Demons, new

THE 'PANDEMONIUM' see

'Work in progress'

A provisional list of Demons

The Hardinian taboo on demographic entrapment, is intensely evil. Think of the massive starvation and violence it stops us even trying to prevent. A Demon is anything which prevents the taboo lifting -- a piece of evil, evil personified. Here, I describe these Demons as my understanding of them grew during many years. They are numbered more or less as they appeared.

                The taboo is enormously complex. Nearly 60 Demons have appeared so far, with doubtless more to follow. I am tempted to wonder if indeed there is any aspect of society which is free from them?

                'Something(s)' must be responsible for fixing the taboo in place. I used to call these 'somethings' 'the foundations of the Hardinian taboo' -- a clumsy term. If you don't like the term 'Demon', do suggest something better. Before these 'somethings' can be attacked by discussion, they need to be named. So they need a recognizable personality, which some of them certainly have. Take for example, Demon 50, Richard Horton's Demon.

              Evil is intangible, hard to pin down, difficult to grasp, and slippery to strangle. It can only be attacked in the people and institutions that the Demons infect - it is the evil Demons that need attacking, not the people or the institutions, per se. In the UK two particularly key institutions are The Lancet, and the London School of Hygiene.

             Traditionally, the Demons had a master -- the Devil, see now out of fashion, which is exactly what he would wish, since he is much more effective when unrecognized. Since his minions, the Demons are difficult enough to get at, we must, for the moment, let him be.

                The Tablet published a review of the philosopher John Gray's book, Gray's anatomy, in which he was said to consider population to be 'the principal evil'. If so, demographic entrapment is the very epicenter of that evil. So here then is another pointer to evil being the heart of the matter.

               The Demons are usually not conscious thoughts. It seems that they don't need to be consciously articulated. For most part, they seem to lurk unrecognized, one of their traditional attributes. However, with sufficient deep discussion, if necessary on a psychotherapist's couch, they might perhaps be enticed out into the open.

               It is difficult to know which demons are bugging who and in what proportion. Presumably, they seldom act alone. On occasion they also appear to nest inside one another. If Richard Horton's Demon is indeed a major one, which Demons are bugging him?

               So far, 58 Demons have showed their ugly heads. They are remarkable for their variety.They are numbered as they appeared. Little attempt has been made to classify them. However, some of what seem to be the most significant ones deserve immediate comment.

               Most future Demons will probably be found to be close variants of the existing ones.

Some particularly interesting Demons

             Demon 50 Richard Horton's Demon. It is not the man himself, whom we are required to love, which is the Demon, it is the evil inside him.

               Richard Horton is presently the editor of The Lancet. Although he could dent the taboo by publishing the definitive paper on it, by somebody or other, or by describing it in an editorial of his own, he presently decides not to do so. Its publication would be the critical event in lifting the taboo. By contrast, failure to do so has immense consequences for starvation and violence in Middle Africa.The publication of the paper would, of course, not instantly lift the taboo, but it would severely disable it by opening the dialogue. Richard Horton's Demon is therefor the key one. Most significantly, it rests in the will of one man.   It is to remain round his neck with all the preventable starvation and violence that it is responsible for, until such time as he decides to lift the taboo, by publishing the definitive paper, and indicting demography and development economics as being see corrupt, in that they never discuss demographic entrapment.

                So which Demons are bugging him? Does he see himself as the guardian of 'civilization', against what he imagines might be massive immigration from Africa into the EU, when it realizes that it is demographically trapped? Demons 24, and 40 [Garrett Hardin's lifeboat]. Or is it the naked desire for power itself -- the power not to do something, which is immensely important? Is it the enjoyment of the power he gets from seeing himself as somehow above the compelling logic of the 'Editorial integrity knockout argument'. see. 'Sheer bloodymindedness' ?

               On three occasions already The Lancet has rejected a paper which would almost certainly have lifted the taboo, had it been published. The third submission with 60 signatures from Africa, was dismissed with the comment “...important... but not a Lancet paper”, no reasons given. This rejection was by a group of staff editors, presumably with the connivance of the Editor, so the evil is not only in the Editor himself, but also in the editorial culture of The Lancet as a journal.



             Demon 1 The carrying capacity Demon. [Garrett Hardin's Demon] We humans are not good at adjusting the size of our populations to the carrying capacity of our ecosystems. Many of the animals are better. Most of us think that, although carrying capacity applies to animals, especially farm animals, it does not apply to us! Unfortunately, the demographers and development economists, who should be thinking about carrying capacity, don’t think about it -- they build the irrelevance of 'carrying capacity' into their disciplines as a 'given'. They taboo it, so as to avoid thinking about what happens when it is exceeded -- demographic entrapment.

