|
Post by Elfie on Jul 27, 2005 13:48:04 GMT -5
Quoting Rt002: "I mean I know it's tradition to have the first born be male, and i support most traditions, but when you are allowed only one kid, c'monm, you can't have a continues race with only males being born."
It's not a tradition: it's an effect of China's one child policy. In order to curb the massive overpopulation occuring in China, the Chinese government dictated that each family could only have one child, two if they were in a rural community. Boys were generally considered to be worth more because they're naturally stronger and better suited for manual labour, so many Chinese people needed to have a boy to make ends meet. When they received a girl, they would simply kill her so they could have another child.
The Chinese policy is lousy anyway. The theory of population works the exact same way as the market. That is, when the marginal cost of something is greater than its average price, you don't produce it. As a result, had the Chinese left the system as it were, the average Chinese person would stop having kids when they couldn't afford to, for the most part. There would be some minor bumps from accidental pregnancy, but the Chinese government's policy should have been to educate the public about the cost of having a child to provide the incentive for them not to have children rather than issuing an edict that people would try to work around anyway. It's always better for people to be taught why not to do something than to be told not do something. Had China simply focused on the education aspect, we would see the population of China naturally restrict itself much more effectively than the one-child policy could have and we wouldn't have horror stories about little Chinese baby girls being killed.
|
|
|
Post by DarkAngel on Aug 31, 2005 23:16:41 GMT -5
I think this policy is one of the strangest things going on in the world today. The fact that the government is basically banning having more than one child is appalling. If such a thing would be instated in a country such as Canada or the US, the human rights group would be all over it. Obviously, human rights groups aren't much of a problem in China.
That being said, I can see where the government is coming from with this. It's obvious that in China there is a huge problem with the massive population living there. The government needed something to try and stem the problem, and I guess this is the only thing that they could think of.
As for what Elfie said about families stopping having children, I actually disagree with this. Take Africa for example. Over 30,000 children die in Africa every day due to hunger, diseases, and horrible living conditions. You'd think that the parents would smarten up and realize that they cannot support a child, but this isn't the case.
In conclusion, I honestly cannot see a solution to China's population crisis. In my opinion, the policy they currently have is flawed and stupid, yet removing it would also not solve anything.
|
|
|
Post by Elfie on Aug 31, 2005 23:22:27 GMT -5
*drifts in* As for what Elfie said about families stopping having children, I actually disagree with this. Take Africa for example. Over 30,000 children die in Africa every day due to hunger, diseases, and horrible living conditions. You'd think that the parents would smarten up and realize that they cannoy support a child, but this isn't the case. In conclusion, I honestly cannot see a solution to China's population crisis. In my opinion, the policy they currently have is flawed and stupid, yet removing it would also not solve anything. I can see a solution. It's education. You're right that people in Africa don't seem to be catching on, but this for a number of reasons, none of which are true. One is that kids bring in more revenue than they cost the family in expenditures, which is true at the start, but drops off over time, like the law of dimininshing returns. The other reason is that religious groups in Africa, particularly the Catholic church, are rallying against birth control, which is the last thing any institution should be doing, both from the point of view of overpopulation and AIDS. We need to get people out there teaching the African community about the choices involved in becoming a parent so they can make an informed decision, something we have so far proved incapable of doing. We must hope that as Africa becomes more advanced (it is happening, just ask the cell phone marketers taking the region by storm), these basic pillars of Western society will work their way into African culture as well. *drifts back out*
|
|
|
Post by DarkAngel on Aug 31, 2005 23:30:57 GMT -5
Good response Elfie, but just for the sake of argument...
I agree education is the best possible solution, but would the Chinese listen? It really isn't the middle/upper income families that are having lots of children and are the problem, it's the families that are living out in small villages etc. Now, would these people really listen to education, and be willing to change their culture that they have had for thousands of years? The Chinese take tradition very seriously, so I'm not willing to say that they would listen when some government official came and started lecturing them about using birth control.
|
|
|
Post by Elfie on Aug 31, 2005 23:35:11 GMT -5
*drifts in* Good response Elfie, but just for the sake of argument... I agree education is the best possible solution, but would the Chinese listen? It really isn't the middle/upper income families that are having lots of children and are the problem, it's the families that are living out in small villages etc. Now, would these people really listen to education, and be willing to change their culture that they have had for thousands of years? The Chinese take tradition very seriously, so I'm not willing to say that they would listen when some government official came and started lecturing them about using birth control. I'd say it would work better than just having the government tell them what to do. Must protect debate threads... *drifts back out again*
|
|
|
Post by DarkAngel on Sept 5, 2005 14:36:12 GMT -5
Elfie, I wanna hear your strategy on how to solve the Chinese population problem. Don't just say educate them, be specific.
|
|
|
Post by Elfie on Sept 5, 2005 17:58:30 GMT -5
*drifts in*
Let them do what they want, but don't shield them from the costs. Stop subsidizing food, gas and other essentials that cost the government money anyway and put that money into education, other social programs like health care, or just give it back in tax breaks. That way people will realize exactly how much it costs to drive a kid to soccer practice or even feed an extra mouth. Do not suddenly impose the new system, as the shock would drive many families just making it by into poverty. Rather, phase out the old subsidies so that people gradually need to stop having kids so they can continue to live their current lifestyle. As the number of people increases under the proposed system, so does the general cost of living. That forces people to either move out of the country or stop having kids. Basically, make sure people feel the effects of their own decisions. Furthermore, make sure that birth control is readily available to people, and that abortions are safe and legal while still encouraging people to use them sparingly. Make it expensive to have a kid and people will naturally restrict themselves to one or zero kids. At the most we'll see two or three in rural areas where the labour actually provides a net gain to the family. That way people limit themselves naturally and don't have to kill baby girls so they can try again for a boy.
As these policies begin to take effect, the number of people being born will drop off. Eventually, China's population will actually start to shrink (the older, more abundant generation grows old and dies and is replaced by fewer youth) until it reaches a level where the cost of living is such that more people start having kids again and the population balances out at a sustainable point. If the population starts to grow, so will the costs of living, forcing less people to be able to have kids and causing the population to drop again. If the population gets too low, the cost of living will go down, and people will have extra money to spend on having a child and the associated costs. Thus, the population will naturally control itself instead of requiring the government to apply a policy that results in unnecessary hardship for some families and the deaths of countless infants.
*drifts out*
|
|