Gov't sanctioned population control...

Great Debates
21

I’ve thought about this topic a little before. My thoughts led me to some narrowly applied measures.

Those who are able to provide for their children on their own? No problem, they can have as many as they can support.

Those who have a baby that they are unable to support and must turn to government assistance? The government will give them support provided they take prescribed birth control so as to prevent more government dependents. The first baby is a ‘freebie’, any that you CHOOSE to have after that are your responsibility. The government would provide contraception free of cost. It could use the implants to insure the recipient doesn’t “forget to take it”. Or it could use oral contraceptives if there were a simple way to check the drugs blood levels in recipients. If the person still gets pregnant? Well obviously abstinence would also have to be taught as the only 100% effective method of birth control.

In this way the government would not be forcing population control, and the number of children living in poverty would decrease. People would still have the right to have as many children as they wish, but the government would no longer be forced to support them.

In essence, if you want to accept government assistance for your dependents, you have to accept contraception as well. If this is against your religion, then your religious institution can help support you.

I realize that this proposal has some shortcomings, but it could be a start for ideas. Please keep your suggestions civil.

22

Hemlock, I would clarify a bit. You kind of alluded to this. There is no one policy in China, or there may be one policy but the implementation varies greatly. However, the one child policy is still officially in place

Factually, most if not all of the 69 recognized minorities in China have always been allowed to have as many children as they want, even during the height of the one child policy. The 1980’s was the height of the one child policy.

Now, depending on where you are, one child may or may be not strictly enforced. In the cities, generally speaking, one child policy rule applies. This is more economic than anything else. It is expensive to raise kids in a city, especially if you have to use private services since the second kid does not necessarily have the right to things like state provided health care and education. Checking on monthly menstration may still go on at state owned enterprises, but certainly not in the private sector that employs the vast majority of Chinese.

Some places allow a second kid almost automatically if the first kid is a girl. Some places allow a second kid if you hide out from the authorities. Some places have massive disincentives for kid number two, and really draconian for kid number three.

The early stories, documented by Stephen Mosher, of forced third trimester abortions seem to no longer be prevalent. The infanticide or abandonment of female babies seems to also be not the large issue that it was. I’m going off of some gut feel. Also was told that by an NGO this week in Nanjing that provides both foster and adoptive care for abandoned babies.

Hard to say exactly how big of a problem the kidnapping of women is in China. I’ve seen documentaries here in China. Jan Wong in Red China Blues has a chapter. Obviously, it does occur, but how “common” I’m not sure. You could also check www.feer.com (far eastern economic review).

I believe but have no cites that the imbalance of men and women in China is improving the lot of women in the countryside. Supply and demand type thing. I’m not aware of any international studies though.

Certainly, I believe that the China government has to do something. There are simply too many people here. I believe that the one child policy is the fairest. That said, peasants believe it is in their economic best interest to have more than one child and man childs. The preference for boys may be changing given the male-female imbalance.

You can compare India and it’s lack of forced birth control with that of China.

23

Is this an error or are you going by a different definition of “recognized?” Everything I’ve heard points to either 56 ethnicities including Han or 56 minorites, I always forget which. Are there more that are tacitly recognized but not officially? I know the classification system isn’t exactly considered perfect.

24

China Guy - I deliberately didn’t take sides on this issue because I find myself in two minds.

Impossible to imagine China not controlling the population. OTOH, it’s disgusting to imagine people needing state permission to have a baby.

The impact of a shortage of women is fascinating. Did a quick Google search and found nothing, but I remember being told at university many years ago that the imbalance of males to females had a big role to play in women getting the vote in 19C frontier societies like the American West and New Zealand. And that’s interesting, given the role of women in traditional-minded parts of China (or India for that matter). The greatest irony - female infanticide liberates women.

25

Dang, you’re correct. I went off of memory instead of double checking. 56 minorities, and maybe more if the Mainland ever does a full classification of the people in Taiwan, who are referred to as “gao xiong ren.”

What I did mean is that the minorities were exempt from the one-child policy, even at it’s height. The Hui perhaps were not included in the exemption, I am not sure. Certainly, I have personal knowledge that the following groups were exempt: Tibetan, Dong, Miao, Zhuang, Bai, Naxi, Qiang, Buyi, Lisu, Yi, Hani, etc.

Practically speaking, China has to limit the population or face mass starvation, even greater barriers to lifting poverty, global environmental degredation, and increased pressure for outward migration. Most individuals are selfish and don’t really care what’s good for society as a whole. Therefore, one method is a government led population control program, which can be pretty harsh. This is also a society where the rights of the individual are subsumed to the rights of society. I truly don’t know what else would work in China other than a strong government crackdown. One hopes that the economic changes will also be a natural counterbalance.