EDITORnThomas FlemingnMANAGING EDITORnKatherine DaltonnSENIOR EDITOR; BOOKSnChilton ‘Williamson, Jr.nASSISTANT EDITORnTheodore PappasnART DIRECTORnAnna Mycek-WodeckinCONTRIBUTING EDITORSnJohn W. Aldridge, Harold O.J.nBrown, Samuel Francis, GeorgenGarrett, Russell Kirk, E. ChristiannKopff, Clyde WilsonnCORRESPONDING EDITORSnJanet Scott Barlow, Odie Faulk,nJane Greer, John Shelton Reed,nGary VasilashnEDITORIAL SECRETARYnLeann DobbsnPUBLISHERnAllan C. CarlsonnASSOCIATE PUBLISHERnMichael WardernPUBLICATION DIRECTORnGuy C. ReffettnCOMPOSITION MANAGERnAnita FedoranCIRCULATION MANAGERnRochelle FranknA publication of The Rockford Institute.nEditorial and Advertising Offices: 934 NorthnMain Street, Rockford, IL 61103.nEditorial Phone: (815) 964-5054.nAdvertising Phone: (815) 964-5811.nSubscription Department: P.O. Box 800, MountnMorris, IL 61054. Call I-800-435-07I5, innIllinois 1-800-892-0753.nFor information on advertising in Chronicles,nplease call Cathy Corson at (815) 964-5811.nU.S.A. Newsstand Distribution by EasternnNews Distributors, Inc., 1130 Cleveland Road,nSandusky, OH 44870.nCopyright © I99rby The Rockford Institute.nAll rights reserved.nChronicles (ISSN 0887-5731) is publishednmonthly for $24 per year by The RockfordnInstitute, 934 North Main Street, Rockford, ILn61103-7061.nSecond-class postage paid at Rockford, IL andnadditional mailing offices.nPOSTMASTER: Send address changes tonChronicles, P.O. Box 800, Mount Morris, ILn61054.nThe views expressed in Chronicles are thenauthors’ alone and do not necessarily reflect thenviews of The Rockford Institute or of itsndirectors. Unsolicited manuscripts cannot benreturned unless accompanied by a self-addressednstamped envelope.nChroniclesnk M I G I Z I N E OF IHEItlCiN (ULTUKEn4/CHRONICLESnVol. 15, No. 3 March 1991nOn ‘UnfortunatenMajorities’nPOLEMICS & EXCHANGESnWhat was Wayne Lutton’s unregeneratenreview of the Ehrlichs’ hystericalnPopulation Explosion doing in the Decembernissue (or any issue) of Chronicles?nSo it’s the local Bureau of BabynBanning that calls on me and drags menoff to have a coercive abortion insteadnof the Global Bureau of Baby Banning.nBig deal. If he’s against suchnmeasures, it sure would have been nicento hear him say so instead of givingnmixed messages about “deal[ing withnpopulation problems] at the local andnnational level.”nMr. Lutton ought to have readnJacqueline Kasun’s The War AgainstnPopulation before writing his review.nOur population problems, such as theynare, are caused by a) too many cars, b)ntoo many bureaucrats, and c) too manynunrestrained criminals. New York Citynwould be a great place to live, evennwith the cars, were it not for b and c.nFurthermore, Chronicles is supposednto be a magazine of American culture,nand America is not overpopulated (anpoint the baby banners continuallynoverlook). Perhaps Jane Greer ought toninvite Mr. Lutton to North Dakota sonhe can discover this basic truth fornhimselfnThe whole point of the Ehrlichs’ntwo jeremiads is to make hatred ofnbabies socially fashionable. All ills arento be blamed on babies, not on thenadults who opted for too many cars, toonmany bureaucrats, and a lax criminalncode. This is the application the vastnmajority of readers get from his sermons.nI deal with the fallout every day,nas couples write me letters bemoaningnthe sterilization into which their friendsnand families coerced them. This is notnenough to please the Ehrlichs, though,nwho would prefer that all of us werensterilized after having one or two childrennat most. (Actually, heavy-dutynpopulation bombers say they’d like tonreduce the world’s population by anythingnfrom 60 percent to 99.5 percent.nThink about that for a minute.)nnnThe Ehrlichs’ facts are wrong, theirnpredictions have always been wrong,nand their solutions are insane. Luttonnmay have something better to offer, butnhe didn’t tell us what it was. Meanwhile,nhe missed the point, which isnthat you can’t keep more people happynand fed by banning babies and throwingnbureaucrats at their parents. Whennwill they ever learn?n— Mary PridenFenton, MOnMr. Lutton Replies:nA conscientious reading of “UnfortunatenMajorities” reveals that I did notnshower “unregenerate” praise on ThenPopulation Explosion, but instead temperednmy appreciation for their discussionnof how population pressures contributento various environmental,neconomic, and social problems withnreservations about how these issues arenbest dealt with. To assert, as Mrs. Pridendoes, that all the “Ehrlichs’ facts arenwrong” is an amazing statement betrayingna profound unwillingness tonface what are, for some people, uncomfortablenissues. Population pressurenis clearly a causal factor in manynof our problems.nThe United States is not now threatenednwith imminent mass starvation.nBut we are seeing symptoms of overpopulationnin the form of water shortages,npollution (breathable air is innshort supply in many areas), and thenemergence of Third World diseases.n(North Dakota is probably “carrying”nabout as many people as can make anliving there.) “Unfortunately,” asnGarrett Hardin reminds us, “it is difhcultnto believe in bad news until ruin isnfully upon us.”nAs Edward O. Wilson noted in thenAugust Chronicles, some conservativesncontinue to regard environmental andnpopulation matters “with skepticism ornoutright hostility.” One who falls intonthis category is Jacqueline Kasun,nwhose book. The War Against Population,nI discussed at some length inn