Entirely unnecessary. Native population growth rate is negative in every affluent country in the world, and they maintain their populations only via immigration.
Focus on improving the quality of life in third world nations (via investment, education, etc.) and growth rate will naturally fall, like it has everywhere else.
This is true, however it's also about fairness. It's fair for a pair of adults that love each other to replace their generation (at least until we're much closer to effective immortality). It's much less fair for some portions of the population to have VAST NUMBERS of offspring.
Though 100% social security and retirement security as a right has been theorized (at least in science fiction if not reality) to greatly discourage using kids as a retirement insurance policy.
I'm right up there with you on increasing global prosperity and raising the bottom though. That'll fix so many ills that achieving it would be a true benefit to everything.
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Additionally - cheaper energy (my first two unpopular points) should be one of the theoretical routes to getting to this kind of outcome. Having enough energy means that all sorts of other things become economically viable.
Entirely unnecessary. Native population growth rate is negative in every affluent country in the world, and they maintain their populations only via immigration.
Focus on improving the quality of life in third world nations (via investment, education, etc.) and growth rate will naturally fall, like it has everywhere else.