government controlling/monitoring child bearing

[Catholic_Lady]

Hey guys, while discussing marriage and child bearing on a different thread, this was said:

Anyway, marriage and uncontrolled bearing of children will only make things worse once we substantially improve our life spans or/and run into trouble with the resources.

I then asked if this person believes the bearing of children should be controlled, and if so, how? To which this was the response:

Yes, I do. Of course I do. I want the species to survive.


Why, by restricting the number of children allowed to be born overall, of course. I couldn't care less if for every kid who doesn't get to be born now, another 1 trillion do in the remote future.

I'm just wondering how prevalent the belief is amongst atheists that the government should control and monitor the number of children people are allowed to have. I had never heard of anyone in western culture being in support of this before, so I'm curious to know if this is a big thing at all.

Poll question: Do you believe the government should control/monitor the number of children people are allowed to have? If so, to what extent, and how would this law be enforced?

Please explain!

[rado84]

To answer the question - no. But at the rate the number of humans on Earth grows, sooner or later governments will have to impose some sort of a control. That is if we haven't colonized another planet or a star yet.
Chinese people are 2 billion and all of them are located on less than a third of the planet's territory. I'd be surprised if there is no birth control already.

[Dystopia]

Not to stress but this can be a calling out I think.

It is my belief that the government shouldn't legally restrict how many kids you can have - It can provide benefits to try to influence demographics according to each society's needs, but that's it - It's not the government's business deciding who procreates and how much, a government with that much power is a terrible idea.

[Longhorn]

A poll from CL?! Gee, what a surprise

No. The government has no place in the people's bedrooms. It can fuck off c:

[brewer]

Hi CL. Don't confuse atheist belief with population control belief. Population control has been voiced previously for a variety of reasons. One is earths ability to continue to sustain an ever growing population, a valid reason to consider control. One that was put forward when I was a child was for racist reasons. Basically it went "If we let that race continue to multiply they'll one day take over. Then where will we be?". Hasn't population control been part of wars also?

I didn't see anything about "government control"  in the comment but I do know that government control is in effect in some societies and nations. I have no comment on wether it is right or wrong. I haven't experienced living in an overpopulated condition.

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To answer the question - no. But at the rate the number of humans on Earth grows, sooner or later governments will have to impose some sort of a control. That is if we haven't colonized another planet or a star yet.
Chinese people are 2 billion and all of them are located on less than a third of the planet's territory. I'd be surprised if there is no birth control already.

They do have birth control and limited children incentives. They also have a high rate of abortion of female fetuses.

[Dystopia]

Honestly I'm not really sure how much population we can provide for - The truth is 80% of the world's wealth is concentrated in most of the developed world. Underdeveloped countries need a system to boost up the economy. I'm not saying we don't have an excess, but it's not as serious as people make of it. Arguably, the only governments with power to control people's bedrooms (technology, money, etc.) are the ones with less problems of overpopulation.

[bennyboy]

Why is this in the "atheism" forum section? Because an atheist originally said it? Weak.

But to answer the OP. I think it's a very difficult thing to do right: I don't like the idea that the dregs of society will keep pumping out 7 kids a family, while all the doctors, lawyers, teachers etc. are going to average less than 2. Licensing looks so damn good in that sense-- it would be nice if you could make people prove they have the financial/familial/psychological means of actually supporting a developing person BEFORE they get knocked up. But how do you do it? Forced reversible steriliation at age 12? Urgh.

[robvalue]

I don't think edicts are the way forward, that should be an absolute last resort.

I would prefer incentives for having few/no children. In England, ironically the opposite is true. The more kids you have, the more ridiculous amount of money the government throws at you. Having children is considered a lifestyle choice, an alternative to getting a job in some cases. This endless pandering to parents (especially ones who have kids knowing damn well they are in no position to support them) has to stop. I'm not saying people should get no child benefit, but it is way over the top. Us barren people, instead of being rewarded for keeping the population down, get penalised at every turn.

[Minimalist]

I think it is a magnificent idea but I have no idea how to implement it.

One thought is to kick these 'pro-lfe' assholes in the teeth and fully fund any woman who wants an abortion.  Far cheaper than welfare and future incarceration in the long run and at least we would be certain that any woman who has a kid really wanted it.

[QuarkDriven]

I agree with Dystopia.. the government shouldnt intervene in forcefully controlling how many children people have, but it's not a terrible idea to offer incentives to produce less... I think China already does this... it's then up to the parents to decide if they want to have more children or not... it's a difficult question cause in some urban area's people have more kids just to stay on welfare and keep govt benefits. In a situation like that, it's not really fair, but what can you do... (this now goes into politics, something I'm not well versed on) you'd want to say the govt should intervene but you can't do that to one area and not the rest... its all or nothing and we don't want to be told we have to limit our procreation.... after all, thats how every living thing on this planet lives on, through offspring...