Stabilization

STABILIZATION IS A general term that usually applies to calls for control of different areas of life that are viewed by some individuals or groups as growing or declining undesirably. Controls to achieve stabilization can affect the poor positively or negatively.

Some forms of stabilization are enacted as price controls. In other cases it may be immigration or population stabilization, which means control over the growth in numbers of people. Another form of stabilization refers to the social environment, such as neighborhood stabilization. This form of action seeks to organize people so they can work together to improve the social and even physical conditions of their neighborhood.

When price controls are implemented, stabilization takes the form of rationing. The government, in conditions of price controls, artificially fixes the price of some good or service. The stabilization of the price may benefit the poor or the society in general to the detriment of others. It may on the other hand be a way to distribute goods such as gasoline during an oil shortage.

Rent control is a form of price control stabilization. It fixes rents and does not allow landlords to increase them. Landlords may be held responsible for keeping their properties in good condition even if this means incurring a financial loss. In the short run, rent controls in a city can keep the price of housing from spiraling out of control. However, in the long run the stock of housing for all may be reduced because landlords are unable to profit from their properties. In New York City the use of rent controls led to the abandonment of thousands of properties, with a subsequent loss of housing opportunities for all.

Some advocates of population stabilization do so on the grounds that their motives are purely ecological. Their announced goal is to preserve the environment. This means that people have to be restrained in their activities that could affect the environment.

Some ecological groups call for reducing birthrates and stopping immigration. Ecological advocates of population stabilization see unending population grow as a major source of environmental destruction. Since the poor usually have more children than the rich, limiting birthrates effectively limits the ability of the poor to gain access to the world's goods and services.

Some anti-immigration groups, especially those against illegal immigration, fear that large numbers of immigrants will destabilize the society and cause the original groups to lose control of the society. This is especially the case if the immigrant groups have a much higher birthrate than the native population.

Stabilization policies usually encourage a form of politics that uses euphoric language to insinuate to the [Page 1022]general population that the preferred policy is an unmixed blessing. Current political discussion in California and other places often centers on immigrant stabilization, which means stopping illegal immigrants from entering the state. Since the laws prohibit people from being denied welfare benefits or education benefits even if they are illegal immigrants, the impact upon taxpayers and the quality of life is significant.

Stabilization may also refer to the political conditions in a country. The United Nations Mission in Haiti has been extended beyond 2005 in order to further lower the likelihood of civil conflict that could ignite a regional conflict involving several countries.

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