Taking Control of our Reproductive Future

Submitted by Michael S (United States), Mar 11, 2016 at 21:11

Hello, Ron

Countries which have "taken control of their reproductive futures" have found that this may cause as many problems as it solves. Exercising population control, as is practiced on a large scale in places like Europe and East Asia, has these main effects:

1. The per-capita income for middle-aged and old people increases in the short run, because there are fewer young mouths to feed.
2. As time progresses, a greater and greater proportion of the population becomes elderly, and in need of being supported by productive young workers.
3. Young workers are supplied from abroad, leading to social problems. The Muslim "invasion" of Europe is an obvious example of this.
4. Solving the age distribution problem through immigration is only a temporary fix; because nearly all the world is "taking control of its reproductive future". Long-term solutions such as robotization of society and euthanasia will become more attractive -- but again, with attendant social problems; and until this futuristic utopia or dystopia comes about, immigrants will jam into the "controlled population" countries, despite Hungarian barbed wire and high walls built by Trump, Inc.

That's just touching on a few consequenses. Whatever is done to try to remedy the problems of population pressure; they will either regress us to more primitive times, where hunger and death are accepted as facts of life, or propel us into uncharted and possibly disastrous waters.

All the religions of the world, to my knowledge, are geared toward largely agrarian societies, large families and natural fresh water supplies. Those societies were periodically plagued by death and disease; but even so, they have survived for thousands of years. There is no guaranty that the "brave new world" we are lunging into will last that long. Professor Stephen Hawking reckons we won't last another millenium; and if nuclear proliferation continues at its present pace, we may not make it to another century.

When Barack Obama campaigned for the US Presidency, he ran on a platform of CHANGE! The world certainly has changed since he assumed office; and we can see the fruit of it in places like Libya, South Sudan and Syria. Perhaps with less change, things would not have turned out so badly.

Every time we tamper with nature -- whether it be by "taking control of our reproductive future" or overthrowing dictators and exporting democracy -- we reap consequences, nearly always unforseen and unintentional consequences. I don't say that we can altogether avoid such changes. All I'm saying, is that we shouldn't be deluded into thinking they will solve our problems. They might not.

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