When I was a teenager, there were all kinds of books and articles about Zero Population Growth because we were concerned that the earth would become overpopulated. Everyone was talking about 11:59 being the time when we would have half the population the earth could support and "one minute later" we would be in crisis. China instituted i…
When I was a teenager, there were all kinds of books and articles about Zero Population Growth because we were concerned that the earth would become overpopulated. Everyone was talking about 11:59 being the time when we would have half the population the earth could support and "one minute later" we would be in crisis. China instituted its one child policy and it was very punitive and cruel. Putting control for reproduction in the hands of the government rather than the hands of the individual is never a good idea. Notice what the Nazis did regarding their Lebensborn program. Horrifying. Or look at the societal pressure in India to kill girl babies because they are "expensive" and won't "contribute" to the family wealth. The case Ruth Bader Ginsburg wanted to use for reproductive rights was actually a case where the Air Force required a pregnant military member to abort or leave the service. That case was settled and became moot because the Air Force changed its rules. The government has also taken upon itself the right to sterilize certain people against their wills. All of these practices are against human rights and all of them involve reproductive freedom. Governments have no business deciding our reproduction.
Absolutely agreed. But I also think it's okay to think about making our societies more woman and child friendly as a matter of public policy. Not to be coercive - which it often is when it comes from conservative nationalist types - but I am sympathetic to the argument that people want more children than they're having, but they don't because it's so fucking hard for most people. And because men aren't doing their part.
Actually many Gen Z young ppl are deliberately choosing NOT to bring any children at all onto our dying planet or into this messed up society we currently live in. Govts talk about slowing or reversing climate change but very few are doing enough, if anything, about it
Yes. Although Gen Z are 25 & under now, so it's early. But probably, and millennials definitely. One thing that's troubling, and which I don't have a good answer for, is that wouldn't it be the most misogynistic societies in which women have the most children, because they have the least ability to do anything to make it otherwise? And it would seem to perpetuate the problem if the most misogynistic societies are the ones with the highest population growth. But to your point, the planet is going to have something to say about that too.
Agreed, for the most part. I will say that we need a huge societal shift in how we talk about human rights. The concept of who we consider a human is super important. Let's take the Violence Against Women Act. I actually have a problem with this on a couple of levels. First, there are far more men who are murdered every year than women. That kind of violence needs to be addressed because men are worth saving just as much as women are. Second, when you target a group for special attention, like women, the suggestion is that they are somehow different and that the government needs to step in because of that difference. I would much prefer that we have an Anti-Violence Against People Act and actually research why so many people are turning to violence. In my idealism, I'm hoping that someday, we will notice differences but not ascribe any particular meaning to them. I was in a discussion with someone who was calling Hillary Clinton a flawed candidate. I asked him how she was any more flawed than any other candidate, given that she won the popular vote despite being sabotaged by Comey and had Russia working against her. He said that she lost to a Black man. I called that a racist comment. I should have expanded on that by saying she also lost to a left-handed man, but somehow no one ever mentions that. It's because being left-handed doesn't get you burned at the stake anymore. People notice but it doesn't mean anything. Someday, Zach. Someday, we will notice our differences but it won't mean anything. They're just differences.
Yes, agreed. Personally I do think sex is tricky, because I think at least some differences are caused by hormones and such. For example, as a man I think managing the effects of one's testosterone is probably the most important thing to learn. I don't think the fact that the vast majority of violence is committed by men can be completely explained by cultural factors. (Although I guess I could be wrong!) And there's talk about 'male brain' and stuff like that. So my own belief is that men and women are different, but I'm also very aware that has been used as an excuse for millennia to treat women badly. Also, I get peeved when efforts to bring about gender equality seem to invariably be telling women to act more like men, rather than the other way around. I think that's a really big problem, and it demonstrates how hard it is to challenge male dominance. But I also admit that my views on gender are too binary and there's a lot to learn. I think increased visibility of transgender people, especially among the younger generations, will teach valuable lessons to all of us about this thing we call gender. I hope that doesn't sound condescending to trans people because I don't mean it to.