             It is perhaps unfair to name this Demon after Garrett Hardin, since he would certainly like to have had it removed. He was much concerned with our profound inability to adjust our population numbers to the carrying capacity of our ecosystem, as being something seemingly hard-wired into our minds. See also Demon (40) Garrett Hardin's lifeboat.

             Demon 46. The failure of the moral imagination. Zigmund Bauman (?) has argued that one of the reasons why good men do evil things is a failure of their moral imagination. He quotes Eichman, “… such a good family man …” who was responsible for organizing gas chambers in the Second World War, and also those who were responsible for quite unnecessarily dropping the second atomic bomb on Nagasaki. Those who willingly leave the Hardinian taboo on demographic entrapment in place, when they could readily assist in removing it, lack the moral imagination to comprehend the scale of the starvation and violence they are assenting him to.

             This Demon therefore resembles Demon 1, the carrying capacity demon, in that both are innate limitations of the human mind. Or are they culturally determined?

           Demon 52 The one-child/no strong state Demon. This is the argument that population control and particularly one-child families are only possible in strong states with the power to implement them, and are therefore for impossible in Africa, because it has no strong states. the implication being that there is nothing to be done, because the situation is hopeless. This Demon rules out the possibility of even trying to induce a crash demographic transition.

           Mercifully, a recent debate at the Great Lakes University of Kenya on the theme of "Are community disentrapment programs possible?" decided that they are. But only if they are part of a community development program which builds on the community's strengths. see
            So this is not the coup de grace Demon that is sometimes thought to be -- the demon of hopelessness. The challenge therefore is to see if these programs can be implemented at a community level..

             Demon 24 Garrett Hardin's lifeboat, the fear of uncontrolled immigration. This could be the key Demon, particularly if it is the one which is bugging Richard Horton. It is the fear that when Middle Africa finds it is demographically, there will be massive emigration northwards which will overwhelm the EU, In. Garrett Hardin's analogy, it is the drowning poor sinking the lifeboat as too many of them clamber into it.

             It could be that, behind the closed doors of the powerful, this is the Demon that is keeping the taboo tight.
              Demon 13 ‘Paediolatry' the high status of the child in Western liberalism. Here is an extract from Chapter 2 How many children? from Primary Mother Care and Population, which is intended for the health workers of Middle Africa, who will have to provide the family planning needed to 'disentrap' it. .
            A word ending ‘-olatry’ means worship. ‘Idolatry’ is worshiping idols, or anything except God. ‘Paes-’ is a child, as in pediatrics, the diseases of children. So ‘paediolatry’ is the worship of children - a new word. ‘The West’, or if you like it ‘the North’ is the very uncertain about what it should worship, and what its ‘values’ should be. Few people now believe in God, so God is out. So what else? Money? Fame? Power?? In looking around for something to worship, ‘the child’ has come to have a very high place. The idea is that, if only we can ‘get things right for the child’ all will be well. This is why, for example, we have a UNICEF for children, but nothing for old people, or women or men.

             ‘Paediolatry’ has it’s problems. What happens if there are more children than the land can support? The present answer is: “Don’t think about the problem, apply the Hardinian taboo”. So what should be the answer? Continue to care for children, but switch the priorities from ‘Child survival’ to ‘Community survival’. There is only a moral choice if there is a decision to be made. So, both the UN agencies and the NGOs, should put new money -- if they have any - into ‘community survival’, rather than into ‘child survival’.

             This change from ‘child centeredness’ and child survival, into ‘community centeredness’ and community survival is going to be difficult -- but necessary. It will need a big change in 'late Western liberalism' [what ‘the North’ now thinks].

            In short, demographic entrapment and the need to face up to the limitations of 'child survival', require a major shift in the foundations of tropical public health, and in 'late Western liberalism'. This shifting of the foundations is therefor the key requirement.

The political correctness trio

             Demon 16 Political correctness 'PC .All Demons promote conformity in maintaining the taboo, these three particularly so. They are so interlinked that they are difficult to distinguish. All three indicate a general reluctance to have different views from anyone else. They are probably the Demons operating on my good friend John Walley here in Leeds when he said, "Of course you are correct, but don't tell anybody I told you!" Which is what I have now done. In trying to lift a taboo one has to. I hope I will be forgiven. Interestingly, this is a new term, probably originating in the United States in the 1970s.

             Demon 17 Peer pressure. What one's peers [other people] think.

             Demon 18 Institutional conformity. This is conformity with the norms and policies of a particular institution. The stronger the institution, the tighter the conformity. For example, the unwritten 'policy' of the London School of Hygiene is that demographic entrapment does not exist. A tool for measuring institutional conformity is said to have been devised.

The reproductive and 'rights' Demons

             Demon 6 The many problems of one-child families. If one-child families had no problems, there would probably be no taboo. China's one-child families get an undeservedly bad press in the West. However, whatever their disadvantages, the alternative of starvation and violence be worse. The most telling argument in their favor is that, whatever their disadvantages, most Chinese now accept them as being obviously desirable, without any need for coercion.

