Population Versus Liberty. (1971, UK, & 1973 USA) by Jack Parsons
The book is still in print and selling slowly. Copies are available in the UK
from Population Policy Press, and in the USA from The Social Contract Press, Petoskey,
Michigan. Tel., toll-free-1-800-352-4843. Text not available yet Around the times of the first and second publications (1971, UK, & 1973, USA) this book attracted a known total of 60 reviews, 48 in the UK, & 12 overseas. In 1993, together with its sister volume, Population Fallacies (1977), it was favourably re-reviewed in Canada for a US publication. (Mark Wegierski, The Social Contract, IV (2), pp.149-152) Garrett Hardin, Professor of Human Ecology at the University of California at Santa Barbara, has referred to it in several of his numerous works. In one of these he described it as "a uniquely excellent book". (1993. Living Within Limits, p.292). Paul Ehrlich & his collaborators have also referred to it very favourably, in, for instance, Ecoscience ... (1977, pp. 873-5) On learning that the author of Population Versus Liberty was a member of his ecologically-minded London audience, John Gray, Professor of the History of European Thought at the London School of Economics, said of the book during his lecture, 'Ecology & Ethics': This is one of the great books of this [20th] century, everyone should go out and buy a copy -- or at least get hold of one some other way -- and read it. (Conference, 'Ethics & Population. Seeking Common Ground', organised by ECO, The Campaign for Political Ecology. Conway Hall, London, Oct. 11, 1997) Introduction by F. Cottrell, then Professor of Government and Sociology and Chairman of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio; and Director of the Scripps Foundation for Research in Population Problems. Forewords. There were three of these, one on behalf of each of the three main
UK political parties of the day. Lord Beaumont, a Liberal, wrote: Douglas Houghton, Labour, commented: The Conservative, Sir David Renton, said: Publisher's synopsis. Population versus Liberty attempts to provide an
acceptable intellectual and moral basis for population control. Jack Parsons
refutes the argument that population control is necessarily an infringement of
personal freedom. He argues that there is no absolute liberty, but many
different specific liberties which may come into conflict with each other. In a
state of overpopulation the unqualified freedom to determine one's own family
size conflicts with many other freedoms, notably the freedom to move about in
physical space. The inroads on liberty made by overpopulation eventually become
greater than those needed to control the birth rate. The author concludes that,
beyond a certain point, population control is necessary not in spite of the need
to preserve individual liberty, but in order to preserve it. Section (a) One/two-liners
1) A tremendous amount of valuable material ... the message is right and
terribly urgent. 2) Urbane, witty and stimulating ..... full of facts and ideas. Hugely readable ...... eminently sane, and quite compelling. (Gerald Foley, 1972. The Ecologist. 2 (9)) 3) Presents a well-argued case for a positive population policy ... Anyone who really wants to understand population problems should read this book. (Anon. Bulletin of Environmental Education. 1972, Feb.) 4) Essential reading.... provides more original and provocative thought on the problems in Britain than any other on the subject. (Alastair Service. 1972. Hampstead and Highgate Express. 3 March) 5) Full of interesting information... written in a crystal clear style - with a relentless logic. (S. L. Andreski, Professor of Sociology, Reading University. 1972. New Humanist. March.) 6) Whatever else you read about population, from HUMANAE VITAE to Swift's MODEST PROPOSAL, you must read POPULATION vs LIBERTY. It's now in paperback, so no more excuses. (Anon. 1973. Your Environment. Summer) 7) Tackles an important problem... written with convincing arguments ... proposes the most sensible course of action. (Anon. 1971. Medical Book News. Bombay). 8) This recent excellent study ... (Adam Fergusson, 'When the world's
breeding has to stop'. 9) This surely important book ... contains much to stimulate the interest (and apprehension) of the motorist. (Anon. 1972. Autoworld. April) 10) This dilemma of the conflict of freedoms is excellently summed up. 11) Undoubtedly this offers a valuable contribution to the theory of external
effects. 12) Like Montaigne, the author is 'besotted unto liberty'. ... Especially important in seeking to make us face up to the fact that without being over-optimistic.... solutions to the problems are within our grasp. (Keith Devlin. 1972. Anglo-American Law Review.) 13) Mr Parsons does a good job in developing his concept of the "ecology
of liberty" - a phrase surely 14) A notable book which I shall certainly read again and again. (Ian
Townsend. 1971
15) An excellent and comprehensive study of Britain's population problem.
