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Political and Social Movements - What Is The Zero Population Growth Movement?

What is the zero population growth movement?

The zero population growth movement (ZPG), which dates to 1968, is an international effort to control the world's population (which by the beginning of the twenty-first century had surpassed 6,000,000,000). American biologist Paul Ehrlich (1932– ) was instrumental in founding the movement. He predicted in The Population Bomb (1968) that the population would surpass the Earth's supply of natural resources, resulting in starvation and death on a massive scale. While some critics assert that Ehrlich over-simplified the issue, others believe that he is correct. Supporters of ZPG urge parents to have only two children, which is considered the level necessary to avoid an increase in population. In the United States and other developed countries the birth rate is below the replacement level (that is, there are fewer births than there are deaths); in lesser developed...

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