14 DAY TRIAL // Michelle Duggar, the world-famous reality star mother of 19, sees nothing wrong with having such a large family, as far as its impact on the environment is concerned. Video of her rationalizing the need for more children is below.
Mrs. Duggar sat down for an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network, in which she took questions from online users.
One of them was about whether she felt in any way guilty for the impact her family might have on the environment, given the current issue of overpopulation and our world's finite resources.
She doesn't feel guilty for a very simple reason: she doesn't believe there is such a thing as an overpopulation “issue.”
“Oh wow. Well, first off, the idea of overpopulation is not accurate because really the entire population of the world, if they were stretched shoulder to shoulder, could fit within the city limits of Jacksonville,” Mrs. Duggar explains.
“So if you realize that, you know that we’re not anywhere near being overpopulated,” she argues.
A simple search online might prove that Mrs. Duggar isn't entirely off base, though the argument isn't as valid as she thinks it is.
This WikiAnswer confirms that the entire world population (calculated back in 2008) could fit into a relatively small space, if everybody was standing shoulder to shoulder.
However, from that to saying overpopulation doesn't exist is quite a stretch.
On the other hand, Mrs. Duggar underlines both she and her family do everything they can to lessen their impact on the environment.
“What our family does is that our motto is we buy used and we save the difference. We go to the thrift store. We buy used cars,” she explains.
“We buy the things that most people would not be using. We are teaching our children to be helpers, servicers, givers instead of takers,” Mrs. Duggar adds.
Having so many children isn't just down to her strict religious beliefs, but also to the fact that she believes there can never be too many children in the world.
“I’ve heard someone say too many kids, I agree with Mother Teresa – to say there are too many children is saying there are too many flowers,” she says.
