The collectivists absolutely adore the United Nations (UN), which isn’t surprising since the UN is basically a conglomerate of world governments that believe the world needs more powerful governments. It seems many people buy into the UN propaganda and believe it to be a force for good, which leads people to instantly scoff at the idea of the United States pulling out of the UN. Via episode 392 of the No Agenda podcast I came to this wonderful article that describes this official UN document [PDF]. The linked article goes through numerous items listed in the UN document but Article 33 is easily the most tyrannical:
Parties shall develop or strengthen demographic policies in order to achieve
sustainable development. To this end, the Parties shall:(a) conduct studies to estimate the size of the human population their
environment is capable of supporting and develop programmes relating
to population growth at corresponding levels;(b) cooperate to alleviate the stress on natural support systems caused by
major population flows;(c) cooperate as requested to provide a necessary infrastructure on a
priority basis for areas with rapid population growth;(d) provide to their populations full information on the options concerning
family planning; and(e) provide for long-term resettlement of persons displaced by changing
environmental conditions.Article 33 is intended to give effect to Article 16 (Integrated Policies) of the Draft Covenant, by requiring that Parties adopt demographic policies that are supportive of sustainable development.285 This provision favours action by each Party on an individual basis, with assistance from other Parties only when requested. Sustainable development is to be understood as an individual goal of each Party. It is to this end that “appropriate” demographic policies are to be developed and strengthened (see Article 12 (Common but Differentiated Responsibilities)).
The provision includes four mandatory actions, although the list is not exhaustive. Subparagraph (a) contains a two-fold obligation for each Party: the first is to conduct a regular census of its population and then on the basis of the results to estimate the carrying capacity of its environment; the second is to develop or strengthen appropriate programmes adapting population growth accordingly. The means of so doing are left to the discretion of each Party, consistent with other international obligations.
So signatories to this document are expected to calculate the maximum population sustainable by their environment and take action to ensure their population doesn’t exceed this maximum. The method used by each signatory to control their population is left to their discretion. This leads to an interest question, what happens if the chosen method of population control is genocide? Will the UN oppose the genocide or will they be OK with is so long as it’s being done to control the population?
I’m currently reading Undercurrents by Robert Buettner. In it there is a planet called Yavet that has stringent population control, if you have a child without a license that child is ruled guilty of a capital crime and is summarily executed. Illegally born children who manage to survive and escape the planet are turned over to bounty hunters who get paid for retrieving and/or executing the illegal. This sounds like a plan the UN could get behind.
Either way this becomes far more interesting when you look at the requirements, namely each signatory is supposed to calculate the maximum population that their environment can support. How the fuck is anybody supposed to calculate such an unknowable ever-changing thing? Such a thing is very similar to the economic calculation problem presented by Ludwig von Mises. There is no feedback mechanism available when calculating something like a maximum sustainable population, and ever-improving technologies mean the maximum sustainable population is ever-increasing. Furthermore the market is best suited for determining such things as a reduction in available resources brought on by a higher population will lead to an increase in the price of said resources, an increase that will likely cause parents to have fewer children.
We see population explosions in less technologically developed nations for many reasons including the need for labor on subsistance farms, high infant mortality rate, and high mortality rate of other people due to disease and famine. All of these problems can be greatly alleviated by advancements in technology, which is why the population that is sustainable in more technologically developed nations is higher. The market helps with this process as innovators are motivated to develop replacements for resources that become increasingly more expensive as they diminish due to use. As markets can’t be calculated, maximum populations that can be sustained by an environment also can’t be calculated.
The UN is a despicable organization that attempts to bring socialistic central planning to the entire world. Central planning, like so many other failed ideas, won’t work simply because it’s done again harder. They say a sign of insanity is doing the same thing over and over against while expecting different results. If that’s the case then the UN, and the people who believe in it, are some of the most insane individuals on the planet.