April Fools Day Calfornia Battery Prices

NinerBikes wrote:

MrWizard wrote:
Through out history, the poorest members of the population have been the ones with the most hazardous jobs mining etc..and the poorest health

I can not condone that..
And nobody should

The higher the birth rate, the higher the population count. The higher the population count, the greater the burden on the government to educate and provide for all of them. The larger the population, the smaller the slice of the pie every one of them gets, due to limited resources land can provide. Unfortunately, the leaders in China see them as a renewable resource that is expendable, human rights be damned. War, atrocities, poor health and a higher death rate due to risky job operations all help to keep the overall population manageable and in check. Death rates need to exceed birth rates, no other way around it, for everyone to live better.

We can all condone, or not condone whatever we want, but few of us will have any effect overall on the grand scheme of things.

China's birth rate is actually below replacement level. China's greatest population boom was during the 50s to the 70s. As this population bubble ages out, the population of China is expected to begin to fall. Chinese Population is expected to peak by the year 2030 (13 years from now). By 2040 India will surpass China as the most populous nation.
As for accidental deaths in the workplace, China is around 50th among nations in worker safety with about 11 deaths per 100,000 workers per year. The United States, by comparison has about 5.5 deaths per 100,000 workers per year. So while it is demonstrably safer to work in the US, there really isn't an epidemic of worker deaths in China. Being that much of China is agrarian, it is surprising to me that the rate isn't higher.