Movie Reviews
Read all Reviews. Click here.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Friday, September 30, 2011
http://cbcpforlife.com/?p=3891
Various youth sectors unite to support 9YL, launch youth alliance
MANILA, Sept. 29, 2011–The event that gathered nine young lawmakers who have declared their opposition to House Bill 4244 also served as the launching of Youth United for the Philippines or YUP! a new coalition of youth groups united by their objective of affirming real needs of “education, jobs and health care for all,” and backing the solons who serve as the “voice of the youth,” according to Lanao del Norte Rep. Fatima Aliah Dimaporo.
Current member organizations of YUP! are the University of Asia and the Pacific’s CATALYST, World Youth Alliance Asia Pacific, Live Pure Movement, Pro-Life Youth Philippines, YouthPinoy.com and CFCP Youth for Family and Life among others.
University of the Philippines student John Juat composed a poem in “tribute” to the nine young Congress leaders posted on his Facebook wall.
“If we should truly progress, we should have one vision. We should try to find a way to end graft and corruption. Use our wealth wisely, ensure its proper allocation, rather than promote harmful means to limit population,” part of it read.
Expressions of dedication and support have also not been exclusively from among students. Pregnant young mother Marielle Abella, who attended the event with other expectant women, read her message to the solons after the main rally, expressing her gratitude for their “courage.”
“Ang inyong pagtutol sa RH bill ay kasagutan sa aming patuloy na panalangin, na sanay’ maliwanagan ang ating mga mambabatas, sa tunay na makabubuti sa ating lipunan tungkol sa usaping ito,” Abella said.
Paolo Sandejas, a third-grader from Southridge School, also recited a message of thanks to the lawmakers.
“Thank you for fighting against the RH bill… Don’t worry if the pro-RH people will attack you. We the Filipino children are behind you, we will defend you,” he said. (CBCP for Life)
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
YUP group on Facebook
Tina Avenido posted in La Tertulia.
A new group called YUP! has just been created. "YUP is a youth coalition that advocates real long-term progress for the Philippines. We believe that following reason and ethics will actualize the future we deserve." YUP! needs more than 200 fans. Please forward the message below to your friends and please ask them to register their youth groups to us and ask all their members to join YUP! Check out the page and LIKE it at: http://www.facebook.com/ Please read on for the latest about YUP! and how you can support it. --------- The pro-RH camp are claiming that the young people are asking congress to pass the RH bill. We do not think it is true. Can you help us spread a youth coalition called YUP! (youth united for the philippines)? Its motto on the RH bill issue is: YUP! to education, jobs & healthcare for all Nope to RH bill! You may just forward the email below to the young people in your diocese. Please ask them to help us spread it. We need 100,000 likes in FACEBOOK to show the congressmen that we are much more than those who are pushing the RH bill. Please feel free to forward this to as many people as possible. Thanks, YUP! ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Hello everyone, Here's more for our campaign to oppose the RH bill. We made a youth coalition called YUP! or Youth United for the Philippines, which will be launched on Sep 28 at UA&P. It will be a youth rally with special guests including Christine Jacob-Sandejas and Chris Tiu. Our motto on the RH bill issue is: YUP! to education, jobs & healthcare for all Nope to RH bill! Please "Like" http://facebook.com/weareyup. And below are tips on how to promote YUP! in the social media world. We're aiming to get as many young people as possible -- though the not-so-young are always welcome. :) Thank you very much for the support! == Let's do this: 1. Change our profile pics to the icon attached 2. Share the YUP! page on our personal FB pages 3. Use the hashtag #yup when tweeting 4. Email friends and mailing lists about the page 5. Post link to FB pages of pro-life groups 6. Tell your online communities (e.g. FB groups) about the YUP! page 7. Tell friends to do the same ^^ Here's a suggested line: "YUP! I'm part of Youth United for the Philippines (and LIFE!)" Join our fanpage and invite all your friends to do the same! :)
|
Monday, September 19, 2011
Updates
RH bill sponsors questioned on birth control supplies as “essential medicines”
MANILA, September 14, 2011–If contraceptives are only meant for birth control, then why are they tagged as “essential medicines” under the RH bill?Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile asked this and other questions as the Senate resumed the period of interpellation for the controversial “reproductive health” (RH) bill Tuesday.