(Edward Rogers. 1973 16) Writes with a lively style, displays an imaginatively broad approach, and makes skilful use of a wide range of pedagogic techniques to bring his points home. (Anon. 1972. British Book News. Jan.) 17) Although the book may appear intimidating by reason of its array of
statistics and diagrams, the discussion is lucid, readable, and a rational
contribution to the current debate. (Anon. 1973. Booklist.
18) He is a sharp and penetrating writer who is able to put down his views in an
easily readable and understandable style. ... Here is a book which could help us
to overcome the apathy - and show a promising result of effort in the right
direction. (R.H. 1971. 'Problems of the population explosion'. 19) This monograph tackles an important problem of today ... a time has now
come when one must consider Section (b). Fuller excerpts 1) In the autumn of 1971, with a minimum of fanfare, one of the most
important recent contributions to environmental thinking crept into the
bookshops. Already it is being cited repeatedly in the quality nationals and
elsewhere. It bids fair to become a classic; and yet its title and author remain
virtually unknown. ... If the word 'population' makes your mind shut like a
clam, you owe it to yourself and your descendants to read what Jack Parsons has
to say ... here is the voice of calm, purposeful reason. ... [he] analyses, with scrupulous thoroughness, ... the 'microfreedoms' whose sum constitutes the 'macrofreedom' offered to each member of society. ... The conclusions are stated with conviction but without vehemence; perhaps more than any other characteristics it is this which makes Population Versus Liberty an invaluable contribution to a debate which can only grow more urgent. Before you accept any argument about population -- whatever its basis, whatever its tenor - read Population Versus Liberty. You owe it to humanity. (W.C. Patterson. 1973, Your Environment. March, p.90) 2) This book is essentially for us, who live on the islands of Great Britain, for it gives a clear indication of a disturbing life in the future if we continue to ignore the warnings of the present. A clear, uncluttered narrative, tables, diagrams, and plenty of quotations from eminent men in [many] fields and Mr Parsons' own underlying tone of optimism add greater emphasis to the theme of this very readable book ... If you believe in personal liberty ... then you will find this book adds even more to the many arguments you have probably used yourself, and all in an understandable, enlightening, and - above all - optimistic manner. (Joyce Iversen, 'Why we cannot afford to be complacent.' Family Planning News. 1971, December) 3)[After criticising its 'infuriating' style, this reviewer continues] Nevertheless, ... the work stands revealed as one of enormous dedication and very considerable scholarship. Mr Parsons deploys an impressive range of disciplines - philosophy, sociology, jurisprudence, psychology, even poetry ... the case is a very formidable one. (D.E. Regan, 1972. Town & Country Planning, July/August, p.371) 4) Mr Parsons is a sharp, penetrating writer whose humanity and insight enable him to draw a realistic picture of the problems facing mankind. ... He has made out his case so assiduously and accurately, marshalled his facts and illustrations so precisely that few can doubt he has right on his side. (David Waterson, 1971. 'Population Explosion Is Easy To Ignore'. Cambridge Evening News. 27 Nov. p.5) 5) The ideal society cannot possibly be one in which there are no restraints
on our actions. The best that can be attained is a society in which rules are
agreed upon and enforced ... to maximise the sum total of freedom enjoyed by
each individual.
