth in numbers. National Security Study Memorandum 200

Population aggressive pressures forced NSSM 200’s recommendations to be classified as top secret for almost a decade. Since 2001 U.S. entitlement spending on growing numbers has continued to set records.

The end times Bejamin Franklin worried about in his observations on that last day of the U.S. Constitutional Convention, seem finally upon us.

Time will tell whether people will care enough to do better than to allow their us-versus-them urges to sort out human overpopulation the animal way.