WEBVTT 00:01.500 --> 00:02.333 [Indiscriminate chatter] 00:02.333 --> 00:04.266 [Families boarding a river ferry] 00:04.266 --> 00:07.032 [Fife and drum music] 00:07.033 --> 00:11.566 [Narrator:] The birthrate in the United States is declining. 00:11.566 --> 00:14.832 This decline, however, will be dramatically offset 00:14.833 --> 00:17.299 by the growing numbers of young parents 00:17.300 --> 00:19.266 who are planning families of their own. 00:19.266 --> 00:21.432 [Patriotic music continues] 00:21.933 --> 00:25.199 [Family chatter at the dinner table] 00:25.200 --> 00:28.033 Adding to this nation's rate of population growth, 00:28.033 --> 00:31.766 one of the highest of the advanced industrialized nations 00:31.766 --> 00:34.532 is the continuation of large families 00:34.533 --> 00:35.899 among the nation's poor. 00:35.900 --> 00:40.333 [Family chatter at the dinner table] 00:40.333 --> 00:42.733 [Golf cart engine racing] 00:42.733 --> 00:45.699 Citizens over 65 are also increasing 00:45.700 --> 00:48.166 in number and proportion. 00:48.166 --> 00:48.866 An increase 00:48.866 --> 00:51.532 brought about by remarkable death control methods. 00:51.533 --> 00:53.033 [Engine running] 00:53.033 --> 00:56.766 [Light fanciful muisic] 00:56.766 --> 01:00.632 Affluent Americans are generally unaware of the serious effects 01:00.633 --> 01:04.433 this growth will have on generations yet unborn 01:04.433 --> 01:07.566 and on the nation's poor. 01:07.566 --> 01:10.132 [Fade to black] 01:10.133 --> 01:12.799 [Fife and drum music] 01:12.800 --> 01:18.300 [The Population Problem] 01:18.300 --> 01:25.500 [U.S.A.: Seeds Of Change] 01:26.900 --> 01:28.166 [Narrator:] The modern American, 01:28.166 --> 01:30.366 the wealthiest man in the world 01:30.366 --> 01:31.999 is the product of a chain of events 01:32.000 --> 01:34.300 in which rising population has always 01:34.300 --> 01:35.633 played an important role. 01:35.633 --> 01:41.633 [Band marching near a cannon] 01:41.633 --> 01:44.033 The great American dventure began with the population 01:44.033 --> 01:46.433 of less than four million. 01:46.433 --> 01:51.333 In colonial America, families of 8 to 10 were common. 01:51.333 --> 01:56.199 In the intervening century and a half, family size declined. 01:56.200 --> 01:59.733 But the process was gradual, and immigration 01:59.733 --> 02:01.233 helped keep population rising. 02:01.233 --> 02:04.233 [Carriage wheels, horse’s hooves] 02:04.233 --> 02:06.066 Growing population permitted America 02:06.066 --> 02:09.632 to colonize its vast territories and later helped the nation 02:09.633 --> 02:12.799 industrialize quickly and efficiently. 02:12.800 --> 02:15.733 In the 1930s, it seemed that population growth had reached 02:15.733 --> 02:18.399 a point of stability, and any increase 02:18.400 --> 02:21.600 would be slow and regular. 02:21.600 --> 02:25.933 Families with two or less children were common. 02:25.933 --> 02:28.099 Many women delayed marriage have failed to marry. 02:28.100 --> 02:29.466 [Carriage wheels, horse’s hooves] 02:29.466 --> 02:31.999 Among married women, many remained childless. 02:32.000 --> 02:35.533 [Propeller plane engine] 02:35.533 --> 02:37.433 But after World War II, it became 02:37.433 --> 02:40.566 fashionable to marry, to marry early 02:40.566 --> 02:42.799 and to produce children in rapid succession right 02:42.800 --> 02:44.900 after marriage. 02:44.900 --> 02:48.166 The proportion of very large families continued to decline. 02:48.166 --> 02:49.132 [Engine shutdown] 02:49.133 --> 02:50.933 But because this was more than offset 02:50.933 --> 02:53.699 by the fewest single or childless women, 02:53.700 --> 02:56.833 the average family size increased. 02:56.833 --> 02:59.133 [Inaudible] 02:59.133 --> 03:00.799 The size of the American families 03:00.800 --> 03:03.266 since the end of World War two has within it 03:03.266 --> 03:06.432 the seeds of change for the whole society. 03:09.566 --> 03:11.032 [Graphic] 03:11.033 --> 03:14.166 Most Americans control their family size, 03:14.166 --> 03:18.132 but at a relatively high level. 