In humans, fertility rates have been declining while average quality of life has been increasing. Considering only human life until now, the RC might suggest things would have been better had fertility rates and average quality of life remained constant, since we’d have far more people with lives worth living. It can undermine the story of human progress, and suggest past trajectories would have been better.
We could also ask whether lifting people out of poverty is good, in case it would lead to lower populations. In general, as incomes increase, people have more access to contraceptives and other family planning services, even if we aren’t directly funding such things. (Life-saving interventions would likely not lead to lower populations than otherwise, and would likely lead to higher ones at least in some places, according to research by David Roodman for GiveWell (GiveWell blog post).)
(Another answer...)
In humans, fertility rates have been declining while average quality of life has been increasing. Considering only human life until now, the RC might suggest things would have been better had fertility rates and average quality of life remained constant, since we’d have far more people with lives worth living. It can undermine the story of human progress, and suggest past trajectories would have been better.
We could also ask whether lifting people out of poverty is good, in case it would lead to lower populations. In general, as incomes increase, people have more access to contraceptives and other family planning services, even if we aren’t directly funding such things. (Life-saving interventions would likely not lead to lower populations than otherwise, and would likely lead to higher ones at least in some places, according to research by David Roodman for GiveWell (GiveWell blog post).)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population_growth_rate
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and_dependencies_by_total_fertility_rate