How would you deal with overpopulation

yay eugenics!

I'm with Louis CK, disperse lions:

http://youtu.be/tp743X1VCl8

Until we have dramatic shifts where stupidity isn't coddled my hope is that governments can encourage and promote contraceptive and family planning.

Children are born unintentionally and unwanted and the system simply doesn't work to help them. Those in power in the States rather use that dilemma to get votes off the perpetual debates on social welfare and abortion. It's an easy solution until we can do more drastic things like leave the planet or have a far more intelligent and far less wasteful and violent society.

Seeing you're all so sincere, I gather that you killed your offspring and/or broke with your gf by now? Just out of a sense of responsibility?

Government subsidized rewards program for voluntary sterilization. "Ayo,10 G's to get your shit snipped the FUCK UP. What's good?"

  On 1/2/2014 at 9:59 PM, goDel said:

Seeing you're all so sincere, I gather that you killed your offspring and/or broke with your gf by now? Just out of a sense of responsibility?

... or just have sex with other men.

state initiated homosexuality, like in the forever war

The future is gay.

We should send the dregs (drug users, sexual deviants, athiests) to the sun to mine plasma for energy.

Make adoption as easy as procreating naturally and procreation as difficult as adoption is now.

Serious answer, a start would be to make sure girls in developing countries can get a proper education.

  On 1/2/2014 at 9:44 PM, Joyrex said:

I reckon in some far-flung future we'll be able to discern intelligence potential and propensity towards disease, and if any sort of population control is enacted, they'll simply abort the fetuses that don't make the grade via genetic testing.

 

As cruel as it sounds on the surface, it makes sense if you think about it - only the genetically superior would be born, and no births with any genetic defects would be allowed - not only would this lessen the burden on society in the form of invalid care, but overall the human race would get genetically stronger and stronger each generation with the passing of only the best genes.

I maybe don't have enough criteria to speak about this. But I will anyway:

Back in my 1st year of high school we studied the very basics of population etiology. The very first thing we were taught was:

No population grows forever. Either it reaches a stable point where the amount of individuals and the amount of resources are equal, or, if it increases past this point it will reach a level where the resources simply aren't enough. The population crashes (reduces in amount quicker than it increased) abysmally.

edit: I think we have been simply postponing this crash with medicines, artificial food technology etc. But the principal stays true: no population grows forever.

  On 1/2/2014 at 10:26 PM, azatoth said:

Make adoption as easy as procreating naturally and procreation as difficult as adoption is now.

 

Serious answer, a start would be to make sure girls in developing countries can get a proper education.

The amount of utter delusion in the American public regarding adoption and abortion is astounding. When Texas passed stricter abortion laws this year some of the elected officials actually said, with complete seriousness, that we needed more babies because so many people wanted to adopt. The reality is this. We rank last or close to last in education and child protective services spending too.

  On 1/2/2014 at 10:26 PM, azatoth said:

Make adoption as easy as procreating naturally and procreation as difficult as adoption is now.

 

Serious answer, a start would be to make sure girls in developing countries can get a proper education.

Yeah, this and the availability of contraception and sex ed.

If you were more insidious, release something that would make everyone infertile and go for artificial population control from there. If such a method would be possible, it's likely it would be possible to create designer babies with genetic manipulation also. But this sort of thing has all kinds of problems and far-reaching implications and ethical questions.

  On 1/2/2014 at 10:43 PM, azatoth said:

If you were more insidious, release something that would make everyone infertile and go for artificial population control from there. If such a method would be possible, it's likely it would be possible to create designer babies with genetic manipulation also. But this sort of thing has all kinds of problems and far-reaching implications and ethical questions.

Doug Stanhope had a really good bit about overpopulation and solving the world's problems. He put forth the idea of incentive based eugenics, with a targeted incentive to white trash (so that we'd have less undereducated white families with 3 or more progeny.

If for some reason not having to raise an offspring for 20ish years is not enough incentive in of itself, why not offer some compensation for making oneself sterile?