03:18.133 --> 03:21.766 The seemingly innocent fact that in the 1950s, 03:21.766 --> 03:24.632 Americans have chosen to have one more child per family 03:24.633 --> 03:28.999 than they did in the '30s is now radically increasing the size 03:29.000 --> 03:34.133 and changing the age structure of our population. 03:34.133 --> 03:36.966 And with it, the future of the nation. 03:36.966 --> 03:38.799 [Man in front of a computer system] 03:38.800 --> 03:40.633 [Conrad Taeuber, Assistant Director of the Census] 03:40.633 --> 03:43.066 [Conrad Taeuber:] Well, I think the birthrate in the United 03:43.066 --> 03:45.132 States is very much the response to 03:45.133 --> 03:47.833 social and economic conditions. 03:47.833 --> 03:52.733 My own explanation for what has happened to us since the war 03:52.733 --> 03:57.233 is that the whole outlook of our young people toward the future 03:57.233 --> 04:00.866 has changed contrast this with the 1930s. 04:00.866 --> 04:03.499 When people hesitated to get married, 04:03.500 --> 04:05.133 they hesitated to have children, they 04:05.133 --> 04:07.699 hesitated to have the second or third child, 04:07.700 --> 04:11.466 because they simply didn't know what their future was like. 04:11.466 --> 04:15.332 One of the dramatic things in the changing population 04:15.333 --> 04:16.699 structure of the United States is 04:16.700 --> 04:19.800 what happened to us as a result of the baby boom 04:19.800 --> 04:23.000 immediately after World War II. 04:23.000 --> 04:24.666 And of course, shortly, this is going 04:24.666 --> 04:28.166 to mean a very sharp increase in the number of young families 04:28.166 --> 04:30.466 and probably an increase in the number of babies. 04:30.466 --> 04:35.732 [Young people dancing] 04:35.733 --> 04:38.299 [Narrator:] The young are the largest and fastest growing age 04:38.300 --> 04:42.133 group in our population 90 million Americans 04:42.133 --> 04:45.933 nearly half the population are under 25. 04:45.933 --> 04:47.799 [Dance music] 04:47.800 --> 04:49.866 Nearly a third of the total population 04:49.866 --> 04:53.699 is a matter of fact is under 15. 04:53.700 --> 04:56.400 Thus if the birthrate were cut in half, 04:56.400 --> 04:58.666 the population would continue to grow rapidly 04:58.666 --> 05:02.099 because of the ever-increasing number of potential mothers. 05:02.100 --> 05:05.100 And more women marry in the United States, 05:05.100 --> 05:06.033 and they marry younger. 05:13.133 --> 05:15.266 These middle-class youngsters will probably 05:15.266 --> 05:19.932 adopt their parents mores and follow their parents example. 05:19.933 --> 05:23.066 Like their parents, they'll enjoy enough prosperity 05:23.066 --> 05:27.099 to permit them to have as large a family as they desire. 05:27.100 --> 05:30.100 Like their parents, each of these youngsters one day 05:30.100 --> 05:33.400 will have two to four children. 05:33.400 --> 05:37.300 The girls will be in a hurry to marry because the mores 05:37.300 --> 05:38.333 so dictate. 05:38.333 --> 05:45.999 [Music and dancing] 05:46.000 --> 05:46.900 [Inaudible] 05:46.900 --> 05:52.433 [Philip M. Hauser, Director, Population Research and Training Center] 05:53.100 --> 05:56.766 [Philip M. Hauser:] We are now witnessing the very peculiar situation 05:56.766 --> 06:01.632 that our younger people and our older people, those 65 and over 06:01.633 --> 06:03.899 are growing much more rapidly than people 06:03.900 --> 06:06.200 of intermediate age. 06:06.200 --> 06:08.800 I think perhaps the smartest generation of Americans 06:08.800 --> 06:12.666 we ever had were the youngsters who managed to get themselves 06:12.666 --> 06:15.199 born during the Depression '30s. 06:15.200 --> 06:17.433 At that time, the marriage rates went down 06:17.433 --> 06:19.599 our birthrates went down. 06:19.600 --> 06:21.400 These young people were in great demand. 06:21.400 --> 06:24.400 They were able to get jobs at relatively high interest wage 06:24.400 --> 06:25.066 rates. 