Diversity Macht Frei
January 5, 2019
Yves Cochet co-founded the Green Party in 1984. He was the French environment minister from 2001 to 2002 and a member of the French parliament from 1997 to 2011.
He recently gave an interview to the French left-wing newspaper Le Nouvel Observateur.
France has one of the highest birth-rates of any white country (if it still qualifies), partly because of the strong African demographic there, but also because the state offers generous subsidies for families with children.
Cochet wants these to be scaled back.
Do we need to put the brakes on demographic growth to save the climate?
(…) We also need to take demography into account. It’s a truism to say: to reduce the number of inhabitants on the earth, we need to make fewer children.
Do we need to limit births?
(…) I suggest reversing our policy that encourages births, by inverting the logic of benefits payments for families. The more children you have, the fewer benefits you receive to the point of disappearing entirely after the third birth!
Does France need to make the most effort?
When we accept being “Neo-Malthusians”, we are quickly accused of racism and elitism. For that reason therefore, I make it clear that I am not targeting the poorest countries, which produce more children than others. On the contrary. The rich countries are the first that need to decrease demographically. They are the ones with the most polluting lifestyles.
In addition, limiting our births would allow us to better receive the migrants who are knocking at our doors.