Enrile cited Section 9 of Senate Bill No. 2865 titled “An Act Providing for a National Policy on Reproductive Health and Population and Development,” which orders the inclusion of hormonal contraceptives, intrauterine devices, injectables, and “other safe, legal and effective family planning products and supplies” in the National Drug Formulary.
“These products and supplies shall also be included in the regular purchase of essential medicines and supplies of all national and local hospitals, provincial, city, and municipal health offices, including rural health units,” the Senate version of the RH bill states.
Full story
Well-Funded Pro-Abortion Forces vs. the Pro-Life Philippines
— Posted by John (September 14, 2011 at 12:12 pm)
If passed, the RH bill would, among other things, massively expand the presence of contraception and force medical professionals and businesses to provide them in spite of any conscientious objections. In this largely Catholic country, that hasn’t gone over well, and that’s why Filipinos continue to overwhelmingly oppose it.
Full story
US pro-lifer urges Filipinos to value family, faith
MANILA, September 13, 2011 – “Even those of us in the supposedly ‘developed’ world are happier if we have intact families with all of the children with whom we are blessed, and if we keep faith and family and community close to our hearts,” said Stephen Phelan, Communications Director of Human Life International (HLI), the world’s largest international pro-life organization.“If Filipinos want to be happy and not just more ‘accepted’ by people who think there are too many Filipinos for their comfort, then they will continue to value faith, life and family,” he added.
“They will embrace authentic human development programs that lead toward independence – not more dependence on foreign dollars.”
Recent revelations
Phelan was referring to recent news reports that had even reached international media about billions of dollars being poured into the Philippines for the implementation of family planning programs.
Full story
RH bill about population control, not health–Enrile
By Cathy Yamsuan
Philippine Daily Inquirer
3:13 am | Monday, September 12th, 2011
7 share408 394
Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile has warned that proponents of the reproductive health (RH) bill have “cleverly” packaged it as a health measure when it is clearly about population control.
“RH is a deception. They are calling it a health bill when health should discuss sickness and medicines. What is the therapeutic or medicinal value of a condom? Or that of a birth control pill, an intrauterine device or an injectible (contraceptive),” Enrile said in an interview.
Enrile also wondered why these were the terminology being used although what was being discussed was a health bill.
“I think the real purpose is to control the country’s population through birth control that’s why they (proponents) are advocating this in the guise of a health bill,” he said.
Full story
U.S. Pro-Lifers Blast Western Depopulation Agenda in Philippines and Developing World
- Share97
- Share3
“The [reproductive health] promoters do whatever they have to do to get these things passed — they spend their money in promotion, in getting journalists on their side, opening clinics to circumvent pro-life laws, wooing politicians who value their own power more than they do the families and culture of the nation they represent,” said Stephen Phelan, Communications Manager for Human Life International. “If they can’t get what they want — which is free-of-charge and full access to contraception and abortion — passed democratically, they will use the courts or other non-democratic means to get what they want.”
Full story
Sotto to pro-RH: Bulaga! I went to Harvard
By Christian V. EsguerraPhilippine Daily Inquirer
4:25 am | Sunday, September 11th, 2011
14 share242 226
His prolife opinions may not be to the liking of certain parties, but Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III declares he’s no “iskul-bukol” when it comes to the issue of reproductive health.
Sotto on Saturday cried foul over personal attacks against him over his vigorous campaign against the approval of Senate Bill No. 2865, which seeks to establish a national reproductive health framework and allow wider access to contraceptives.
