Doom in Population Boom
Contributed by Raidan Al-Saqqaf, Yemen   
Saturday, 01 September 2007
fashion.gifYemen consumes the largest amount of sexual inducement drugs per capita in the Arab world. A large collection of Viagra, Fiagra, Zwagra, Suhail and other such drugs have spread all over pharmacies backed by popular demand to fit every budget, competing with the natural line of such drugs imported from Asia and Africa with the slogan, “have a fulfilling sexual life.” All this, of course, is in addition to the extra related perks of chewing Qat. No wonder Yemen has the highest population growth in the world. We, Yemenis, reproduce like there is no tomorrow –eight kids per woman on average makes me wonder, what's the record for the highest number of kids born to a Yemeni woman, forty, perhaps?

What is Yemen going to do with all these kids? By 2040 there will be 40 million Yemenis, by 2050, there will be 50 million Yemenis, and by 2080, there will be around 100 million Yemenis!

What frightens me the most is not the mere number, it is the “quality” of these people. During the 1930s and 40s, when India's population was less than half a billion, British Social Scientists and economist said that India, with its population growth problem, will have a gloomy future with too many mouths to feed. However, India has transformed its people from liabilities and too many mouths to feed to a population of active workers. Workers who engage in value-addition activities and surplus their own consumption to build their nation. Today, India stands as a giant international power.

Can Yemen do the same? Can we shift our focus from "making babies" to "making quality babies", can we help our people help themselves and become an asset to the country instead of a liability? Especially since Yemen is running out of oil, water, and other natural resources. The only thing we’ll be left with is people, people, and only people –it is simple math! If 22 million share the resources of today, tomorrow 30 million will share the resources of tomorrow; resources that will be far less than today's.

Unless tomorrow's resources would include human resources that can be valued much more than today's human resources, it's doom for Yemen.

China suffered from a deadly famine in the early 1970s. Apparently that’s what it took for the Chinese to seriously reform their understanding of what people should be doing. Research points out that the current transformation in the Chinese economy was the direct result of a fundamental change in mentality. There was a shift from the classical reliance on current resources to creating more resources and engaging in more value-addition work, thereby, securing their economic future. Within a few years, agricultural output of the same landmass tripled because more attention was given to value-addition processes. Evidently, this mentality had a domino affect on other industries across the spectrum, allowing china to have the world's largest reserves of foreign exchange and gold. Thanks to China’s active population –its true primary asset.


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  Comments (5)
 1 Written by Yemeni, on 03-10-2007 01:01
For a complicated problem you give nice examples of success. It is not very useful to compare apples and oranges. I see they are both fruits, but.. 
 
China and India are huge countries with much more natural resources than Yemen.  
 
I agree with quality babies. I see in many Yemeni families that the fathers have no clue which kid is doing what. It really takes a lot to be a good effective parent. It is not just providing food and shelter. To cultivate a baby intellectually and emotionally.  
 
AAAAH I feel bad for us and how we grew up. I hope I will be a better father and I hope I will keep it to 4 kids or less. Thats a lot of candoms.
 2 VERY SHOCKED
Written by Shocked, on 13-10-2007 03:49
you serious!!!????? those drugs exist in yemen...what a sad sad truth.  
you know if men were so concerned about over-population then there might be a shift to works in progress...however men disregard the facts no matter how sour and smelly they are; men prefer their pleasures.  
I met a mom of 13, her health was bad, but her husband threatened her to have another child. worst also he stopped her from coming to our clinic because he said we were teaching her against Allah because we told her about family planning.  
Also why are people who speak of knolwedge and education considered going against Islam in yemen? Please share your thoughts. 
Does yemen have control methods for men or only women?  
-salam
 3 No wonder Yemenis use sexual inducement
Written by No wonder, on 14-10-2007 01:41
After all, we Yemenis are so malnourished, which leaves us with little to no energy left to milk sperm! That's why we gotta use a lot of Viagras and the like. Not to mention that centuries of interbreeding and close-relative marriages has left our men & women nearly impotent and retarded. I also think that our "values" will never change because of the previously mentioned reason. Not only Yemenis are physically retarded, but they are mentally retarded as well and it seems that they will never come to realize this fact. It's a vicious unbreakable circle.  
 
Not if we have this theme song of sa3eed wa mis3ideh saying "al-bayt wal-mareh, wal-7abba thereh...etc." This song basically reveals our very simplistic and little ambitions. Well, no ambitions at all, I shall correct myself. The only way to for our society to wake up is by setting ambitious and realistic goals, whether on the individual level or the governmental level, but it seems that apathy is widespread. 
 
God bless Yemen!
 4 Illiteracy
Written by Illiteracy, on 16-10-2007 15:33
It is always a delight to read your articles, Raidan. They show how fortune Yemen is to have a concerned individual like you. I don’t think sexual inducement drugs, chewing Qat, lack of planning, etc are the problem for the exponential population growth. It is illiteracy what is dooming Yemen in every aspect of our life. Beyond doubt, people consume sexual inducement drugs for better sexual life, but lack of education makes them un-foresee the risky side effects that come with using those drugs and the alternative, safe and effective-proven methods for better sexual life.
 5 Writing
Written by Critical, on 24-10-2007 00:20
I wonder where did you get such statistics. It seems that you are just starting an interesting conversation. 
How many of such drugs are sold in Yemen, and how many they are in all Arab world? 
Note that such drugs do not generate babies. All birth planning methods does not conflict with such drugs.  
Please 
Do reference your research ! As it does not make sense.

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