06:25.066 --> 06:27.632 They faced relatively little risk of unemployment 06:27.633 --> 06:30.766 during their careers, great chances for promotion. 06:30.766 --> 06:33.332 They married early and contributed 06:33.333 --> 06:34.566 to a high birthrate. 06:34.566 --> 06:36.432 The youngsters who managed to get themselves 06:36.433 --> 06:38.533 born as part of the post-war baby boom 06:38.533 --> 06:40.399 or something less than bright. 06:40.400 --> 06:42.700 They didn't choose the proper birth dates. 06:42.700 --> 06:45.566 And as a matter of fact, they may have a perfectly different 06:45.566 --> 06:48.899 outlook as far as their careers are concerned. 06:48.900 --> 06:51.800 Young persons, 20 to 24 years of age 06:51.800 --> 06:57.700 who diminished by 6 percent during the 50s will increase by 54 percent 06:57.700 --> 06:59.633 during the 60s. 06:59.633 --> 07:04.433 Now imagine the swing from a 6 percent decline to a 54 percent increase 07:04.433 --> 07:06.233 in adjoining decades. 07:06.233 --> 07:09.133 This is the kind of tidal wave that 07:09.133 --> 07:11.099 is hitting our school systems, that 07:11.100 --> 07:13.866 is hitting our economy, that is creating many 07:13.866 --> 07:17.732 of the problems that confront this specific cohort 07:17.733 --> 07:19.266 or generation of youngsters. 07:19.266 --> 07:22.799 [Motorcycle engine starts] 07:22.800 --> 07:24.366 [Narrator:] The needs of the young 07:24.366 --> 07:27.232 are the greatest challenge which rising population offers 07:27.233 --> 07:28.933 America. 07:28.933 --> 07:32.399 Their first demand has been in education. 07:32.400 --> 07:35.833 During the '60s, high school enrolments across the nation 07:35.833 --> 07:36.566 will double. 07:36.566 --> 07:37.732 [Student chatter] 07:37.733 --> 07:40.933 Yet numbers of qualified teachers and classroom space 07:40.933 --> 07:43.266 are falling behind. 07:43.266 --> 07:46.432 With this rapid growth of our student population, 07:46.433 --> 07:49.433 the greatest concern is that the quality of Education 07:49.433 --> 07:50.666 will suffer. 07:50.666 --> 07:56.599 [Band pep-rally] 07:56.600 --> 07:59.566 College enrollment will increase by 100 percent 07:59.566 --> 08:04.066 during the present decade from four million in 1960 08:04.066 --> 08:06.666 to eight million by 1970. 08:06.666 --> 08:09.699 [Applause] 08:10.600 --> 08:12.666 [stamper] The tutorial function of the university 08:12.666 --> 08:15.832 may suffer unless greater commitments are made to relieve 08:15.833 --> 08:17.866 the burden of these numbers. 08:17.866 --> 08:20.732 In an age which demands excellence, 08:20.733 --> 08:22.666 we either must make a greater investment 08:22.666 --> 08:25.366 in the growth of our schools or face 08:25.366 --> 08:28.332 the corrosive effects of overcrowding 08:28.333 --> 08:31.299 on the quality of education. 08:31.300 --> 08:33.300 There is hardly a more pressing decision 08:33.300 --> 08:36.700 before the American public as the baby boom begins 08:36.700 --> 08:39.100 to bear its own children. 08:39.100 --> 08:41.666 The equally large or even larger college 08:41.666 --> 08:45.399 generation of the future. 08:45.400 --> 08:46.466 [Inaudible] 08:46.466 --> 08:49.166 [Daniel P. Moynihan, Assistant Secretary of Labor] 08:49.166 --> 08:50.766 [Daniel P. Moynihan:] Providing the jobs 08:50.766 --> 08:54.466 for the young people now rolling into the workforce 08:54.466 --> 08:59.799 is without any question, the single most pressing 08:59.800 --> 09:03.466 social issue of our time. 09:03.466 --> 09:08.032 We have not solved the problem of employment in America. 09:08.033 --> 09:10.899 And we are somewhat singular among 09:10.900 --> 09:14.133 the industrial democracies and not having done so. 09:14.133 --> 09:16.633 The Department of Labor workforce projections 09:16.633 --> 09:22.433 for the near future show an expected increase 09:22.433 --> 09:27.599 in the workforce of 12 million persons by 1972. 