Sotto, a 12-year Senate veteran, has been ridiculed by supporters of the RH bill, particularly in social media. He has been portrayed as being intellectually challenged, largely because of his occasional hosting job at the popular “Eat Bulaga” noontime variety and entertainment show and his background as a comedian and musician.
“It’s because they only know me from ‘Iskul Bukol,’” he said, referring to the popular TV 1980s sitcom featuring a bunch of mischievous, overaged and underachieving schoolboys played by Sotto, his younger brother Vic Sotto and Joey de Leon.
Full story
U.S. Govt. Largest Population Control Promoter in Philippines
by Adam Cassandra | Manilla, Philippines | LifeNews.com | 9/9/11 10:08 AMA diplomatic cable recently published by the controversial website Wikileaks confirms the depth of support by the U.S. government for population control initiatives in the Philippines over the past 40 years, including support for the highly contested Reproductive Health (RH) Bill currently under consideration in the Philippine legislature.
“Landmark appropriations and draft legislation reflect increasing commitment within the Philippine Government to further expand and sustain programs started forty years ago with U.S. Government’s assistance through USAID,” former U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenny said in the cable. “The U.S. Government continues to be the largest donor in the Philippine population sector supporting efforts to improve local government service delivery and increase private sector contributions to family health outcomes.”
Full story
Abortion stats based on inflated hospital records
MANILA, September 7, 2011–One of the Senate sponsors of the controversial “reproductive health” (RH) bill admitted Tuesday that statistics being used by pro-RH advocates are merely “extrapolations” and are therefore not exact.Tuesday’s floor debates brought into the open how pro-RH lobbyists have been calculating the supposed number of abortions in the country, which Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago claims is at 570,000 annually.
Under interpellation by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, Santiago — a sponsor of the RH bill — revealed that the figure came from 2008 extrapolations by the Guttmacher Institute and the UP Population Institute. The New York-based Guttmacher Institute is the former research arm of the pro-abortion group Planned Parenthood, the largest provider of abortion services in the US.
Full story
Sotto reveals P26-M lobby funds for RH bill
06-Sep-11, 6:39 AM | Karl John C. Reyes, InterAksyon.comMANILA, Philippines - Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III revealed Monday that $617,000 (about P26 million) in lobby funds were being used by foreign organizations to fund local organizations campaigning for the enactment of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill now pending before Congress.
In an interview before the start of session Monday afternoon, Sotto said that the Family Planning Organization of the Philippines (FPOP) received a total amount of $617,000 in 2010 to fund activities and campaign for the passage of RH bill.
“It ($617,000) was released to FPOP in 2010, from International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF),” Sotto said.
Full story
visit this site: www.alfi.org.ph
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Opinion
 |
|
During the Miss Universe Pageant in Sao Paolo, Brazil, Miss Angola won the title, while our very own Shamcey Supsup bagged 3rd place. When asked a tough question on love, she replied, “If I had to change my religious beliefs, I would not marry the person that I love because the first person that I love is God who created me. And I have my faith, my principles and this is what made me who I am. And if that person loves me, she should love my God!” Wow! That’s a great answer compared to Venus Raj’s “Major, major!” The CBCP should make her our poster girl for our anti-RH campaign!
Speaking of the RH Bill, I read the March 7, 1970 speech of former Rep. Romulo B. Lumauig of Manila entitled “The New Colonialist” and somehow this article reminded me of how much influence America had in our country back in those days, and the presence of US military bases in Clark Air Base and Subic Naval Base were the symbols of America’s stranglehold on our country. It was this reason why our homegrown Communist insurgency with their allied front organizations constantly marched in our streets fighting against American imperialism.
But on that fateful day of Sept. 16, 1991, 12 Philippine Senators, notably, Senate President Jovito Salonga. Juan Ponce Enrile, Agapito “Butz” Aquino, Joseph Estrada, Teofisto Guingona Jr., Sotero Laurel, Orlando Mercado, Ernesto Maceda, Aquilino Pimentel Jr., Victor Ziga, Rene Saguisag and Wigberto Tañada (who authored Resolution No. 1259 of Non-Concurrence to “A Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Security”) voted to approve the Tañada resolution, thus rejecting the proposed treaty that would have extended the presence of the US military bases in the country.
