entry 1233 birthrates

I HATE when "maintaining current birth rates" is presented as an unquestioned good. In my view it's exactly the opposite. The world's population in 1900 was less than 1 billion. In 2000 it was more than 6 billion. I think anyone who parrots need to "maintain current birth rates" should be forced to sit down and chat with a climate scientist...

The article said: "...if you want to maintain birthrates, the clear answer is to support parents with better parental leave polices, childcare and flexible work arrangements."

That's not going to help to control birthrates - if people pamper and coo over parents more than they do now, it's just going to encourage these breeders to spawn even more because they'll be craving the attention, as well as the perks. I say parents should have their lives made as hard and hellish as humanly possible to try and discourage others from having kids. We need to stop rewarding parenthood and start using it as a harsh punishment if we want to get the population under control.

I couldn't agree more. All we can hope for is the day when couples will have just ONE child and do a really good job raising that child.

Amen, KidFreeLuvnLife.

Damn right. What's so great about maintaining birthrates? A drop in birth rates would do this planet a world of good.

6 billion people and about 1/3rd are starving. yes we really need more people..

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I just post the stories, for interest.. for everyone

Lord, what fools these mortals be!
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act III, Scene ii

Voltaire said: "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."

H.L.Mencken wrote:"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. Albert Einstein

They should tax breeders more for each brat they have. That would get the birthrate down!

Catmeow, that sounds like a genuinely feasable answer. If we got someone in office to sneak that in with some legalese...

Or, give tax incentives to people with no kids or one kid. That would probably be easier. At the same time, loosen up immigration to keep the nation's population growing while not adding new people to the world's population.

Lady Cooper, immigration is fine just as long it is done legally. We have plenty of people here in the USA already, so larger numbers are not needed. If amnesty is granted to the illegals here now (estimated at 12-20 million), their big, extended families will follow. The present population of 300 million could easily become 350 million in a very short time.

There should be a disincentive to breed big no matter where anyone comes from or lives. Taxing breeders more per kid or giving breaks to those with no kids or one kid would definitely reduce the number of people in the world.

See, catmeow, I'm talking about Canada, the illegal immigration problem is minimal because immigration into Canada is easier, encouraged, and fairer (and it's harder to illegaly immigrate to here physically). We're more accepting of immigrants in Canada. Our population is relatively low, although prosperous places like Alberta, B.C., and Toronto have high birth rates.

Giving a tax break to Canadians with no kids or one kid is feasable, you'd just have to find a way to justify it to the public, maybe make it equal to the amount that large families get off their taxes. Then followed by fixing our immigration standards so that doctors and accountants aren't driving taxis, and then encourage more professionals from other countries to come to Canada (we're already doing that with Indian doctors).

Yes, Lady Cooper, Canada could use the additional people more than the USA can.

I have no problem with the immigrants in my small workplace, who went through the legal process to come here. I live in the Boston area and it's great to have people from other parts of the world (and other parts of the USA) come here; what I don't like are those who break the law and demand preferential treatment.

I would love to be able to sell the idea of penalizing those who breed big, but I'm afraid I can't. If someone in this country suggested it, the religious crazies and assholes like Elizabeth Bauchner would be in an uproar.

oooh catmeow, your in boston, i am flying through there on the 25th of april and back on the 23rd of may. or they go on about banning abortion, and say euthanasia/eugenics when you put the words should a person have a kid if they are psychologically unable to cope. or physically unable to cope

the operative words are immigrants who went through the legal process. lots dont.

apparently the UK has used up all this years resources,
more kids means more resources used, and more resources used means less for the kids of the next gen.

we the cf use less resources,

http://tinyurl.com/erbeq


New research reveals that on Sunday 16 April the UK in effect stops relying on its own natural resources to support itself and starts to ‘live off’ the rest of the world. At current UK levels of consumption our ‘ecological debt day’ – the day we begin living beyond our environmental means – falls only a third of the way through the year and has crept ever earlier over the last four decades.

These are the findings of a new report from nef (the new economics foundation) which exposes for the first time a sharp rise in how the UK depends on the rest of world, and how the burden of the Britain’s high-consuming lifestyle is exported internationally.

If the whole world had wanted to share UKlifestyles in 1961, the Earth would just have managed with its available resources – one planet would have been enough,” says Andrew Simms, lead author of the report and nef policy director, “Today, if the whole world wanted lifestyles like those enjoyed in the UK, we would need 3.1 planets.”

and what is it like in america.


*********************************************************************************************************************************
I just post the stories, for interest.. for everyone

Lord, what fools these mortals be!
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act III, Scene ii

Voltaire said: "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."

H.L.Mencken wrote:"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. Albert Einstein