This will naturally involve a basic change in human thinking; although,
strangely enough, it would not be introducing a really new idea. As Mr Parsons
shows, many primitive societies in the past and some even today, have rigidly
and drastically limited their numbers so that the survival of the community as a
whole might be ensured ... 6) This surely important book ... contains much to stimulate the interest (and apprehension) of the motorist. ... The author ends this significant chapter [12, on 'Freedom of the Road'] with the following resounding advice: 'No amount of railing against public scapegoats will change the facts of life and the AA and the RAC should be agitating not for utopian schemes to double, treble, or even quadruple our road space, but pressing firmly for the implementation of the Family Planning Act and going as far beyond as turns out to be necessary to prevent the birth of the extra 10 million potential drivers who will otherwise be cluttering up the roads in the early 2000s'. (Anon. 1972. Autoworld. April) 7) There is some justice in the Editor of Nature's complaint ... that on this question irrationality and even hysteria rule the day. Thankfully, Jack Parson's very interesting book goes a good way towards alleviating this unsatisfactory state of affairs ... The central thesis of the book [is that] we are approaching a situation in which the freedoms preserved by having no population policy will be outweighed by the freedoms lost through increasing population. ... His fascinating analysis [of the road traffic situation] shows there is a critical social problem here. ... His book is valuable in showing the scope and nature of the necessary arguments and in demonstrating by example that reason must replace slogan and counter-slogan. (Geoffrey Hawthorn. 1972. The Eugenics Society Bulletin. pp.18-20) 8) The book is closely argued, the arguments liberally supported with graphs, diagrams, and statistics - but for all that it is an easy book to understand. His reasonings are cogent, his sources well documented, and his conclusions devastating but logical ... [He] allows his basic premises to be enlightened from all sides, arguments are drawn and discussed from every aspect of life, the questions raised are given very detailed answers, and his thinking is transparent.
[This] is a book which anyone who has a 'social conscience' or a feeling for
life and liberty should read and digest. Not that one reading will be sufficient
to digest all the material and arguments - only four or five readings would do
the work justice. ... [as] his ideas are thought-provoking and conscience
striking. ... This book ... should be read by everyone interested in humanity
and its future, and one presumes that includes the churches. ... It is
remarkable ... objective ... it looks at and considers all sides of the question
raised, and it does not shirk attempting to give workable definitions of such
vague concepts as liberty. 9) [The author's] multidisciplinary background [in engineering, social science, & philosophy] has fitted him admirably to deal with both the philosophical an the technical aspects of ZPG. A particular virtue of the ... book is its in-depth treatment of the legal precedents for social (state) control of procreation. ...
In his summary chapter, Parsons quotes a sentence from Paul Potts [the English
poet and essayist] which epitomises his view: 'Freedom is a certain graceful
reverence for the rights and needs of other people.' 10) 'Despite the difficulties ... it is by no means impossible to ask sensible questions about populations, get sensible if not perfect answers, and use them make sensible political and social decisions.' So says Jack Parsons in the first chapter of this book and he goes on to demonstrate the truth of that statement in a persuasive and enjoyable manner ... Although he builds his argument on a careful structure of statistics, he is not naive enough to rely on these alone for support. He examines what went wrong with the supposed 'population crisis' in the 1930s, when the fear that the population in Great Britain was declining, based on the fall in the birth-rate, was taken up and publicised by the media. The facts and the figures became distorted and overshadowed in the debate and when the anticipated decline did not materialise, demographers unjustly reaped the opprobrium which has haunted and daunted them ever since. Everyday arithmetic shows how small, and to the uninitiated seemingly insignificant, rises in the birth-rate can escalate through the generations into massive increases in number of humans crowding on to these islands. If present trends continue 'we are due to have another 12 1/4 millions by AD2000... and at this rate of growth there would be a thousand million of us about eight lifespans from now'. Further figures are quoted in his article in the supplement on Population Growth and Control which accompanies this issue of the Journal.
Overcrowding is a real problem which will increasingly affect us in our own as
well as our children's lifetime, but consider the implications of laissez-faire
based on the contention that the right to give birth is immutable. Measures to
limit the birth-rate infringe on the right of people to reproduce as they wish
by Parsons' questions the liberty we all value so highly and which we frequently
claim would be impaired by any policy intended to limit the birth-rate.