I wrote articles against those Senators, as I really wanted the US military bases to stay because of the huge amount of money that the US then poured into our country to operate these bases. I submit that while it gave a lot of jobs in Clark and Subic, it also allowed prostitution to flourish in Clark and Subic. But the Senators were adamant and at the risk of an economic fallout, they rejected the treaty and the US bases became history.
When the 12 Senators threw out the last vestiges of US imperialism from our shores, one would think that the Philippines had finally cut its umbilical cord with America and in a way, this has happened to us. If today the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has been considerably weakened as compared to those times when the US military bases were here, it was due to the fact that the presence of the US bases was a great boon to our military. Indeed, old PAF pilots would tell me that when they landed in Clark, they could get fuel for their planes courtesy of the USA. That’s how it was then.
Today, the AFP has to contend with a miniscule military aid from the United States government who are still sore at us for kicking out (if we didn’t kick them out, Mt. Pinatubo would have done it anyway) their US military bases. Incidentally, I was in Clark last year and toured Angeles City that night and the honky-tonk bars or the sex trade were still very much in business. But because the 12 Senators booted out the US military bases, the Communists ran out of reasons to march in the streets against US imperialism.
A couple of weeks ago the controversial WikiLeaks issue finally entered the Philippine area of responsibility... where cables from the US government to and from the Philippines were exposed in what I would call “Wiki-Tsismis”. Despite Sen. Pia Cayetano’s insistence that the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill will not lead to abortion, Wiki-Tsismis apparently confirms the role of the US government in promoting population control initiatives in the Philippines, through USAID. Perhaps Sen. Cayetano is pretending not to know that almost all contraceptive drugs are abortifacient.
One of these cables apparently revealed that then US Ambassador Kristie Kenney said, “The US Government continues to be the largest donor in the Philippine population sector supporting efforts to improve local government service delivery and increase private sector contributions to family health outcomes.” This cable was sent from Manila to Washington D.C. in July 2008 during the intense debate in the Philippine legislature about state funding for contraceptives and family planning services.
When US State Department Secretary Hillary Clinton came for a visit, she made it clear that the Philippines should pass an RH bill. Now wasn’t that “pressuring” the Philippine Legislature, especially the Senate to follow the “orders” of the United States? Sec. Clinton probably thought that the Philippines is still a colony of the United States... or perhaps she maybe right... that we are still a colony of the United States. So we ask our Senators, notably Sen. Pia Cayetano and Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago... will they be the instruments for the return of American imperialism to the Philippines? The ball is now in the court of the Senate and our pro-RH Senators!
* * *
For email responses to this article, write to vsbobita@mozcom.com or vsbobita@gmail.com. His columns can be accessed through http://www.philstar.com
During the Miss Universe Pageant in Sao Paolo, Brazil, Miss Angola won the title, while our very own Shamcey Supsup bagged 3rd place. When asked a tough question on love, she replied, “If I had to change my religious beliefs, I would not marry the person that I love because the first person that I love is God who created me. And I have my faith, my principles and this is what made me who I am. And if that person loves me, she should love my God!” Wow! That’s a great answer compared to Venus Raj’s “Major, major!” The CBCP should make her our poster girl for our anti-RH campaign!
His columns can be accessed through http://www.philstar.com
Speaking of the RH Bill, I read the March 7, 1970 speech of former Rep. Romulo B. Lumauig of Manila entitled “The New Colonialist” and somehow this article reminded me of how much influence America had in our country back in those days, and the presence of US military bases in Clark Air Base and Subic Naval Base were the symbols of America’s stranglehold on our country. It was this reason why our homegrown Communist insurgency with their allied front organizations constantly marched in our streets fighting against American imperialism.