             Demon 7 Current notions of human rights, especially as they relate to human reproduction (largely dominated by the US). These rights have never been debated under circumstances of entrapment. Until this has been done, supposed human rights in matters of reproduction need to be viewed with great cauton.

             Demon 8 Some aspects of ‘The feminist agenda' (also largely US). Much the same applies as for Demon 7. .

             Demon 9 The attitudes of many religious fundamentalists, Protestant, Catholic, and Muslim to abortion. Disentrapment programs are going to require the termination of pregnancy, especially for unintended pregnancies, so this is an important Demon.

             Demon 10 The Holy See's attitudes to most methods of family planning. Much the same applies as for Demon 9 In view of the great strength of the Roman Catholic Church in Middle Africa, and the length of time required for any change in ruling, an urgent plea must be made to the Holy See to allow all methods of family planning in communities which are exceeding the carrying capacity of their ecosystems.

The 'aggro' Demons

          Demon 2 The fear of ‘aggro'. heated argument. Most of us like a quiet life. .

            Demon 58 Sir Richard Jolly's ‘playing with fire' Demon. Sir Richard Jolly is Emeritus Professor of the Institute of Development Studies in Sussex. He argues that to mention ‘demographic entrapment' is to play with fire, but is not prepared to say what that fire is. It is presumably the most heated anger and argument, a particularly intense form of Demon 2.

The Demons listed

             Demon 1 The carrying capacity Demon. See above.

              Demon 2 The fear of ‘aggro'. heated argument. See above .

             Demon 2 The fear of ‘aggro'. heated argument. See above .

             Demon 3 The equality argument. The argument is that if the South has to reduce its fertility, the North must modify its resource consumption.

             Demon 4 The unemployment argument. The means of employment that the Northern lifestyle provides, in that to alter it, unless other radical and difficult changes are also implemented, will increase unemployment.

             Demon 5 Northern food habits, which are integral to this economy and lifestyle.

             Demon 6 The many problems of one-child families. See above

             Demon 7 Current notions of human rights. See above.

             Demon 8 Some aspects of ‘The feminist agenda'. See above.

             Demon 9 The attitudes of many religious fundamentalists, Protestant, Catholic, and Muslim to abortion. See above.

             Demon 10 The Holy See's attitudes to most methods of family planning. See above.

             Demon 11 The cultural attitudes of the South that favour high fertility. changing them is going to be difficult! The only hope is a massive publicity campaign, making use of all possible communication channels, particularly mobile phones,and placing great emphasis on the schools and hopefully [see above!] the churches.

             Demon 12‘The Iron Age Taboo', which is the failure to accept that most of Africa is less than a hundred years out of the Iron Age. It is therefore impossible for Malawi, for example, 'to do a Malaysia', and become a tiger economy, as suggested by Paul Demeny, Editor of the Population and Development Review, no less.

             Demon 13‘Paediolatry' the high status of the child in Western liberalism. See above

             Demon 14 The metaphysical position of modern man (‘What are we here for anyway?'). Much the same applies as for Demon 13

             Demon 15 A dread of the future, in that abolishing the Hardinian taboo acknowledges that an anarchic ‘population future', which is now approaching at nearly a billion a decade, is already upon us.

             Demon 16 Political correctness. See above

             Demon 17 Peer pressure. See Demon 16.

             Demon 18 Institutional conformity. See Demon 16. A tool for measuring institutional conformer is said to already exist.

             Demon 19 The accidie Demon, sloth, torpor, despair, cynicism, “Why bother? What can we do about it anyway?

             Demon 20 Self interest, and ‘loss of face'. This should probably be grouped with Demons 16, 17, and 18.

             Demon 21 The corruption of demography and the ‘policing of the population policy lockstep' by the US Department of State. A most interesting demon. Just before the International Conference on Population and Development, the ICPD.in Cairo, in 1994, I sent a paper entitled A one-child world, to The Lancet. The then editor, Robin Fox, said that on two social occasions he had been buttonholed and advised not to publish the paper. It wasn't published, so I circulated it in manuscript at the conference.as I possibly airport on leaving, and America was kind enough to say that it was the best paper at the conference! It was later published elsewhere as Does entrapment question the two child paradigm, and had no effect whatever.

              In Cairo, I was interviewed by Charles Cargill, on behalf of the CIA.see A paper in the Population and Development Review, in commenting later on the Cairo conference, said that once the US position in Cairo had been formulated, it was promoted by every possible channel [or words to this effect] see

             Mercifully, this intense political activity to enforce the taboo only lasted for the duration of the conference, and has not recurred.