09:27.600 --> 09:30.766 Now we have two clear alternatives 09:30.766 --> 09:35.132 in what we do to meet this new demand, this new need. 09:35.133 --> 09:38.733 If we grow over this period at the rate of growth which 09:38.733 --> 09:42.699 occurred last year, 1964, we'll have jobs 09:42.700 --> 09:44.933 for those 12 million persons. 09:44.933 --> 09:49.399 On the other hand, if we grow at the rate, which we average say 09:49.400 --> 09:54.333 from 1957 to 1963, we won't come anywhere 09:54.333 --> 09:58.899 near finding 12 million new jobs for 12 million new job seekers. 09:58.900 --> 10:03.566 And what you'll have is by 1972 is a first class 10:03.566 --> 10:06.599 political and social crisis in this nation. 10:06.600 --> 10:09.300 [Conrad Taeuber:] We're continuing to grow older in one sense 10:09.300 --> 10:12.700 that it will continue to have a larger number of older people 10:12.700 --> 10:17.200 partly because back in the 1890s, some 60 years ago, 10:17.200 --> 10:20.533 65 years ago, the number of births was going up 10:20.533 --> 10:23.566 and also in part because we had a good many immigrants coming 10:23.566 --> 10:27.532 in the early part of the 1900s who are now 10:27.533 --> 10:29.266 reaching the upper ages. 10:29.266 --> 10:30.532 [Softball game] 10:30.533 --> 10:31.399 [Public address announcer:] 10:31.400 --> 10:33.533 Next batter is Harry Howland-- Harry is from the state 10:33.533 --> 10:37.533 of Delaware, one of our oldest active players 86. 10:37.533 --> 10:39.366 [Bat striking the ball] 10:39.366 --> 10:41.799 [Narrator:] Older people are the second fastest growing age 10:41.800 --> 10:44.500 group within our population. 10:44.500 --> 10:47.400 19 million Americans are over 65. 10:47.400 --> 10:49.000 [Crowd chatter] 10:49.000 --> 10:52.666 The reason-- [?] control. 10:52.666 --> 10:56.966 A child born today can expect to live to age 60 10:56.966 --> 11:00.999 with the same probability that he had to live to age 10 11:01.000 --> 11:02.066 a century ago. 11:02.066 --> 11:07.799 [Ball game continues] 11:07.800 --> 11:10.333 [Small dining area] 11:10.333 --> 11:13.566 Some older people continue to work. 11:13.566 --> 11:17.532 This couple are social work trainees. 11:17.533 --> 11:21.733 Both over 70, they're hopeful of leading other senior citizens 11:21.733 --> 11:26.666 to this kind of work and to continuing fulfillment. 11:26.666 --> 11:29.866 [Woman at table:] For three years, but I had been there before. 11:29.866 --> 11:34.566 Students like myself, I don't go anywhere in the evenings, [?]. 11:34.566 --> 11:35.532 [Traffic sounds] 11:35.533 --> 11:37.099 [Narrator:] However, many older people 11:37.100 --> 11:41.433 think of retirement in terms of leisure and an end to work. 11:41.433 --> 11:42.799 [Shuttle bus engine] 11:42.800 --> 11:46.233 Laguna Hills Leisure World is one of the growing number 11:46.233 --> 11:49.099 of retirement villages built to accommodate 11:49.100 --> 11:51.766 the growing older population. 11:51.766 --> 11:55.999 There are other leisure worlds going up all over the country. 11:56.000 --> 11:57.633 Though they may not represent the best 11:57.633 --> 12:00.166 answer for the elderly citizen, they 12:00.166 --> 12:03.199 are necessary to care for the populations second 12:03.200 --> 12:05.100 fastest growing segment. 12:05.100 --> 12:07.700 [Engine noise] 12:07.700 --> 12:10.066 Because we've never had to accommodate large numbers 12:10.066 --> 12:12.199 of older people in the past. 12:12.200 --> 12:16.866 Their special problems are relatively new to us 12:16.866 --> 12:20.466 unlike other nations we've only begun to consider their needs. 12:20.466 --> 12:24.099 [Engine noise] 12:24.100 --> 12:27.766 [Tractor tiller rotating] 12:27.766 --> 12:32.866 Not only is America growing younger, older, and faster, 12:32.866 --> 12:35.599 it is also moving. 12:35.600 --> 12:38.166 Internal migration is another important factor 12:38.166 --> 12:41.632 in the changing population of the United States. 12:41.633 --> 12:45.466 On the land, an earlier form of automation has had its effect. 