But on that fateful day of Sept. 16, 1991, 12 Philippine Senators, notably, Senate President Jovito Salonga. Juan Ponce Enrile, Agapito “Butz” Aquino, Joseph Estrada, Teofisto Guingona Jr., Sotero Laurel, Orlando Mercado, Ernesto Maceda, Aquilino Pimentel Jr., Victor Ziga, Rene Saguisag and Wigberto Tañada (who authored Resolution No. 1259 of Non-Concurrence to “A Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Security”) voted to approve the Tañada resolution, thus rejecting the proposed treaty that would have extended the presence of the US military bases in the country.
I wrote articles against those Senators, as I really wanted the US military bases to stay because of the huge amount of money that the US then poured into our country to operate these bases. I submit that while it gave a lot of jobs in Clark and Subic, it also allowed prostitution to flourish in Clark and Subic. But the Senators were adamant and at the risk of an economic fallout, they rejected the treaty and the US bases became history.
When the 12 Senators threw out the last vestiges of US imperialism from our shores, one would think that the Philippines had finally cut its umbilical cord with America and in a way, this has happened to us. If today the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has been considerably weakened as compared to those times when the US military bases were here, it was due to the fact that the presence of the US bases was a great boon to our military. Indeed, old PAF pilots would tell me that when they landed in Clark, they could get fuel for their planes courtesy of the USA. That’s how it was then.
Today, the AFP has to contend with a miniscule military aid from the United States government who are still sore at us for kicking out (if we didn’t kick them out, Mt. Pinatubo would have done it anyway) their US military bases. Incidentally, I was in Clark last year and toured Angeles City that night and the honky-tonk bars or the sex trade were still very much in business. But because the 12 Senators booted out the US military bases, the Communists ran out of reasons to march in the streets against US imperialism.
A couple of weeks ago the controversial WikiLeaks issue finally entered the Philippine area of responsibility... where cables from the US government to and from the Philippines were exposed in what I would call “Wiki-Tsismis”. Despite Sen. Pia Cayetano’s insistence that the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill will not lead to abortion, Wiki-Tsismis apparently confirms the role of the US government in promoting population control initiatives in the Philippines, through USAID. Perhaps Sen. Cayetano is pretending not to know that almost all contraceptive drugs are abortifacient.
One of these cables apparently revealed that then US Ambassador Kristie Kenney said, “The US Government continues to be the largest donor in the Philippine population sector supporting efforts to improve local government service delivery and increase private sector contributions to family health outcomes.” This cable was sent from Manila to Washington D.C. in July 2008 during the intense debate in the Philippine legislature about state funding for contraceptives and family planning services.
When US State Department Secretary Hillary Clinton came for a visit, she made it clear that the Philippines should pass an RH bill. Now wasn’t that “pressuring” the Philippine Legislature, especially the Senate to follow the “orders” of the United States? Sec. Clinton probably thought that the Philippines is still a colony of the United States... or perhaps she maybe right... that we are still a colony of the United States. So we ask our Senators, notably Sen. Pia Cayetano and Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago... will they be the instruments for the return of American imperialism to the Philippines? The ball is now in the court of the Senate and our pro-RH Senators!
* * *
For email responses to this article, write to vsbobita@mozcom.com or vsbobita@gmail.com. His columns can be accessed through http://www.philstar.com
Saturday, July 23, 2011
ABS - CBN affront against the Church
While reading your email message, Bro.Ed, I received the following text message passed on by a friend and supposedly from a Fr. B.A. Ong:
"D show XXX of Abs Cbn aired an exhibit in CCP Pasay. An image of Jesus Christ... sacrilegiously vulgarized. A certain MEDIO CRUZ, a devil atheist artist did this. CCP management with head appointed by PNoy allowed this to be shown. We are catholics. Please pray for forgiveness of this most blasphemous act. Please pass so others may know this kind of devil now exists in our society."
