The fabricated contraceptive debate that has raged in certain quarters of Washington DC, in various places across the US, and within the blogosphere and our hyper-partisan political system, is another diversion from reality. I had hoped saner minds would have emerged by now, but unfortunately we are left with a narrow analysis of HHS guidelines and the various arguments by a plethora of viewpoints that completely miss the big picture.
With over 7 billion humans competing for limited resources on our finite planet, the pointless and endless ideological and theological wars over abortion, contraceptives, family planning and sound sex education are a sad reminder of our species’ delusional short-term mindset and ability to be dominated by irrational religious beliefs. It took humanity tens of thousands of years to reach 1 billion people by around 1800. Only 150 years later by 1950, the world’s population was around 2.5 billion. It only took another 62 years to reach 7 billion. Most population experts (by extrapolating current growth rates) estimate it will only take another 15 years to add another billion people – excluding any possible pandemics, natural disasters and other “black swan” events.
It is tiring to listen incessantly to a minority of sanctimonious hypocrites and ignorant religious control-freaks try to dictate national and global policy. Their tenacity is more remarkable considering many past and recent public opinion polls indicate a large majority of the general public (and among various religion groups in contradiction to their professed leaders) regularly use contraceptives and support the premise that health insurance policies should provide such products without charge. The general public may realize that the use of contraceptives greatly reduces medical costs to individuals and societies over the long run and that population control is a laudable goal.
Over the past 15 years, the level of public debate on all issues has quickly devolved into a free-for-all multi-polar mud-fight in the sewer between idiots spouting old and tired ideas, no ideas, and really bad or stupid ideas – all funded by wealthy individuals who want to increase divisions within society and divert most people so that the appropriate focus of public anger does not turn to them – who are principally to blame for many of our national political, economic, social and religious problems.
Any person or organization that argues that we need more people on this planet and that humans should not take any responsibility towards over-population is completely out of touch with reality. Experience over many decades in other advanced nations (and in various U.S. states) has factually determined that encouraging comprehensive safe sex education, extensive contraceptive availability, understanding our natural human sexual proclivities instead of demonizing them, and encouraging smaller families in all societies, results in many positive outcomes for the vast majority of people of all economic and social classes. It also results in lower family poverty rates; significantly lower rates of abortions and difficult pregnancies; lower overall healthcare costs to society; and enriches the lives of both men and women. Having children within a loving family should be a choice. It should not be a result of chance, mistakes, or the dictates of any persons or organizations outside that family.
There are many religious organizations that advocate particular sexual practices that often disrespect the rights and needs of women in a race to populate the earth with more ostensible members of their religious groups. They always deny this hidden agenda to use a larger membership to dictate public policy over those outside their groups, and to irrationally award themselves the title of “God’s most favorite religious group.” Not everyone who belongs to particular religious organizations share all the tenants, beliefs and goals of their leaders, promoters, zealots and extremists.
So far, these irrational and suicidal views advocating the creation of more babies than other competing groups has resulted in writing U.S. tax policy and what remains of our social public safety net to favor those with more children. Our public policies do not favor those citizens who limit children to their financial, emotional and intellectual abilities and who also realize their procreation choices will affect their communities and the planet at large.
I do not advocate an uncompromising 1-child family policy unless there are severe situations – and even those strict policies should have some reasonable exceptions. I would advocate that those individuals who have already had 1 or more biological children (or any adult not interested in procreating) be offered elective and permanent sterilization treatments – all free of charge plus a lump-sum payment of a specified financial amount as an incentive to help in global population control. The standard U.S. cost to deliver a baby without complications is around $9,000 so that may be the minimum lump sum payment. We should also include an additional flat discounted amount that would cover some of the other social costs associated with children – particularly if they and their parents must rely on public assistance for many years.
I advocate that all types of safe and tested contraceptives (and prophylactics for both men and women – including RU-486 and other morning-after pills) should be provided free of charge to anyone who asks – whether they have health insurance with an employer or not. Instead of arguing about senseless religious dogma and sensibilities with respect to what private or religious organizations should or should not fund, we need to move population control to be a top national and global public priority – and completely apart from the wishes and demands of any religious organizations.