12:45.466 --> 12:48.332 [Tractor engine] 12:48.333 --> 12:50.466 With the rise of mechanical agriculture 12:50.466 --> 12:53.632 and the growth of big farms, the need for human labor 12:53.633 --> 12:55.133 has diminished. 12:55.133 --> 12:58.599 [Music: "How Can I Keep from Singing"] 12:58.600 --> 13:01.500 In the last half century, rural population 13:01.500 --> 13:05.100 has dropped by more than 30 percent as people moved off 13:05.100 --> 13:08.600 the land to the cities. 13:08.600 --> 13:18.366 [Abandoned sites in the city] 13:18.366 --> 13:30.166 [Family walks past a burial headstone] 13:30.166 --> 13:31.799 The exodus from the land is still 13:31.800 --> 13:37.266 going on today, led now by the rural poor. 13:37.266 --> 13:40.299 The last remnants of the old land system 13:40.300 --> 13:42.333 is that fifth of the population which 13:42.333 --> 13:45.999 bears the least resemblance to the image of modern America. 13:46.000 --> 13:48.866 The poorest is the Southern Negro. 13:48.866 --> 13:50.099 [Music continues] 13:50.100 --> 13:55.200 [Dilapidated farm] 13:55.200 --> 13:56.800 [Women in rundown house] 13:56.800 --> 13:58.200 [Speaker 1:] What do you think draws these... 13:58.200 --> 14:00.466 [Narrator:] Landless, illiterate, 14:00.466 --> 14:03.899 without the simplest amenities of American life. 14:03.900 --> 14:06.066 The Negro sharecropper is also the victim 14:06.066 --> 14:11.366 of a disaster of his own doing... the number of his children. 14:11.366 --> 14:13.666 However, his children are learning. 14:13.666 --> 14:15.732 And as they learn, they are leaving. 14:15.733 --> 14:17.799 [Indiscriminate chatter] 14:17.800 --> 14:19.900 Slowly, the old way is changing. 14:19.900 --> 14:23.000 [Baby crying, indiscriminate chatter] 14:23.933 --> 14:25.899 [Metal clanking] 14:25.900 --> 14:28.733 Internal migration has brought not only the poor. 14:28.733 --> 14:32.733 But the bulk of our population to the city. 14:32.733 --> 14:37.666 70 percent of the nation now lives in some urban centers. 14:37.666 --> 14:41.732 By the end of the century, it may be as high as 90 percent. 14:41.733 --> 14:43.066 [Whistle] 14:43.066 --> 14:44.399 [City traffic] 14:44.400 --> 14:47.866 [Alarm sound] 14:47.866 --> 14:48.899 [Whistle] 14:48.900 --> 14:49.900 [Sirens] 14:49.900 --> 14:52.300 [Subway train track noise] 14:52.300 --> 14:55.133 The city is the goal not only of the Southern Negro, 14:55.133 --> 14:57.133 but of many other minority groups. 14:57.133 --> 15:02.766 The Puerto Rican, the Mexican, and the Appalachian white. 15:02.766 --> 15:04.766 By virtue of his color, the poor white 15:04.766 --> 15:07.999 has been dealt a better deal. 15:08.000 --> 15:11.133 He's not as impoverished as the rural Negro. 15:11.133 --> 15:13.966 But by his own standards, he is still poor. 15:13.966 --> 15:17.499 And he often shares common disadvantages. 15:17.500 --> 15:20.066 He has few skills. 15:20.066 --> 15:23.232 He often cannot read or write. 15:23.233 --> 15:26.699 In the city, the man who cannot even sign his name can find 15:26.700 --> 15:27.900 little steady work. 15:27.900 --> 15:31.400 [Music] 15:31.400 --> 15:34.466 [Teacher:] Turn to page 14. 15:34.466 --> 15:37.232 [Narrator:] These adults are learning to read. 15:37.233 --> 15:38.999 They're attempting to master the simplest 15:39.000 --> 15:40.933 skill of any civilized people. 15:40.933 --> 15:42.599 [Class:] Ben likes the ham. 15:42.600 --> 15:45.200 The most important question is whether they'll 15:45.200 --> 15:48.833 succeed soon enough, and in large enough numbers 15:48.833 --> 15:52.366 to stem the heritage of poverty from their own generation 15:52.366 --> 15:53.166 to the next. 15:53.166 --> 15:54.832 [Student:] Ben likes the ham. 15:54.833 --> 15:57.899 [Teacher:] Very good, nice, sharp pronunciation. 15:57.900 --> 15:59.700 Mr. Carlson, please. 15:59.700 --> 16:02.100 [Mr. Carlson:] Ben likes the hand. 16:02.100 --> 16:04.133 Then like the hand. 16:04.133 --> 16:05.899 [Teacher:] Continue around the table. 