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Celebrating 6 Billion: More the merrier!!
The UN has designated a child born in the Bosnian capital on 12 October
1999, as the 6 billionth person on earth.
In this article, BARUN S. MITRA, argues that when political freedom
is secured and the market is unrestrained, more people increases demand,
and therefore also the supply, and at the end there is more available for
consumption than ever before. People are the ultimate resource, they just
don't come with a mouth alone, but also a mind and a pair hands. Rather
than mourning, it is time to party and cut the cake on the arrival of the
6 billionth person on this planet. Rather than blaming population growth,
it is a time to focus on the policies that have deprived basic freedoms
and forced millions in poverty amidst abundance.
The complete text of this article is available here.
An oped based on this theme titled 6
Billion and Growing, appeared in The Economic Times
on 12 October 1999.
Following are links to some of the other articles of interest.
Links to some other articles in the same vein is given below
"Surging
population, urbanization bring new prosperity" by Lawrence
Solomon, in the National Post/Financial Times, Canada, on 5 October 1999.
"Welcome Baby Six Billion!"
by Steven W. Mosher, President of Population Research Institute, in PRI's
Weekly Briefing on 12 October 1999 (Volume 1 / Number 20)
Issues Before the Electorate:
Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin
Even before the election campaign could begin, the politicans,
berft of any other achievement, are trying to find an issue that might
help them sail across the turbulent electoral sea. So a debate has been
started over the foreign origin of Sonia Gandhi, and the unsuitability
of some one born abroad to hold highest political offices in the land.
It is ironic that the Prime Minister has sparked
off a "national debate" on whether any foreign-born person should be allowed
to hold the highest political offices in the land. Because just the other
day, he quoted from Tagore, broadcast live on national TV. In the lines
immeidately above the ones which the PM quoted, the poet says -
" hethai arya, hetha anarya, hethai dravir chiin, shok
hun dal, pathan moghoul, ek dehe holo leen"
[Translated: The Indian civilisation has successfully assimilated the Aryans,
the non-Aryans, the Dravidians, the Chinese, the Shakas, the Huns, the
Pathans, the Moghuls.]
Much more is at stake, therefore, than the future
of one polical party or its leader. It is the future direction of our civilisation
and our identity that is being put to test.
The full text
of the article is available here.
An op-ed on this theme by Barun Mitra, titled Who
is a foreigner? was published in The Economic Times,
22 May 1999.
Other Related Articles in the Media:
-
K. R. Malkani, Prof. M.N. Panini, and Mani Shankar Aiyar in the Perspective
Page - Does Sonia's birthplace matter? in The Economic Times,
1 June 1999.
-
Sashi Tharoor's column "A View of the World" in The Indian
Express, 30 May 1999.
-
Prof.
Mushirul Hasan in The Indian Express, 22 May 1999.
-
B. Raman in The Statesman, 16 May 1999.
-
Saeed Naqvi in The Indian Express, 14 May 1999.
We will try to cover other important issues as they come during this election
campaign, and elsewhere. If there is a particular issue that interests
you, or if you would like to contribute an article on it, please let us
know.
Comments and suggestions are most welcome. Please write to
Copyright 1999-2002, Liberty Institute
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