Population, Urbanization, Social Change and the Environment

Population, Urbanization, Social Change and the Environment: Week 8 Essay

Joshua A. Cantrell

Park University

Population, Urbanization, Social Change and the Environment: Week 8 Essay

In chapter 14, we look at why the least industrialized nations have so many children and the consequences of rapid population growth, so let’s dive in. The text identifies a few reasons why these least industrialized nations have so many children, starting with the status of parenthood. For some the thought of being a parent may be terrifying, however to others there is no other greater achievement than to have the status of parenthood. I can remember before I was a father, I didn’t want children, but now that I have two, there is nothing more gratifying and challenging all at the same time. Another point is that a plethora of offspring is a normalcy and once again, we as a human race, tend to gravitate toward the people that we hang out with. So if the homemakers next door has fifteen children then one might feel awkward to not follow suite. Third, large families are looked upon as an economic asset that will not just add another form of monetary income but also allow the parents of a large family to rest easy knowing that they will be taken care of in their old age. Lastly, feminism is not a worldwide commodity as a matter of fact, according to the New York Times, Saudi Arabia just announced that they are now allowing women to drive an automobile (The New York Times Company, 2017). So with a simple act such as driving a car, which is absurd by the way, then it is easy to believe that women also aren’t in control of whether or not they have a child.

Next let’s take a look at the consequences of rapid growth. Think of the current average American household for four that comes in at between $2,400-$2,600 and that gets someone four bedrooms and two and a half baths (ThinkSaveRetire.com, 2017). Now, it just so happens that my house falls right in to that average. In this house hold we have two adults, two children and a medium sized dog. For us, that size is pretty comfortable, but now let’s double that population and keep the size the same. One could only imaging just how cranky everyone would get living on top of one another not to mention the living conditions would decline if there wasn’t a constant “tidy Friday” happening. Also the cost of utilities would double, groceries, transportation and the list goes on and on. Now take all of that from a micro scale into a macro scale of a national population growth, can you see the challenges it creates?

Next for chapter 14, I will explain the process of urbanization, U.S. urban patterns, and rural rebound. Urbanization is the process by which an increasing proportion of a population lives in cities and has a growing influence on the culture. The first place that comes to mind is St. Louis and coincidentally the text mentions it. My Dad had a morning commute to St. Louis that seemed normal at the time but in hind sight seems a little strange that he didn’t just want to move us all up to the city considering the massive amount of miles that he put on a car, which was close to 50,000 in a year. Heck, if he bought a new car and still made the commute he could have it worn out before he paid it off. So with just that point alone one could start to understand the appeal of urbanization. Aside for the proximity aspect of it, there is the massive social diversity aspect where in the city one could have a little bit of everything without having to drive too awfully far or even not drive at all.