When I was a teenager, there were all kinds of books and articles about Zero Population Growth because we were concerned that the earth would become overpopulated. Everyone was talking about 11:59 being the time when we would have half the population the earth could support and "one minute later" we would be in crisis. China instituted its one child policy and it was very punitive and cruel. Putting control for reproduction in the hands of the government rather than the hands of the individual is never a good idea. Notice what the Nazis did regarding their Lebensborn program. Horrifying. Or look at the societal pressure in India to kill girl babies because they are "expensive" and won't "contribute" to the family wealth. The case Ruth Bader Ginsburg wanted to use for reproductive rights was actually a case where the Air Force required a pregnant military member to abort or leave the service. That case was settled and became moot because the Air Force changed its rules. The government has also taken upon itself the right to sterilize certain people against their wills. All of these practices are against human rights and all of them involve reproductive freedom. Governments have no business deciding our reproduction.
Absolutely agreed. But I also think it's okay to think about making our societies more woman and child friendly as a matter of public policy. Not to be coercive - which it often is when it comes from conservative nationalist types - but I am sympathetic to the argument that people want more children than they're having, but they don't because it's so fucking hard for most people. And because men aren't doing their part.
Actually many Gen Z young ppl are deliberately choosing NOT to bring any children at all onto our dying planet or into this messed up society we currently live in. Govts talk about slowing or reversing climate change but very few are doing enough, if anything, about it
Yes. Although Gen Z are 25 & under now, so it's early. But probably, and millennials definitely. One thing that's troubling, and which I don't have a good answer for, is that wouldn't it be the most misogynistic societies in which women have the most children, because they have the least ability to do anything to make it otherwise? And it would seem to perpetuate the problem if the most misogynistic societies are the ones with the highest population growth. But to your point, the planet is going to have something to say about that too.
Agreed, for the most part. I will say that we need a huge societal shift in how we talk about human rights. The concept of who we consider a human is super important. Let's take the Violence Against Women Act. I actually have a problem with this on a couple of levels. First, there are far more men who are murdered every year than women. That kind of violence needs to be addressed because men are worth saving just as much as women are. Second, when you target a group for special attention, like women, the suggestion is that they are somehow different and that the government needs to step in because of that difference. I would much prefer that we have an Anti-Violence Against People Act and actually research why so many people are turning to violence. In my idealism, I'm hoping that someday, we will notice differences but not ascribe any particular meaning to them. I was in a discussion with someone who was calling Hillary Clinton a flawed candidate. I asked him how she was any more flawed than any other candidate, given that she won the popular vote despite being sabotaged by Comey and had Russia working against her. He said that she lost to a Black man. I called that a racist comment. I should have expanded on that by saying she also lost to a left-handed man, but somehow no one ever mentions that. It's because being left-handed doesn't get you burned at the stake anymore. People notice but it doesn't mean anything. Someday, Zach. Someday, we will notice our differences but it won't mean anything. They're just differences.
Yes, agreed. Personally I do think sex is tricky, because I think at least some differences are caused by hormones and such. For example, as a man I think managing the effects of one's testosterone is probably the most important thing to learn. I don't think the fact that the vast majority of violence is committed by men can be completely explained by cultural factors. (Although I guess I could be wrong!) And there's talk about 'male brain' and stuff like that. So my own belief is that men and women are different, but I'm also very aware that has been used as an excuse for millennia to treat women badly. Also, I get peeved when efforts to bring about gender equality seem to invariably be telling women to act more like men, rather than the other way around. I think that's a really big problem, and it demonstrates how hard it is to challenge male dominance. But I also admit that my views on gender are too binary and there's a lot to learn. I think increased visibility of transgender people, especially among the younger generations, will teach valuable lessons to all of us about this thing we call gender. I hope that doesn't sound condescending to trans people because I don't mean it to.