16:05.900 --> 16:08.666 [Student:] Ben like the hand. 16:08.666 --> 16:10.032 [Fade to black] 16:10.033 --> 16:11.433 [Thud] 16:11.433 --> 16:13.766 [Children in bed] 16:13.766 --> 16:17.299 [Narrator:] Because the poor beget poor and these poor beget 16:17.300 --> 16:20.100 other poor, and because we've not yet 16:20.100 --> 16:22.866 found a way out of this culture 16:22.866 --> 16:25.566 of intergenerational dependency. 16:25.566 --> 16:28.832 There are those who maintain the poor will always be with us. 16:29.433 --> 16:30.066 [Footsteps] 16:30.066 --> 16:30.632 [Lightswitch click] 16:33.233 --> 16:35.399 [Footsteps] 16:35.400 --> 16:36.833 [Lights out] 16:36.833 --> 16:40.199 [Busy clinic chatter] 16:40.200 --> 16:42.633 This is a public health clinic in Chicago 16:42.633 --> 16:49.033 that provides birth control information and devices. 16:49.033 --> 16:51.066 The Chicago program is under the direction 16:51.066 --> 16:52.999 of the Board of Health. 16:53.000 --> 16:57.033 Efforts in this field as yet have been relatively guarded. 16:57.033 --> 16:58.933 The majority of middle-class Americans 16:58.933 --> 17:02.233 practice some form of birth control. 17:02.233 --> 17:07.133 It is the poor who most need some form of birth control. 17:07.133 --> 17:12.066 The poor are growing faster than any other economic group. 17:12.066 --> 17:17.132 The means to abolish poverty are available. 17:17.133 --> 17:19.999 The longer we delay, the more it will cost. 17:20.666 --> 17:21.366 [Door bangs] 17:21.366 --> 17:25.766 [Indiscriminate chatter] 17:27.066 --> 17:28.899 [Loud exhaust fan] 17:28.900 --> 17:33.600 The unskilled and semi-skilled, most often non-white, 17:33.600 --> 17:35.333 have been the first to feel the effect 17:35.333 --> 17:38.599 of rapid technological change. 17:38.600 --> 17:41.633 It is on those with less than a high school education 17:41.633 --> 17:43.666 that automation has the greatest impact. 17:43.666 --> 17:45.032 [Bakery machines clicking] 17:45.033 --> 17:47.799 Automation has brought many benefits. 17:47.800 --> 17:49.433 But its greatest good can only be 17:49.433 --> 17:51.933 derived from the hands of a skilled workforce. 17:51.933 --> 17:53.566 [Bakery machines clicking] 17:53.566 --> 17:55.932 Not only must the economy be flexible enough 17:55.933 --> 17:58.899 to receive the increasing numbers of new workers, 17:58.900 --> 18:01.533 but we must ensure that those workers are educated 18:01.533 --> 18:05.166 and flexible enough to adapt to our technological revolution. 18:05.166 --> 18:13.999 [Data processing equipment circa 1969] 18:14.000 --> 18:20.100 [Repetitive musical tone] 18:20.100 --> 18:22.500 Those aspects of congestion which affect us more 18:22.500 --> 18:25.600 intimately are not always dramatic. 18:25.600 --> 18:27.933 Yet in bits and pieces they erode away 18:27.933 --> 18:29.566 the quality of our daily lives. 18:29.566 --> 19:00.366 [Busy diner serving patrons] 19:00.366 --> 19:00.999 [Music ends] 19:02.066 --> 19:05.966 [Highway overpass] 19:05.966 --> 19:09.999 The car is the most evident symbol of our prosperity, 19:10.000 --> 19:12.500 but it is also the most accomplished instrument 19:12.500 --> 19:13.566 of congestion. 19:13.566 --> 19:19.266 [Close-up shot of passing cars] 19:19.266 --> 19:24.966 [Cars whooshing by] 19:24.966 --> 19:28.632 [Horns blaring, wheels screeching] 19:28.633 --> 19:41.899 [Terrible congestion, frustrated motorists] 19:41.900 --> 19:45.700 [Woodwind whimsical music] 19:45.700 --> 19:49.533 [Young man on bike cuts through traffic congestion] 19:49.533 --> 19:57.166 [Woodwind, whimsical music] 19:57.166 --> 19:59.799 It's growing numbers far exceed the capacity of present 19:59.800 --> 20:03.333 and projected urban road systems. 20:03.333 --> 20:06.166 Automobile exhaust is also a major contributor 20:06.166 --> 20:07.566 to air pollution. 20:07.566 --> 20:14.432 [Highway traffic] 20:14.433 --> 20:18.299 Our mobility carries as much farther than the suburbs. 20:18.300 --> 20:21.900 With our growing prosperity and increased leisure time, 20:21.900 --> 20:23.666 we've become a great outdoor people. 