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| Lileks: Snuff your children for Gaia's sake. |
| 2009-02-03 |
| Screedblog Among the many things we get from England, cautionary examples may be their most useful export: COUPLES who have more than two children are being “irresponsible” by creating an unbearable burden on the environment, the government’s green adviser has warned. Of course he has. What’s the line from Scrooge - better they should die, and decrease the surplus population? I’m surprised that’s not an applause line these days. If Scrooge had forbid Crachet from putting on more coal because it would contribute to global warming, he’d be the hero, and Crachet would have got the three spirits. Jonathon Porritt, who chairs the government’s Sustainable Development Commission, says curbing population growth through contraception and abortion must be at the heart of policies to fight global warming. It hasn't taken long, but it’s taken hold: children, to some, are not bundles of joys, but bundles of sticks whose inevitable combustion harms the planet. It doesn’t matter whether reducing the population might deprive the world of another Mozart or a scientist who can cure cancer; the latter would just mean people living longer and going more harm, and it’s an act of pure cultural arrogance and classism to suggest we need another Mozart anyway. (Plus, non-political culture we cannot afford in these desperate times. It’s not that it makes people think the wrong things; it just takes up time that could be spent thinking about the right things.) “I think we will work our way towards a position that says that having more than two children is irresponsible. It is the ghost at the table.” I think there might be other ghosts jostling to be heard. Smaller ones. . . . Go read it all. |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #11 The Pope was right. Culture of Death. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2009-02-03 23:17 |
| #10 Seems to me a self-curing problem, let the assholes kill themselves (And descendants) and be done with their whining. |
| Posted by: Rednek Jim 2009-02-03 14:34 |
| #9 Truly, the left and greens are proving themselves to be The Culture of Death. Abortion. Euthanasia. Now shifting funding away from treating illness to instead preventing or destroying life. |
| Posted by: Lagom 2009-02-03 13:04 |
| #8 Ooooh, JFM, that last was elegantly efficient communication. Yum! |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2009-02-03 12:39 |
| #7 Darth Vader said referring to Mr Porrit Render the fucker carbon neutral. Actually I think the problem is that he isn't one. That is why he is so bitter, hates children and wants to make other people unhappy. |
| Posted by: JFM 2009-02-03 11:17 |
| #6 Sorry, sorry. Meant Jonathon Porritt. Need coffee.... I like Lileks. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2009-02-03 10:38 |
| #5 Let's start with Lileks. Uh, Darth, you might want to read the article again. I do believe the good gentleman is mocking the idea. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2009-02-03 10:20 |
| #4 Let's start with Lileks. Render the fucker carbon neutral. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2009-02-03 10:14 |
| #3 Parabellum, two problems. 1) There are no Gaia-approved, "green" cleaners to take care of the mess. 2) Thanks to the blasted Second Amendment, some of the selectees might shoot back in this quaint notion of "self-defense". |
| Posted by: Cornsilk Blondie 2009-02-03 09:21 |
| #2 COUPLES who have more than two children are being "irresponsible" by creating an unbearable burden on the environment Even if they're Muslim? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2009-02-03 08:57 |
| #1 government must improve family planning, even if it means shifting money from curing illness to increasing contraception and abortion. Kill 'em when they're old by not treating them, kill 'em before they're born actively. Why don't we just gun down people at random then? |
| Posted by: Parabellum 2009-02-03 08:50 |