On Sat, Jul 23, 2011 at 12:16 AM, Ed Tirona <ejttirona@gmail.com> wrote:
ANOTHER ABS-CBN AFFRONT AGAINST THE CHURCH!
In the 6:30 pm ABS-CBN Radyo Patrol news tonight (July 22) they featured a supposed artist (missed the name of the bloke who looks more like a gender aberrant) who took the liberty of scandalizing the image of Christ by disfiguring its face and sacrilegiously vulgarizing it with obscenities ostensibly as an art expression. This is another affront to us Catholics coming in the wake of this station leading in church bashing with their invented "Pajero" tag which they feasted on in ridiculing our Bishops for two weeks. Has ABS-CBN given up its sense of decency in being a leading butcher of this administration against the Catholic Church? (would Maria Ressa allow such a despicable act if she were still with this station)?
I call upon the militant Church organizations to denounce this obvious attempt of ABS-CBN to discredit our Church and what we Catholics believe in. Let us denounce this station for its total lack of sensitivity and professionalism. I wonder if the ABS-CBN management will have the guts to do the same to the Muslims. The lay faithful must not allow ABS-CBN to get away with malicious reporting against the Catholic faith!
- Bro. Ed Tirona, Council of the Laity of the Philippines
"D show XXX of Abs Cbn aired an exhibit in CCP Pasay. An image of Jesus Christ... sacrilegiously vulgarized. A certain MEDIO CRUZ, a devil atheist artist did this. CCP management with head appointed by PNoy allowed this to be shown. We are catholics. Please pray for forgiveness of this most blasphemous act. Please pass so others may know this kind of devil now exists in our society."
On Sat, Jul 23, 2011 at 12:16 AM, Ed Tirona <ejttirona@gmail.com> wrote:
ANOTHER ABS-CBN AFFRONT AGAINST THE CHURCH!
In the 6:30 pm ABS-CBN Radyo Patrol news tonight (July 22) they featured a supposed artist (missed the name of the bloke who looks more like a gender aberrant) who took the liberty of scandalizing the image of Christ by disfiguring its face and sacrilegiously vulgarizing it with obscenities ostensibly as an art expression. This is another affront to us Catholics coming in the wake of this station leading in church bashing with their invented "Pajero" tag which they feasted on in ridiculing our Bishops for two weeks. Has ABS-CBN given up its sense of decency in being a leading butcher of this administration against the Catholic Church? (would Maria Ressa allow such a despicable act if she were still with this station)?
I call upon the militant Church organizations to denounce this obvious attempt of ABS-CBN to discredit our Church and what we Catholics believe in. Let us denounce this station for its total lack of sensitivity and professionalism. I wonder if the ABS-CBN management will have the guts to do the same to the Muslims. The lay faithful must not allow ABS-CBN to get away with malicious reporting against the Catholic faith!
- Bro. Ed Tirona, Council of the Laity of the Philippines
Friday, July 15, 2011
Statement of Bishops Before The Blue Ribbon Committee
Honorable Members of the Senate:
We thank this august body for inviting us to shed light on an issue that has deeply saddened not only the seven of us but all the Catholic faithful. We hope that our presence will aid your work of legislation. We shall reply with great respect to your questions as far as the facts enable us.
We are from provinces that have some of the most difficult areas that we as Bishops have to reach. Most of us are from calamity or conflict-stricken areas. We serve communities some of which are the poorest of the poor. Our vocation is to help them in so far as we can with our resources. When we lack resources, we seek the assistance of others, especially from those whose mandate is to provide assistance, particularly in health services and in charity. Some of us received service vehicles from PCSO that are heavy duty 4 x 4 pick-ups in order for our social, health, and charitable services to reach remote areas. Others received vehicles that have multiple purposes of bringing indigent sick people to hospitals or distribute food, medicines, and clothing to calamity stricken families.