The most important reason behind the significant domestic and global price inflation in basic foods, fuels, and other globally-traded commodities is that the world’s population is growing far faster than our ability to find, produce or replenish those commodities. Some financial speculation in commodity futures by our corrupt casino-style financial system contributes to this dynamic. Moreover extreme weather and climatic changes have for centuries been regional or local factors in food production and they may only get worse in the future.
Additional factors threatening global fresh water and food production are the dumping of too much carbon and other toxic chemicals in our oceans, fresh-water bodies, land, air and ourselves. Overall, the majority of people around the globe want to pursue American-style wasteful and materialistic lifestyles that are not sustainable in the U.S. – yet alone for the entire human race.
A variety of other human activities, if they continue unabated or if we fail to aggressively regulate them on behalf of most people instead of favoring the insatiable greed of a small number of global corporate cartels, will make this planet far less conducive to human life in a matter of a few decades. Whether one recognizes global warming (of which human activities are a significant part) or else one still doubts the overwhelming and objective scientific findings, most people should realize that there are a finite number of people this planet can sustain with its limited water, land, air, mineral, energy, food and ecological resources.
With regards to those who wish to ban or severely limit necessary or elective abortions, then as counter-argument or bargaining chip, I would argue for a comprehensive national system of adoption and child-care should be organized and publicly-funded. It would include free maternity care for women (including all medically-necessary treatments, tests and services are covered) from the discovery of pregnancy through a safe delivery. It would also provide ongoing well-care for both mother and child during the first year of life and paid leave for both parents of at least 6 months.
If our society decides that we want all zygots and fetuses to develop fully and be born healthy, plus have a fair start at a healthy and meaningfully productive life that benefits all of society, then we must pay for that minimally ethical and humanistic outcome. Punishing people for alleged frowned-upon sexual activities as per various vindictive religious traditions is not a viable foundation for any public policy of 21st Century modern secular nation. Additionally our public safety net and tax code should not be based principally on the number of children one has created and claims custody over. It may require some new public policies that go far beyond this limited TMV article.
Human life does not just start at conception and end at birth. Rather it encompasses the next 90 years of every individual’s life on this interdependent planet. For those ideological fanatics who are pre-occupied with the first 9 months of life to the exclusion of advocating comprehensive public policies with respect to the dignity and rights of people for the next 90 years, then that minority of narrow-minded, punitive, callous, short-sighted, arrogant, ignorant, and bloviating advocates should be completely ignored. Sadly they have been unjustifiably awarded huge public megaphones by the corporate media entertainment industry and our hyper-partisan political system to further distract us from far greater issues facing this nation.
It appears that we are passively watching a complete meltdown in America of the rule of law, any social cohesion, planetary environmental sustainability, our overall sanity, plus all long-standing tenants of ethics and morality. This process has been dominated by our selfish and short-sighted political, social, business and religious leaders that have created a corrupt merged political and economic system in the U.S. which has been copied by most nations around the world. This global 25-year experiment has been enabled by too many people who are perpetually distracted, shallow, self-centered, apathetic, disinterested in learning anything more than some new smartphone applications, and easily manipulated by clever liars and criminals. Thus we continue to devolve towards a dystopic, sclerotic, nasty, greedy, and corrupt global crony oligarchic system controlled by and operated solely for the benefit of sociopaths and psychopaths.
Thoughtful citizens should completely ignore this recent hyper-partisan cacophony and similar fabricated diversions (aka “tempests in teapots”) that permeate American life today. Sadly there will be many more of them during this election year. It never amazes me how many people will waste valuable brain cells and time debating such small issues when there are so many more important things to discuss.
This will not be the last time many thoughtful, honest and smart individuals have to expend their time and intellect debunking or discrediting moronic and diversionary flurries of fact-free and irrational rantings by delusional groups of demented zealots, partisan hacks, control-freaks, and shills for our oligarchy. In such future situations the rational majority of us should ask such people “why don’t you shut the f**k up?” A more polite response to them would be a quick “thank you for your useless thoughts. Now let’s move on.”
Submitted on February 15, 2012 by Marc Pascal posting from Phoenix, Arizona. (My direct email address is [email protected])