20:23.666 --> 20:26.632 [Whimsical music] 20:26.633 --> 20:29.999 Seasonally, whole segments of the urban population decamp 20:30.000 --> 20:31.733 for the beaches and slopes, where 20:31.733 --> 20:33.433 people encounter exactly what they 20:33.433 --> 20:36.299 wish to avoid other people. 20:36.300 --> 20:38.066 [Lively flute music] 20:38.066 --> 20:41.299 [Tense repetitive music] 20:41.300 --> 20:45.633 [Skiers in long lines] 20:45.633 --> 20:48.199 [Crowded beach] 20:48.200 --> 20:50.600 [Light jazz music] 20:50.600 --> 20:55.266 [Crowded beach] 20:55.266 --> 20:58.966 Recreation space is already in critical short supply. 20:58.966 --> 21:07.466 [Crowded beach] 21:07.466 --> 21:10.066 [Aerial view of a suburb] 21:12.700 --> 21:14.833 Eventually, the growing urban areas 21:14.833 --> 21:18.333 coalesce, forming strip cities. 21:18.333 --> 21:22.699 In the future, there will be three of tremendous size. 21:22.700 --> 21:25.866 One spreading over the central Midwest, one 21:25.866 --> 21:28.732 along the Eastern seaboard stretching from Boston 21:28.733 --> 21:31.199 to Washington, and the third covering 21:31.200 --> 21:34.366 the West Coast between San Francisco and Los Angeles. 21:34.366 --> 21:39.299 [Ticking and tapping music] 21:39.300 --> 21:42.100 Since the end of World War II, our cities 21:42.100 --> 21:45.200 have expanded outward as a result of congestion, 21:45.200 --> 21:47.633 and the increased mobility of the middle class. 21:47.633 --> 21:53.066 [Ticking and tapping music] 21:53.066 --> 22:00.166 [Aerial landscape] 22:00.166 --> 22:14.899 [Farm setting, bulldozer plowing brush] 22:14.900 --> 22:17.400 This expansion carries the urban complex, 22:17.400 --> 22:22.633 far from its core city, absorbing towns, farmland, 22:22.633 --> 22:23.966 everything in its path. 22:23.966 --> 22:28.832 [Bulldozer engine roar, twigs snapping] 22:28.833 --> 22:31.733 Farmland is an easy victim. 22:31.733 --> 22:36.366 Because it's flat, it's ideal for development. 22:36.366 --> 22:39.099 As taxes go up, the relatively low 22:39.100 --> 22:41.833 dollar return of agriculture makes it unprofitable 22:41.833 --> 22:43.899 for many marginal farmers to continue. 22:43.900 --> 22:53.366 [Chainsaw engine cycling] 22:53.366 --> 22:55.332 [Construction site hammering] 22:55.333 --> 22:58.499 Over a million acres of farmland are put to urban uses 22:58.500 --> 23:00.266 each year. 23:00.266 --> 23:03.832 The effect of this loss is a matter of dispute. 23:03.833 --> 23:06.533 Some feel our increasing ability to produce food 23:06.533 --> 23:09.399 makes this loss of land unimportant. 23:09.400 --> 23:11.700 Others that we will need this land 23:11.700 --> 23:13.833 to feed our growing population. 23:13.833 --> 23:17.333 And perhaps that of other parts of the world. 23:17.333 --> 23:21.233 This issue is too crucial to debate much longer. 23:21.233 --> 23:22.866 It is time to decide. 23:22.866 --> 23:27.732 [Hammering] 23:28.766 --> 23:36.266 [Soft tense music] 23:36.266 --> 23:39.732 There are great areas of unused land in the United States. 23:39.733 --> 23:42.066 Density of population is relatively low. 23:42.066 --> 23:44.766 [Soft tense music] 23:44.766 --> 23:47.599 But good land is already at a premium, 23:47.600 --> 23:50.533 especially in California, the fastest growing state 23:50.533 --> 23:51.066 in the Union. 23:51.066 --> 23:53.666 [Real stage sign, Silver Queen Estates] 23:53.666 --> 23:56.666 As a result, people are invited to settle 23:56.666 --> 23:59.266 where the hardiest pioneer would have feared to stop. 23:59.266 --> 24:02.066 [Campers approaching] 24:02.066 --> 24:05.299 [Traffic sound] 24:05.300 --> 24:09.133 After in-migration to the cities, migration to the West 24:09.133 --> 24:13.099 is the most significant movement of our population. 24:13.100 --> 24:18.600 Over 1,000 new people arrive in California every day. 24:18.600 --> 24:23.533 The Golden State once a frontier is filling up. 24:23.533 --> 24:29.799 [Tense music] 24:29.800 --> 24:34.766 [Guard and family consult a map] 24:34.766 --> 24:38.299 [Cars drive off] 24:38.300 --> 24:39.633 [The Honorable Pat Brown, Governor of California] 24:39.633 --> 24:43.299 [Pat Brown:] Of course, there's no virtue in bigness. 