text: In the West and in China and Japan, "we" have an effective way to reduce population, whether "excess" or not, and geographers call it "the demographic shift" which amounts to smaller families on average, smaller than the "replacement level" or a little above 2 children per woman. The shift requires societies to have health care adequate to reduce infant and child mortality, as well as universal education, especially for women, and adequate food. The downside is an oversupply of the elderly, causing economic problems. We and other nations use immigration in part to pay for the upkeep of the old; but in our case we are running out of immigrants as our neighbor nations enter demographic shift, but we can import plenty of willing workers from the Middle East, most of which hasn't entered the demographic shift. A rising population generally accompanies an expanding economy.
  
  I would think that as a Christian nation we would take care of the sick and the poor, as Jesus did. So what happened?