[Vision2020] RE: Unbridled Breeding at it's finest!

[Joan Opyr]

James writes:

"I would never suggest eugenics as a solution to potential overpopulation."

Eugenics, no; condoms, yes. 

I've never liked the term "breeding" for describing human reproduction. I 
also don't refer to large families as "litters." I have no idea what human 
population the earth can reasonably support; this is an argument that has 
raged for decades. I caught a re-run of "All in the Family" on TVLand not 
long ago, and I was amused to watch Archie and Meathead argue about 
whether or not Meathead and Gloria should reproduce. 

(An aside: it seems to me that early seventies television was much more 
politically edgy and topical that what we watch today. Shows like "All in 
the Family" and "Maude" dealt with the hot-button issues of race and 
women's rights head-on, and the characters were complex. It was hard not 
to sympathize with Archie Bunker, who was supporting the freeloading 
Meathead, and yet Meathead's politics were/are my own politics, and 
Archie, as we all know, was the archetype of the ill-informed bigot. The 
hard-working, all-American, loves-his-family ill-informed bigot. Genius 
television, and as relevant today as it was during the Nixon era. But 
then, I think we might be back in the Nixon era. Witness the return of 
the "Imperial Presidency.")

Large families are not inherently bad, small families are not inherently 
good, and I find nothing morally superior or inferior about choosing to 
remain "child-free" (another offensive term). Reproduction may be a 
biological imperative, but why endow the choice to have or not to have 
children with any particular moral weight? Yes, Air-Doug, I know all about 
God's orders to Adam and Eve to go forth, be fruitful, and multiply. I've 
often wondered how Biblical literalists believe they accomplished this. 
Were the children of Adam and Eve supplied with rib or clay spouses, or 
did they simply not worry about exogamy back then? 

This reminds me that Saundra posted some interesting statistics a few days 
ago about first cousin marriages, birth defects, and the increased odds of 
the latter, not only if you marry a cousin, but also if you marry within 
your small hometown. A good reason to send our kids out of Moscow from 
time to time? 
 
Joan Opyr/Auntie Establishment
www.joanopyr.com

PS: Get posting, you people. I'm supposed to be working on the sequel to 
Idaho Code, a book called From Hell to Breakfast, but it's much more fun 
chatting with all of you. Legitimate work avoidance. Come on -- help me 
out here!


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