             Demon 22 Friendship - we don't like quarrelling with our friends.This Demon should probably be grouped with Demon 16. Sir Richard Jolly, Professor Emeritus of the Institute of Development Studies in Sussex, wrote to me in his own hand soon after the publication of my first paper Health is a sustainable state see, saying in effect "Life is sweet, please don't rock the boat". Presently, he will only meet me if both our wives are present -- so as to avoid any discussion of demographic entrapment.

             Demon 23 Fear that even to mention entrapment is to incite racism. as a Caucasian it could be easy to incite the criticism that one is racist. Mercifully, this has not happened to me. I was however particularly gratified to receive an e-mail from a Ugandan colleague Jonan Natamba: "...all salutations to you. You have neither been selfish nor racist....not a surprise to me that you still have us (Africans ) at the centre of your heart...

             Demon 24 Fear of uncontrolled immigration See above..

             Demon 25 Fear of being considered a Malthusian. there was a time when it was highly actionable to be a Malthusian. However, Malthus is becoming fashionable again, so this Demon is fast disappearing.

            Demon 26 The hope that disentrapment will happen naturally by starvation or disease

             Demon 27 The ethnocentrist Demon.

            Demon 28 John Guillebaud's eliding, fudging, prevaricating Demon. John uses ‘fuzzy logic' to make demographic entrapment disappear. As an eminent family planner he has threatened to sue me if I attach his name to this particular Demon.

             Demon 29 The intellectual corruption Demon.

             Demon 30 The coercion Demon.

             Demon 31 The consultancies Demon.

             Demon 32 The development Demon - the unjustified assumption that development is going to take place, sufficient to produce the foreign exchange needed to buy food and other essentials, when there is no hope of this happening in time, or it is already too late.

             Demon 33 Failure to accept that not all human groups are equally able.

             Demon 34 The SCALE of the problem demon. If Jack Caldwell is correct in stating that most of Middle Africa is demographically trapped, the magnitude of the problem hardly bears thinking about.

             Demon 35 Intellectual corruption at specific institutions.

             Demon 36 The intellectual narrowness Demon.

             Demon 37 The quantitation Demon.

             Demon 38 The moderation demon.

             Demon 39 The corrupt reviewers Demon.

             Demon 40 Garrett Hardin's lifeboaee above.

             Demon 41 William Blake's enigma. It is lifting the taboo merely rather a large ‘minute particular', or a futile and ‘scoundrely' attack on ‘the general evil'?

             Demon 42 The argument that a large population is necessary for a thriving economy.

             Demon 43 The lockstep Demon.

             Demon 44 The ‘Crunch message Demon', the reluctance to tell the poor to have fewer babies.

             Demon 45 Anthony Costello's marginalisation by personalisation demon. Anthony would like the 'Maurice King-isms' removed from the discussion of demographic entrapment, by which he means the taboo and the Demons. This would of course 'disappear' the whole problem -- a most effective Demon!

             Demon 46 The failure of the moral imagination. See ab0ve

             Demon 47 The smothering, sidestepping Demon. If the discussion of entrapment is mixed in with other things, it is much more easily smothered and avoided.

             Demon 48 The "Who is going to look after me in my old age Demon?" It is sometimes argued that families have to be large in Africa so that parents have somebody to look after them in their old age, and that consequently a crash demographic transition to lower fertility is impossible. The only way out of this difficulty is for the community to look after one another in their old age, and for the 'old' to look after the 'old old'. Such arrangements may be difficult, but the alternative is starvation and violence.

             Demon 49 The Maurice King Demon. Anyone who tries to lift a taboo become so unpopular that he collects the unpopularity to himself. As long as he is around, nobody else wants to lift it.

             Demon 50 Richard Horton's Demon. See above.

             Demon 51 The integrity Demon or rather the lack of it.

             Demon 52 The one-child no strong state Demon. See above

             Demon 53 The “… not enough time in the curriculum…” Demon

             Demon 54 The "… cannot get his (or her) mind round it..." this is partly a matter of giving it the necessary time.

             Demon 55 Kevin Ward's too complex, too scientific Demon.

             Demon 56 The demographic entrapment is not my business Demon - when it quite obviously is.' This Demon is shared by David S. Jolliffe CB FRCP, Chairman of the Court of Governance of the London School of Hygiene, and Charles Warlow, Ombudsman to the Lancet.

             Demon 57 The accusation ‘corrupt' Demon This the great reluctance of academia to accuse anything relating to itself of being 'corrupt'. It is as if it were impossible for an intellectual discipline or institution ever to be termed 'corrupt' in that it refuses to grapple with what is quite obviously it's proper concern.

            Demon 58 Sir Richard Jolly's ‘playing with fire' Demon. Sir Richard Jolly is Emeritus Professor of the Institute of Development Studies in Sussex. He argues that to mention ‘demographic entrapment' is to play with fire, but is not prepared to say what that fire is. It is presumably the most heated anger and argument, a particularly intense form of Demon 2.