Individual liberty, it is argues, is not an absolute. It is limited, and to some
extent secured, by for instance social controls. There are other equally
effective limitations, like physical space which is finite. Liberty has to be
qualified to have meaning and it is worth meditating on the idea that it should
somehow be equated with the maximum possible freedom which allows of maximum
possible self-fulfilment in the light of actual constraints. Quoting at length from sociological sources Parsons shows that population control has been practised by many peoples, not by any means all primitive, for centuries and that the aim whether acknowledged at the time or discernible only in retrospect has been to maintain a balance between life and its support systems. The alternative to human intervention to control the number of people is the haphazard effect of harsh environmental realities. 'We are living in a unique epoch when the carrying capacity of the environment is markedly though of course temporarily expanding. In a very short time numbers must stop growing anyway because of the finiteness of the environment and it is argued that we should stop it growing earlier by means of a policy of control'. This book makes that seem a reasonable statement and the idea of a palatable population policy not at all impracticable. (J.E., leading article, Health & Social Services Journal. 1973, 2 March) 12) There is a danger in knowing too much. It sometimes makes one forget how little other people know. For readers of The Ecologist, the danger is that they may take it for granted that everyone shares their knowledge and apprehension about population growth. Many of them, no doubt, assume it is self-evident that there are too many people being born and unless we can control the birth-rate of human beings in the very near future, nature will do it for us in an exceedingly unpleasant and effective manner. For these people the richness of Jack Parsons' book will be in his discussions of liberty and how in its forms compatible with human dignity and fulfilment it is eroded by the so-called fundamental freedom to have as many children as one wishes. The point is made and made insistently and with skill. To read it is to deepen one's own understanding of the true dimensions of human liberty and the danger in which it stands. Jack Parsons, however, does not indulge in vulgar polemics. His book is hugely readable, eminently sane and quite compelling. [Many opponents] ... would find themselves charmed into assenting with his arguments rather than bludgeoned into uneasy submission. Liberty is an elusive concept. Jack Parsons examines its philosophy and the legal notions surrounding it. His working definition is that liberty is the sum of a series of small freedoms, micro-freedoms he calls them. A state of liberty means in practice being able to move, work, live enjoy oneself, create a social life educate oneself and one's children all without undue interference from others. It implies that one accepts the obligations not to destroy the micro-freedoms of others. The freedom to have one's cake is incompatible with the freedom to eat it, or, more appositely, the freedom to eat one's neighbour's cake is incompatible with his freedom to possess it in peace. An indefinitely rising population is incompatible with virtually all the micro-freedoms and hence with the whole notion of liberty. The micro-freedom of having children intrudes on all the other micro-freedoms. In the end population destroys liberty. This is an urbane, witty and stimulating book. It is full of facts and ideas. Reading it illuminates the complex problems of preserving and enhancing liberty and leaves one in no doubt about the pressing reality of the problem of population growth. (Gerald Foley, 1972. The Ecologist. 2 (9) Sept.) 13) [This] is an identical paperback edition of the hardback edition of the hardback published ... in 1971. Since then the "population lobby" has built up, with Parsons' help, a mythology which deters many from involvement in what is a real and urgent issue, [and] can be clearly seen in this book. The three forewords, the preface and the introduction allege that discussion of population is likely to be rejected as a "violation of individual liberty", and the body of the book is concerned with shying at this Aunt Sally. ...
Having said all that, should we dismiss the book, and indeed the population
problem, as unimportant? I think not for Parsons has gathered together a useful
body of information, and we can learn from him ... and agree that any growth
rate at all is significant under these circumstances. ... revolutionary change,
which will harness technology to meet human needs, will not solve all human
problems, and it will clearly be undesirable for the population of a Socialist
Britain to continue to double every 100 to 150 years. |
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