We are very grateful for the help extended to us. We still believe that we have not violated any law, or even the Constitution. We express our sadness that our sincere desire to help people and receive necessary assistance for doing so has confused, disturbed and even scandalized many of the Catholic faithful. As our pastoral statement has said, we honestly “failed to consider the pitfalls to which these grants could possibly lead.” We also express our “readiness to do everything that is necessary to heal this wound so that we can all move forward in hope.”
For this reason, regardless of whether the acquisition of the vehicles has been lawful or unlawful, constitutional or unconstitutional, we are returning the vehicles. The vehicles in Mindanao are ready for immediate turnover to a duly authorized PCSO official. The vehicles in Luzon are right now outside the Senate for immediate turnover to PCSO officials.
Again, we thank Your Honors for this opportunity to voice our sentiments on this matter.
Thank you and God bless you.
Archbishop Orlando Quevedo, O.M.I.
Bishop Rodolfo Beltran
Archbishop Ernesto Salgado
Bishop Leopoldo Jaucian, SVD
Archbishop Romulo Valles Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos
July 13, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
‘Europe is dying’ U.S. population expert tells Senate hearing
Population Research Institute (PRI) President Steven Mosher
WASHINGTON DC, June 21, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Given the precipitous decline in the birthrates of European countries, all anti-natal programs funded by the United States should immediately be replaced by pro-natal programs, one top population expert recently told the U.S. Senate.
“It doesn’t matter whether we call them reproductive health programs, family planning programs, or population control programs,” said Stephen Mosher, president of the Population Research Institute (PRI). “They all have the same effect: they force down the birth rate in countries that are already dying. Such programs are only making a bad problem worse.”
The hearing before the Senate Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe focused on the implications for the security, as well as the economic and social developments in Europe, due to demographic decline marked by diminishing and rapidly aging populations, in most of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s (OSCE) 56 participating states.
Commission Chairman, Rep. Chris Smith noted that the member states - every country of Europe and the former Soviet Union, as well as the U.S. and Canada - are already seeing dramatic demographic changes that are “sure to have dramatic consequences for the security, economic, and human dimensions of the OSCE.”
“The fact is that most OSCE countries are in demographic decline, many of them in rapid decline. Only a handful of the OSCE’s 56 member states are at or above replacement level,” Smith observed.
Mosher agreed. “Five centuries after the Black Plague devastated Europe, a White Pestilence is now decimating that same continent,” he said. “Many nations, especially in Europe, are already in a death spiral, losing a significant number of people each year. Listen closely, and you will hear the muffled sound of populations crashing.”
The commission heard that the pattern of demographic decline will likely have significant social, economic and security consequences for countries throughout the region. States will become increasingly dependent upon foreign workers in the coming decades, while there will be a dramatic decrease in the pool of potential recruits for military service, resulting in mounting social tensions “as demonstrated by clashes in some participating States in recent years,” according to Smith.
“It is alarming and sad to see xenophobic and ultranationalist violence fueled by one nation’s perceptions of long-term decline vis-a-vis another group,” Smith said.
“Likewise with the economy,” Smith continued. “It is far from clear how, in many of the most rapidly declining countries, how economic growth can be sustained by a declining population - or, to touch on the most pressing specific, how the numerically smaller younger generations will even begin to provide for the larger older generations.”
Steven Mosher, whose presentation to the Commission concluded that the downward spiral of fertility decline and resulting demographic collapse is almost beyond reversal, began his address with a quote from ancient Greece:
“One remarks nowadays all over Greece such a diminution in natality and in general manner such depopulation that the towns are deserted and the fields lie fallow. Although this country has not been ravaged by wars or epidemics, the cause of the harm is evident: by avarice or cowardice the people, if they marry, will not bring up the children they ought to have. At most they bring up one or two. It is in this way that the scourge before it is noticed is rapidly developed. The remedy is in ourselves; we have but to change our morals.” (Polybius, 204-122 B.C.)A transcript of the Commission hearing titled, “2050: Implications of Demographic Trends in the OSCE Region” is available here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)