Overpopulation and Having Kids

I know I've already expounded my views about overpopulation and how scary and imminent it is, so i found this article from The Times pretty interesting. It's about limiting how many children people can have(which admittedly already happens in several Asian countries) and how that limit should be 2.

I think this is a pretty interesting argument, particularly since it comes from England, which (don't quote me here) is only moderately socialized. In democratic countries, where personal freedom is prized , and even constitutionalized, how can you tell people how many babies they can have?

The short answer is you can't. No way. So how do you infuse a sense of social and environmental responsibility into baby making?

This is an argument that I've had before with my brother the economist, who fundamentally believes that the market will take care of it, because it always has. I think that is an incredibly naive view, and one that needs to be dissected.

OK we have enough resources for right now, but the global population is growing exponentially and shit is running out. like now. And it's really easy to sit by and say "oh someone or something else will take care of it, but that is simply not true.

So how do you make people feel that responsibility? That I'm not sure of, and it's particularly tricky in terms of population because you get in to all kinds of complicated heated stuff like birth control and religion.

The answer is that I have no answers, but I think that is something that needs to be addressed, and attacked in the most socially responsible fashion possible.