I think we are over populated, and it is a problem that we will continue to face for a very long time. With modern medicine continuing to extend the average lifespan, I think this problem will only worsen. What can we do about it? The government isn't going to stop people from having sex, and with sex comes unwanted pregnancies. Is the government going to force people to have abortions or give their kids up for adoption? I highly doubt it. That broaches into a whole other debate over morality.
You know this reminds me of an interesting point. Did you know Hindus cannot spread their faith other than via marriage? AKA males can not be converted. And all non-believers are technically untouchables. Perhaps the overpopulation is related to spreading the faith? (probably not though) Although a minstry of health or something has suggest giving people TVs so they'll have something to do besides sex. MAYBE the solution to this couple is force them to watch some 30 Rock and America's Got Talent.
actually, overpopulation has a lot to do with two basic needs. In a lot of 3rd world countries, the more children you have the more help you can get for jobs/farming/money making opportunities. And also the increasing numbers of your particular religious group. The more of us, the better! It's strange that we (as in the "industrialized world") no longer live in a climate of needing to have several children to help with the farming, or what not. So there is no real need for having 5+ kids in a family. As for religious beliefs, I can't personally speak of it being an issue. It might not be a big issue here, for all I know. But there is a faction of our culture that does (maybe subconsciously) want to increase their #'s for fear of losing their place in the dominant culture. For some, there is a religious call for children (be it an actual "call" for it, or believing that birth control of any sort is bad). But there has to be a point where the # of the children you have escapes the gravitational pull of religious influence, and enters into the nebulous of insanity or psychological damage happening. Fuck, 19 kids? Here's an idea, want to have a ton of children? Well, how about you adopt kids? I don't think this is done for passing on their particular genes, and you can pass on your beliefs to kids that aren't your "blood" children. When you have enough children to field 2 baseball teams (or almost 4 basketball teams), you haven't crossed the line, you lapped it.
Have you ever been around a large population of illegal immigrants? If you had you would know that your statement is like telling water to be wet or the sky to be blue. As for others in this thread wanting to make this illegal. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH What is the limit? 1? 2? 3? 4? 5? 6? 7? 8? 9? 40? Who the fuck are you to decide how many fucking kids someone has? If you think someone having 19 kids is too many, kill 18 of your family members or shut the fuck up.
I never thought about it like that..... the more kids you have, the better the chances that you have a star athlete and get millions of dollars! Thanks Julius!!!
Find out where Karl Malone is hanging these days and adopt all the black kids in the orphanage. You have to think you could luck into one or two panning out. See Shawn Kemp's location for an alternate area to look.
It is a religious cult that women must, not should, must, have as many children as they are biologically capable of. The boys are expected to join the military to train as soldiers of Christ. The girls are expected to marry in their teens and have as many children as biologically possible. They teach absolute submission of women. They also home school so that their children are not exposed to any other viewpoint. They don't teach science because science is godless. So I saw a great graphic of this woman and her then 18 children, what would have become of them in, say, the 17th century before there was all this godless science. She would almost certainly have died long before 18 children, either of puerperal fever, because midwives did not know to wash their hands before delivering babies, or would be so riddled with anemia and malnutrition she would not survive a pregnancy after 10 or so. Of the 18 children, looking at the child mortality rates of the pre-godless-science 17th century, the graphic counted how many would have died of measles, how many would have died of scarlet fever, how many would have died of tuberculosis, how many would have died of smallpox, how many would have died of infant diarrhea. Based on the stats of the day, without all this godless science the mother would have been dead before the 10th kid and of 18 children 3, at most 4, would have survived.
You really are quite a violent guy. No one in this entire thread has suggested making it illegal. So go take your Prozac and calm down in a nice, quiet, shady corner.
How is this not a "woman's right to choose" issue? If she chooses to carry through 19 pregnancies, isn't that her choice? For what little I know about the law, even if the husband wanted her to terminate the pregnancy, she wouldn't have to, right? So it's a woman's right to choose if they want to not have babies, but the state's right if she does, because they only pay one property tax?
Again, not really sure why you guys keep hammering on this because it just doesn't exist. You're throwing punches into mid-air. Nowhere did anyone say make it illegal. But after a certain point I think it's fair to tax them a greater amount - they are utilizing more services. Whether that's a dis-incentive or not is up to them. It's already egregiously unfair to non-parents to not get the child tax credit. The government is already involved in social engineering, so how is this different?
Yeah, Erroneous Subterfuge said to make it illegal, and idog said it was an "overpopulation issue". That's what I was responding to. Then the discussion of "it's not moral for the woman to choose her family size", but it's evidently legal for her to choose it if she wants it to be zero. That's the "right to choose" aspect I was pointing out--not air boxing. If you want to tax them more, that's fine. I'd probably vote for your proposed legislation to stop tax credits at, say, 8 kids. If they want to have more, good for them. Don't expect financial benefit from it. As you said, "the dis-incentive is up to them". However, if I said that I'd also vote that homosexuals could get married, but not get "married tax credits", would that be right/fair/bigoted? I mean, the "dis-incentive or not" issue is up to them? As for people utilizing services they're not paying for: how many programs do we have in our country that are used by people who don't pay taxes? How many renters send their kids to school on my property tax? I don't have kids!
Violent? I am just tired of hypocrites wanting to tell other people how to fix these supposed problems, when they don't do anything to fix it themselves. You can keep your sarcastic comments about drugs and shady corners and use them as a suppository.
I feel bad for you that you can't understand why people believe in such things. I think they are out of their minds but I don't feel it needed to judge them like you do. If you don't like the way they are raised, what do you want to do? Outlaw it? Do you really want to open that door? If we are going to start outlawing things that people have a right to do, watch out. By the way, those children and women who would have died might be in heaven laughing at you and me right now. I doubt it but please prove them wrong.
Yeah, I stand by the comment. At some point it needs to be made illegal. It's out of control. People can live how they want, but there are rules about everything else and this should be no different. To have that many children is completely selfish and short-sighted IMHO. They clearly don't care about the future or the consequences of their actions, and since people like this exist we need to make laws or it'll keep happening. It's like everything else, it's fine in moderation, but in excess it causes problems. These people don't care about future generations becaue they won't be around to reep what they sow. I guess I'm just not as selfish as some people.
LOL. Yeah, you're a saint. P.S. Have you made yourself infertile yet? If not, you're just a hypocrite.
As soon as I tell everyone else to be infertile, then I'll be a hypocrite. The difference between thinking everyone should be infertile, and thinking that having 19 kids is criminal is rather substantial. But I'm not surprised you fail to grasp that. [video=youtube;r8FQsg12hoY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8FQsg12hoY[/video] I'm sure there were people like you 100 years ago in China and Japan who thought the same way. What about the current generations right to happiness? Or do they not matter? It's amazing how some refuse to learn from the past. Who's the more fool, the fool or the fool who follows it? A great man once said that.