24:43.300 --> 24:47.300 But bigness can destroy us if we're not careful. 24:47.300 --> 24:51.466 Every single family coming into the state of California 24:51.466 --> 24:55.666 necessitates the investment of $17,000 24:55.666 --> 25:00.099 in new streets, new sidewalks, new roads, new schools, 25:00.100 --> 25:05.466 new water facilities, new rapid transportation, new pollution 25:05.466 --> 25:07.732 controls of various kinds. 25:07.733 --> 25:11.033 If we do those things and we invest in water, 25:11.033 --> 25:14.399 in education, in roads, in highways, in recreation, 25:14.400 --> 25:17.200 in the preservation of scenic areas, 25:17.200 --> 25:19.900 then California will be able to take 25:19.900 --> 25:22.533 care of this tremendous growth. 25:22.533 --> 25:25.733 If we don't, I'm a little bit afraid 25:25.733 --> 25:30.599 that this great and beautiful state will not 25:30.600 --> 25:35.900 be the place that I knew as a boy and as a young man, 25:35.900 --> 25:38.133 and even as I know it today. 25:38.866 --> 25:42.466 [School children gathered] 25:42.466 --> 25:44.132 [Cannon ignited] 25:44.133 --> 25:45.833 [Cannon explosion] 25:45.833 --> 25:49.066 [Narrator:] Our image of ourselves is changing. 25:49.066 --> 25:52.832 Once Americans could take pride in growing population, 25:52.833 --> 25:54.299 it was building their prosperity. 25:54.300 --> 25:56.466 [Fife and drum music] 25:56.466 --> 26:00.299 This is no longer so simple or true. 26:00.300 --> 26:02.666 The problems of population in the United States 26:02.666 --> 26:07.499 should be of serious concern to all Americans. 26:07.500 --> 26:09.366 Americans will never face the problems 26:09.366 --> 26:11.232 which uncontrolled population is brought 26:11.233 --> 26:15.799 to 2/3 of the world in nations such as India. 26:15.800 --> 26:20.166 [Patriotic music continues] 26:20.166 --> 26:23.966 Most of us are part of the large and prosperous middle class, 26:23.966 --> 26:27.066 which is responsible for the recent changes in the size, 26:27.066 --> 26:32.132 age, and movement of our population. 26:32.133 --> 26:37.399 85 percent of American couples practice some form of birth control. 26:37.400 --> 26:39.900 This fact means that we as individuals 26:39.900 --> 26:42.800 can determine how we will grow. 26:42.800 --> 26:46.133 If we choose a more moderate rate of growth, 26:46.133 --> 26:48.166 future generations will inherit a world 26:48.166 --> 26:52.466 of more manageable proportions, keeping at least a portion 26:52.466 --> 26:54.632 of those qualities of life, which 26:54.633 --> 26:57.899 we feel worth preserving today. 26:57.900 --> 27:01.666 Yet if we continue to grow at the same rate at which we have 27:01.666 --> 27:06.266 from 1947 onward, there will be 400 million Americans 27:06.266 --> 27:12.499 or more by the year 2000. 27:12.500 --> 27:14.600 The problems we see today will by then 27:14.600 --> 27:17.800 of assumed dangerous proportions, 27:17.800 --> 27:24.566 unless parents begin to limit family size. 27:24.566 --> 27:39.666 [Montage of people on a sightseeing ferry] 27:39.666 --> 27:42.499 [Patriotic music continues] 27:42.500 --> 27:48.000 [Family projecting home movies] 27:48.000 --> 27:56.333 [Produced by: In-Sight Productions, Inc. Charles Vaughan, President] 27:56.333 --> 28:00.999 [Writer: Edward Pfister] 28:01.000 --> 28:05.266 [Narrator: Ron Allen] 28:05.266 --> 28:10.232 [Produced under a grant from: Cordelia S. May] 28:10.233 --> 28:12.099 [Hour version produced in association with United States Productions, Inc.] 28:12.100 --> 28:16.366 [Francis C. Thayer, President] 28:16.366 --> 28:21.499 [Special Thanks: Film Unit Bureau of Audio Visual Instruction, N.Y. City Board of Education] 28:21.500 --> 28:42.966 [Credits] 28:45.300 --> 28:53.733 [Animated NET logo, hectic music] 28:53.733 --> 28:57.233 [Announcer:] This is NET, the National Educational 28:57.233 --> 28:59.733 Television network.