Sterilize Irresponsible Parents?

[DingoTango]

This could evolve into a totally different thread on economics. What you have just described is what happend when the welfare state interfered to the degree it has with the Capitalist economy.

I don't think it's just a question of Capitalism, I think human social systems are hierarchical because that's how we evolved as social creatures. Hierarchy works well for the group as a whole, even though it makes some individuals much better off than others. This is true of most social species (maybe ALL of them?)

A world with no poor? Haven't we already seen that tried and failed? What happend was that everybody was indeed made equal...equally poor, with the exception of the party elite who controlled production of goods and services.

Communism has been a farce because it fails to understand that complex systems cannot be governed from the top down. Not to mention the slaughter of tens of millions in the name of "the people" (WTF???) I have no beef with your arguments here.

BUT, I do believe that sterilizing the poor would simply push others into poverty because the system naturally is hierarchical and everyone can't be a winner. Human societies are like pyramids, a lot more people at the bottom holding up progressively fewer as you go up to higher levels.

I do believe in sterilizing parents who are grossly negligent, violent, etc., but only after they've been through a legal process certifying them as incapable of functioning well after a reasonable amount of intervention. I do not believe in punishing people who are suffering from forces outside their control.

And of course rapists, including frat boys who bang unconscious sorority girls, should be castrated. If you're gonna be consistent, you should agree on that one. Rape is a function of excessive need to dominate and exercise coercive power through violence, so we don't need those genes being passed on to new generations.

 

[BadAttitude]

...but only after they've been through a legal process certifying them

and that is the root cause of this topics issues...IMO

 

[dzalphakilo]

Sterilization may be an option in the future, however it that becomes the case, I would be afraid of what other measures have become "legal" by the state/goverment to monitor or make sure "correct" behavior is enforced for what ever reason.

You have people that have the option for chemical castration, there is a reason for it, and it has been used.

What I'm leaning towards per this post is a means through the medical community to act on the goverments request, which honestly scares me.

It could be argued that perhaps it's reasonable for all citizens in the future to be "chipped", to have an implant in ones body that gives all of that persons information to a goverment agency, including where that person has been. If you think about it, many reasons could be given as to why the goverment should know where everyone is and what they are doing. People now per the state have to wear electronic devices per court orders so they can be tracked.

Heck, we now have on star or whatever you call it in the vehicles. Personally, would never want one. Yes, I can see the benifits, but for some reason, I just don't like the idea.

Usually, the easier it is for the goverment to control it's people, the less rights the people have. Now, if those citizens give up those rights becuase they feel those rights lost are worth whatever "benifits" that are given by the state, then that perhaps is another topic.

 

[DingoTango]

What I'm leaning towards per this post is a means through the medical community to act on the goverments request, which honestly scares me.

I agree with you. It's a very dangerous door to open, giving government the right to control what we do with our own bodies.

And as we chat, laws are being passed doing just that:
- New York, banning "trans fats"
- More laws controlling what children have access to at school
- More fights about the right of a woman to take a pill to prevent pregnancy

and so on....

In the end, I have to side with the Libertarian view. Giving power to a central authority is dumb. Individual rights create a lot of problems, but at least you have rights. Once you give them up, they're almost impossible to get back without a violent revolution like the one that gave birth to the rights that citizens of the USA enjoy.