VHS : Cnn: People Bomb

Rating: - A disturbing wake up call
The People Bomb is a set of 10-15 minutes CNN news reports about several dimensions of the global demographic explosion, mostly in the Third World (notably India). It provides very powerful images depicting basic but fundamental problems. Even if it was broadcasted in 1992, the problems discussed are even more acute today and of high relevance. For instance, the global population reached 6 billion in 1999 (5.4 billion in 1992: Who is overpopulated?) and the issue of the missing female population (Son Mania) has now reached 100 million, most of them in China and India, according to some sources. It is an excellent video to be presented in classes covering population and development issues. I would however recommend it to a more mature audience because of the sensitivity of some scenes: e.g. abortions and infant deaths. Particularly effective for a bored, materialistic, selfish and careless student audience that plagues most colleges and universities today. Jean-Paul Rodrigue, Dept. of Economics & Geography, Hofstra University.