No industrialized country has a birth rate over 2.1. The countries with the highest birth rates, most of them in Africa, also have high mortality rates. Your overpopulation theories are crap.
Good point. But immigrants (legal, illegal) to the US have more kids, even if we don't. That is why our pop growth IS above 2 per couple. Plus, people are living longer - this puts pressure on housing, other resources. Obviously - people WANT to live longer. But, "something's got to give," in that case... like reduced family sizes.
Here are numbers for some of our neighbors to the South.
Country: Children per woman:
USA 2.08
Mexico 2.42
Panama 2.68
Colombia 2.54
Belize 3.6
El Salvador 3.12
Paraguay 3.89
Ecuador 2.68
Guatemala 3.82
Honduras 3.59
Nicaragua 2.75
Haiti 4.94
From: the CIA Factbook
I think we should all throttle back a bit in the Reproduction dept. Have you been on the 405, lately (in LA)? geez...