The question is... what? Partial ownership of a property in some vacation destination? Tax breaks? Straight money?

what's considered white trash? is that going to be written into a law? seems like we're just not allowing people we have a personal bias toward to have children at that point. i wonder how many watmmers wouldn't have a high enough iq to have kids in that kind of world? i'm guessing quite a few...

  On 1/2/2014 at 11:19 PM, zaphod said:

what's considered white trash? is that going to be written into a law? seems like we're just not allowing people we have a personal bias toward to have children at that point. i wonder how many watmmers wouldn't have a high enough iq to have kids in that kind of world? i'm guessing quite a few...

Yeah that can't be the solution period.

I want to have kids and the idea that I or my potential offspring would have to be approved by any entity, especially a government, is disturbing and fundamentally wrong. It's easy to toy with the idea of eugenics and sterilization, etc in our current reality but it's at best a cynical cop-out.

  On 1/2/2014 at 10:25 PM, DerWaschbar said:

We should send the dregs (drug users, sexual deviants, athiests) to the sun to mine plasma for energy.

But who'd be left to post on watmm?

Really though, education, education, education, plus freely available birth control.

  On 1/2/2014 at 11:23 PM, joshuatx said:

 

  On 1/2/2014 at 11:19 PM, zaphod said:

what's considered white trash? is that going to be written into a law? seems like we're just not allowing people we have a personal bias toward to have children at that point. i wonder how many watmmers wouldn't have a high enough iq to have kids in that kind of world? i'm guessing quite a few...

 

Yeah that can't be the solution period.

 

I want to have kids and the idea that I or my potential offspring would have to be approved by any entity, especially a government, is disturbing and fundamentally wrong. It's easy to toy with the idea of eugenics and sterilization, etc in our current reality but it's at best a cynical cop-out.

 

What if the life society could provide you if you do not procreate would be more fulfilling than one with procreation?

Or why is it "fundamentally wrong" to have a governing body looking out for the interests of all humans? Would some of our starving 3rd world countrymen approve of your need to procreate when they're starving to death? Why do you feel like you (any reader, no one specific) have the right to create another consumer in an already vastly overpopulated world? Why not have some form of quality control for our future humans? Do you perceive that as wrong?

Just curious.

  On 1/2/2014 at 9:44 PM, Joyrex said:

I reckon in some far-flung future we'll be able to discern intelligence potential and propensity towards disease, and if any sort of population control is enacted, they'll simply abort the fetuses that don't make the grade via genetic testing.

 

As cruel as it sounds on the surface, it makes sense if you think about it - only the genetically superior would be born, and no births with any genetic defects would be allowed - not only would this lessen the burden on society in the form of invalid care, but overall the human race would get genetically stronger and stronger each generation with the passing of only the best genes.

you know if they'd started doing that 100 years ago, probably none of your favourite gadgets would exist

NERDS ALL HAVE BAD EYESIGHT!!

Just brainstorming here, but:

Incentivize a steady-state family size (1-2 children) in developed nations. Further incentivize a childless lifestyle, and as azatoth said, make adoption easier.

If a family decides they wish to go over the steady-state family size, tax them at a percentage of their income.

In "underdeveloped nations," increase the focus on women's education; it might incite radical social resistance at first (in nations where women are not typically treated as equals) but it has to happen.

  On 1/3/2014 at 12:04 AM, luke viia said:

If a family decides they wish to go over the steady-state family size, tax them at a percentage of their income.

 

that's rich people "buying" kids

percentage of their income, not flat fee

also didn't get a chance to edit the last post, but it would be interesting if there were a way to enforce a child-cap limit even after taxing per child, as in after 6 kids you are simply barred from having more (the idea would be a financial barrier, but if you're ultra rich, yeah that might not be enough, though paying 20% of your income for having your 5th kid might be enough to stop most wealthy people) and if you break this law, ...something happens... yeah, not sure there's a good way to do it, hah.

10% of say 1 mil per month = one less luxury car

10% of 3000$ per month = less food