In this screed, he's all hot and bothered about some random comments by some unknown British legislator. Mr. Lileks comes out courageously on the side of more babies. Never mind that his parents had just two, and he has just one. Personal counterexamples never slow down Mr. Leeks screeds.
In the end all he can muster for arguments are (1) The strawman of a totally depopulated Britain, and (2) We're preventing new Motzarts from being born.. and (3) It's good to have more people in order to put out fires. Never mind that (1) there is no risk of, and (2) Overpopulation lowers the chances that individuals can fully develop their talents and (3) overpopulation inevitably leads to mass misery, starvation, and wars. Never mind that every industrialized country has already passed the demographic transition. Never mind that China is a huge success story, having used strong incentives to limit family size, and incidentally prevented several wars and famines. Mr. Leeks doesn't let the fate of billions affect his very selective view of the facts.
It's infuriating that Mr. Leeks lives on acres of land in a large mansion, meanwhile he dooms the rest of the world to crowd into hovels. I think I threw up in my mouth a little bit just writing that.
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