Human Population Control

I heard this morning that two states, including Missouri, are considering legislation to limit the number of embryos that can be implanted in a woman's uterus in a single implantation, mostly to prevent another "Octomom."

This is a terrible idea. Legislating birth rate is a short step from legislating family size, which China has proven to be an absolutely brain-dead policy that leads to a small working population supporting the needs of a massive retired population. Of course, in China the purpose was population reduction not homeostasis. If the government said each married couple can only have 2 kids, things might go better. Divorce and remarriage, of course, would throw a wrench in the system.

It would be much better if people would realize that this isn't the 80's; we just can't have families with 8 kids anymore. The population of the United States has grown nearly logarithmically since then, and though it's hard to see here in the spacious breadbasket states, our nation is near its supportable limit. Add in the influx of immigrants (legal and illegal), and we quickly have a problem. I'm not above the law, though. I would love to have a lot of kids, I love the daughter I have and I enjoy being a father. My wife (one of four siblings) and I do plan to have another child. But we also acknowledge that Earth has limited resources and though my job might provide enough money to support a family with several kids in it, we all can't do that, can we? Having a lot of kids nowadays, to me, reeks of elitism: "My DNA is superior, I must pass it on as much as possible, to get as many of my progeny on the Earth as possible, regardless of the negative consequences." Or it seems hopelessly antiquated: "My religion refuses to acknowledge global problems, so we won't bend one of our fundamental rules."
Where a hundred years ago, large families were borne out of necessity to overcome infant mortality, now there is no real need in America to have so many children. Fewer and fewer infants and children die. Do we really want our kids to someday be like the Boomers, and stretch Medicare and Social Security at its seams? Or do we want to practice prudent progeny production, and ensure the security and well-being of the next generation?

Obscenely large family size, to me, is a classic example of something that people should be doing on their own, and the government wouldn't have to legislate it.

And don't get me started on how the TLC television channel has romanticized stupid-large families. Seems like I've dealt with this issue before?


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