Plenty of Room

18 October 2006



US Population Reaches 300 Million Mark

According to the US Census Bureau, at 7:46 am Eastern Daylight time yesterday, the 300 millionth American arrived. Precisely who that was is never going to be known, and it could just as easily have been an immigrant as a newborn native. The mark is a statistical milestone merely because of the roundness of the number. What matters more is the continuing growth of the US population.

Demography isn’t destiny, but it does set some parameters for a society. The lumps of humanity known as the “baby boomers” by sheer numbers (and certainly not by character, unless one speaks of a deficiency of such) have had immense impact on the course of American history and economics; just ask them -- they can go on for hours. Other developed countries face a declining population, and an aging one. The US, however, continues to grow although it too is graying.

More people means more talent, more demands, and more opportunities for successes and for failures. Stable societies tend to be dull, although wishing that someone lives in interesting times is a well-known curse. There is much to be said for the comforts of a steady population level. That said, India and China are the only other nations with larger populations than the US, and they are also the two up and coming powers (measured in many ways) in Asia.

There are two factors that keep America’s population growing: religion and the American Dream. In the case of the former, Americans are, simply, a more religious people than other developed societies. A great many of the sects to which Americans subscribe believe in the commandment “be fruitful and multiply.” The latter is an image broadcast on TV and in films of a lifestyle that, for all of its excess and vulgarity, has a great deal of appeal to the poor of the world. The “bright shining city on the hill” doesn’t live up to all of its press very often, but to an immigrant, it only has to be better than home (and often is). Both of these influences rest on America’s greatest export – hope.

So long as these two influences continue, America’s population will grow, although at what rate is unclear. Who these people are, what they do with their lives and what America becomes as a result is unwritten. What is certain is that the country they come to doesn’t resemble that Washington, Franklin and Jefferson thought they were creating. And yet one can’t rule out that they might feel at home 230 years after the fact.

© Copyright 2006 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.


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