I personally, wouldn’t mind a federal mandate like the one in China stating that each family can have only one child. And they should fine people that have two or more children, like they do in China. That way people like Octomom will actually have to pay for their kids rather than expect someone else to pick up the tab. I’m from Texas. Here we’re in the middle of a phase two water shortage. Some people think it’s a climatic problem. Personally, I think it’s actually a population problem. When I was in middle school we surpassed New York State in population. We now have as many people as California did ten years ago. As the population continues to grow here by leaps and bounds, water is becoming a more scarce commodity. They’re having a lawsuit in Austin over the Edwards Aquifer right now. People are griping about the folks in San Antonio sucking it dry like racehorses. Now, some rich tycoons want it to irrigate a golf course. I believe California is having problems with water shortages because they are overpopulated. As we consume more as Americans, resources will become more scarce. We all saw the calamity of waiting until the last minute toward Hurricane Katrina. If we couldn’t even save New Orleans, what makes you think we’ll be able to save the planet. I think the problem with inflation in America, in fact, is more of a population problem rather than an economic problem. As our population continues to boom, more people will consume oil. It’s a very symbiotic process. So now that I’ve stated the facts, would you support birth control laws in America? Would you advocate this considering the fact that abortion is still a hot topic, and most people gripe about poor people living on welfare?
We’re already mandating what our children should read. That’s why they don’t teach sex ed in school. 1 in 5 women in America is uninsured. 40 percent of American women cannot afford to have prescriptions refilled. And if we’re talking about government staying out of our private lives, then maybe they should leave the abortion issue alone. America has the highest teenage pregnancy rate out of any First World nation on earth. We are in the midst of an economic crisis and what not like never before. We make up less than 5 percent of the world’s population, yet we consume more than 25 percent of the world’s resources. We need to try something because at the rate we’re going, our children may not have a future.
I agree, but I’d say that unlawful immigration is the main source of our overpopulation problem in the USA. The people having the most babies are the ones who expect the public taxpayer to support them. Children are only an asset in primitive societies, not in a First World Nation.
I remember about 2 or 3 billion people was the world population when I was a child. Now it’s more than doubled. We drained swamps, stamped out malaria, provided some basic medical care, and sent food overseas. And those peoples just kept on spawning more children.
At least our rate of consumption has declined over 40 years. In the Sixties, we 5% of the world controlled or consumed more like 40% of the resources. That’s why we feel poorer and our standard of living has declined a LOT.
Notice how some people continue to support "private decisions" and the vague "right to have children". They want to have people free to act stupid and irresponsibly.
October 2nd, 2009 at 10:24 pm
NO i wouldnt support it! how many kids someone chooses to have is a personal decision, and if we let the government control that why not just become a communist country? i’ll tell u why, because it’s crap
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October 2nd, 2009 at 10:43 pm
No. I am against so much government interference in people’s lives.
Seat belts are one issue I disagree with. I understand the need, but I disagree. I drove my five children everywhere from the time I was pregnant until they were in their late teens. Never used a seat belt and only had a car seat for the least one until he/she could sit in the seat.
They never had helmets for riding their bikes and they rode all over the place. Never had protective gear for roller skating, skate boarding, or anything except batting in little league and the standard gear for football.
They were never injured and are all hale and hearty now that they are in their 40s.
I understand the concern about resources. I think people need to learn how to use them wisely and equally. Why should rich people have swimming pools in their yards, but two blocks away a family can’t water their yard or let the sprinkler run for their kids? Why are houses allowed to be built with so many bathrooms? Each kid doesn’t need his/her own bathroom. That’s a great opportunity to teach kids about sharing. We only had one and there were six of us using it. Didn’t hurt them.
What I am trying to say is that there are other ways to solve problems than to allow the government to take over. We lived free of government interference for years and no one in my extended family or wide circle of friends were hurt by any of the things the government is "protecting" today.
I believe that everyone should live as green as they can, but by their own choice. Not by big brother telling them how.
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October 2nd, 2009 at 11:04 pm
I believe more in educating people and holding individuals responsible than in mandating what is perhaps one of the most personal choices we can make.
Also, there are many problems resulting from the one-child policy in China. Some of them would not affect our country, but there would be problems as a result that would affect us that don’t affect the Chinese.
Some problems for the Chinese include that each child has 2 parents and 4 grandparents to care for in their old age. Each child has the full attention of 2 parents and 4 grandparents. (Ever heard of a little emperor?) No one has a sibling. It is a country of only children. Only children without first cousins. There are social problems as a result. Another China specific problem is sex selection. There are way more males in the countryside than females. Females are being sold by their parents or kidnapped to make wives for men in the countryside.
I am opposed on principal to any government getting involved on such a personal level. Will we mandate everything that goes into our mouths? Will we mandate how we spend our free time? Will we mandate what books we read our children? You’ll probably think it is a great leap from one-child policy to thought control, but I see a direct link.
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I’m a child from a large family with only one child of my own. And I lived in China for about a decade.
October 2nd, 2009 at 11:45 pm
I don’t much advocate the welfare concept, whether they have 1 kid, 100 kids, or no kids. So welfare has no effect on my opinion about enforced population control. Besides, using financial consideration for deciding who can have kids would range much beyond just welfare. EXACTLY what dividing point rationalizes restriction to have families? Does it index with inflation? Does the local cost of living get any consideration? Do you consider the family’s debt to income ratio? After all, a family with $25K a year and one car payment can support a kid a lot easier than a family with $100K a year income with 3 car payments, a boat payment, and a dozen maxed out credit cards.
Basically, you’re talking about adding yet another layer of bureaucracy to the system, administered by regular people with their own preconceived ideas about the way things SHOULD be. Rather than adding more government interference in private lives, we should be removing many of the existing ones.
As for the current economic "crisis", it’s hard to believe it when I see people on the lake every weekend with their $100K boats, restaurants full every night. Lately, an economic crisis seems to mean that people just can’t squander as much money as they used to do.
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October 3rd, 2009 at 12:15 am
No. Some people want to have more than one child. Saying that they cannot would be too controlling and invasive. It’s none of the government’s business. How many children a family has is up to the parents.
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October 3rd, 2009 at 12:46 am
I agree, but I’d say that unlawful immigration is the main source of our overpopulation problem in the USA. The people having the most babies are the ones who expect the public taxpayer to support them. Children are only an asset in primitive societies, not in a First World Nation.
I remember about 2 or 3 billion people was the world population when I was a child. Now it’s more than doubled. We drained swamps, stamped out malaria, provided some basic medical care, and sent food overseas. And those peoples just kept on spawning more children.
At least our rate of consumption has declined over 40 years. In the Sixties, we 5% of the world controlled or consumed more like 40% of the resources. That’s why we feel poorer and our standard of living has declined a LOT.
Notice how some people continue to support "private decisions" and the vague "right to have children". They want to have people free to act stupid and irresponsibly.
References :