Should the State have the power to license child births?
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Hi Guys,
This has been something at the back of my mind for many years! Should the State have the power to license child births? In other words, if the prospective parents did not meet reasonable levels of competence they don't get a license!
I may not have a dog, TV, car, travel, etc etc without some form of State license. However its possible for us to produce as many offspring we wish without anyone or thing to answer to!
Take a driving license as a case in point. If you don't pass your driving test, you don't get a license and are not allowed to drive on the public road. In theory this would suggest that there are no idiots driving around our public roads, a good thing.
Would it not make some sense in this over populated world to have some form of State licensing system for producing children? I am inclined to think there is but am open to have my mind changed with logical argument
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You need a license for a dog and radio/tv ?
I guess they are just hidden taxes disguised as licenses as you need to pay for them.
So what criteria would you set for qualifying for a child license? and how much would you charge? where will the money be used and who and how will it be enforced?
Forgetting for a moment the political correctness elephant in the room for a second.
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to tack on another question to Pete's list
What happens if someone gets pregnant without a license?
-Brodie
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No.
The state can create fees and/or a convoluted licensing mechanism that would ensure that only those with the means could have children. This could lead to Orwellian problems. If "unlicensed" children were born, they would be born to those that were likely poor and had minimal education. Fines and penalties would keep them poor and uneducated and prevent upward mobility. What next, they can't vote? Social mobility prohibited or severely restricted? Denied rights held by licensed children? It would create an entire second class.
It is unfortunate that just anyone can make a child, there are certainly untold numbers of unfit parents out there - or at least unfit parenting.
To touch on a tangent; I'm of the opinion that population control is a necessity for the future viability of life on this planet. I can't see any good solution to it that wouldn't create hardship in some way; but we just can't keep growing, consuming and polluting this planet until there's disease and war to fight over what's left.
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Here we go again.
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The idea of licensing births seems like a practical response to Malthusian Eugenics. How do you set standards for who would receive a license? We have a difficult enough time with things like evaluating teachers... how do you evaluate the worth or practical ability of someone to bear children?
At the risk of being overly sensational this has been tried before.
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Why don't we start with dog births? Stricter license and control for anyone wishing to have an unspayed pet. It's just senseless and cruel the way we produce unwanted domestic animals.
(I like puppies until they are eating my slippers.)
Then when everyone sees how nice that is...
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Not "no" but "hell no".
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NO.
The state is [or should be] the servant of the people NOT the master of the people... -
@tig said:
NO.
The state is [or should be] the servant of the people NOT the master of the people...Exactly. Who (or W.H.O) would you entrust with that decision?
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You can look at China's policies for the "what happens if..?" questions. Isn't the opposite true in western countries? You get tax breaks and such if you have kids.
Population control: Childbirth goes down when girls and women receive higher education opportunities and empowerment. You can educate the men of course, but it probably doesn't help.
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Un autre pavé dans la mare.
'Waiting for Cornel. -
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The State should build roads and catch crooks and leave the rest to the people.
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@mwm5053 said:
The State should build roads and catch crooks and leave the rest to the people.
You forgot build armies and invade countries for their oil.
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most definitely we couldn't do with out that
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"Should the State have the power to license child births?"
No.
[flash=600,400:1653kuhc]http://www.youtube.com/v/G8kCOsfM15c?version=3&[/flash:1653kuhc]
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Hold on! Most seem to be missing the point that the State (= Government) IS the people. So, the question could be phrased as 'Should the People have the power to license child births?
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@mike lucey said:
Hold on! Most seem to be missing the point that the State (= Government) IS the people. So, the question could be phrased as 'Should the People have the power to license child births?
I'd like to live in that country. Which one is it?
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