Chapter summery from an e-book; Plan B 2.0

Plan B 2 .0 : Rescuing a Planet under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble

Chapter 7 Eradicating Poverty , Stabilizing population

Author : Lester R . Brown

The author of Plan B 2 .0 , Lester R . Brown is the President of the Earth Policy Institute . The book is a mix of hopefulness for the future and a fear of impending disaster . The book is an overview of the world 's progress and lack of progress on the issues of poverty , economic conditions , education , and population . While reading , it appears that the problems are overwhelming Lester

Brown feels that they are actually solvable . He covers the economic and technological needs and feels that the world possesses all the necessary tools to solve the problems . Brown has a reputation for being practical and offers straightforward solutions to the problems

In chapter 7 he tackles the problem of a fast growing population and the effects this has on the world 's natural resources and sustainability The chapter begins by providing an overview of the progress that has occurred across the world and he highlights practices and policies from successful countries as examples for other counties to use . There are positive and negative example provided in a wide variety of countries and settings

Educating the people of the world , so that everyone has a baseline of literacy and knowledge is a major focus of the chapter . Regarding education , Brown talks about the need for universal education for all of the children in the world . The chapters review the fact that millions of children start off life with a handicap if they do not have the benefit of basic education . The lack of education is highlighted as the primary if not sole cause for a widening gap between rich and poor . The United Nations set the goal of assuring that there is universal primary education by the year 2015 . This is a beginning . The World Bank is offering to provide funding to counties that submit sensible plans which include local resources and transparent accounting processes . The estimate is that universal education in the 80 countries that require this aid would amount to a Educating girls is a particular focus of the chapter , as educated literate girls lead to lower birth rates in woman and better healthcare for children . Educating also influences that agricultural community as literate people are able to understand issues relating to planting pesticides and harvesting . Education also affects the worldwide epidemic of HIV . Educated people can read and understand information related to the spreading and prevention of HIV as well as other diseases . Again the emphasis on educating girls is discussed as it related to HIV . Some countries such as Ethiopia have had good results offering scholarships to families to help keep the girls in school . The philosophy is that the longer girls stay in school , the fewer children they will have . In the poorest of countries , families are forced to keep children out of school so that they can work and earn money to...