Carey Roberts
Culling out the population, the enlightened liberal way
By Carey Roberts
Progressives exist in a state of constant angst, agonizing over snail darters, incandescent light bulbs, and of course global warming. But the issue that drives liberals to a state of tongue-wagging, eyeball-popping hysteria is population growth — what doomsayer Paul Erlich once termed the "Population Bomb."
And history shows liberals are willing to take almost any measure to keep the population in check — just so long as the program can be cloaked in mesmerizing happy-talk.
Want to stop the beating hearts of 46 million unborn children each year? Then just call it "promoting choice and empowering women" — doesn't that sound wonderful!
Desire to kill off 30 million African children from the ravages of malaria? Then ban DDT in the name of saving the bird shells!
Yearn to see the deadly AIDS epidemic continue to rage out of control? Then push the "safe sex" campaigns that tell teenagers to indulge in carefree sex, just so long as you use a condom.
And when all else fails, try forced sterilization. I've previously described how progressive-inspired racial purification schemes led to the sterilization of 400,000 undesirables in Nazi Germany: www.renewamerica.com/columns/roberts/090827 .
Sterilization is not merely a hush-hush liberal policy of a by-gone era. Sterilization continues to be topic of debate to the present day. And I'm not just talking about repressive societies like Communist China.
(As First Lady, Hillary Clinton decried China's one-child policy as a violation of human rights. But as Secretary of State, Clinton completely swept the issue under the rug during her recent trip to China. But I digress.)
And now there's a whole new chapter to the eugenics saga.
In 1977 Paul and Anne Erlich wrote Ecoscience: Population, Resources, Environment. The book is so replete with Chicken-Little scenarios and mad-scientist nostrums that if I paraphrase, you'll accuse me of making this up. So allow me to recite a few lines as you hum along to the tune of Three Blind Mice.
Paul and Anne Erlich begin by declaring, "Indeed, it has been concluded that compulsory population-control laws, even including laws requiring compulsory abortion, could be sustained under the existing Constitution if the population crisis became sufficiently severe to endanger the society."
That's what's called a living, breathing Constitution.
But compulsory abortion alone will not suffice: "A program of sterilizing women after their second or third child, despite the relatively greater difficulty of the operation than vasectomy, might be easier to implement than trying to sterilize men," they urge.
For reasons unknown, these benevolent people say they prefer to target women.
How to bring this about? "The development of a long-term sterilizing capsule that could be implanted under the skin and removed when pregnancy is desired opens additional possibilities for coercive fertility control."
Ever heard of Norplant?
If that fails, the Erlichs propose a back-up plan: "Adding a sterilant to drinking water or staple foods." To meet stringent FDA standards, the sterilant "must be uniformly effective, despite widely varying doses received by individuals, and despite varying degrees of fertility and sensitivity among individuals; it must be free of dangerous or unpleasant side effects; and it must have no effect on members of the opposite sex, children, old people, pets or livestock."
At least Fido and Fufu will be safe!
Admitting there are "very difficult political, legal and social questions, to say nothing of the technical problems," the Erlichs still express hope their idea will one day bear fruition.
Oh, I forgot to mention one important detail.
Ecoscience was also co-authored by John P. Holdren, recently named as President Obama's chief science advisor. Considered an expert on global climate change, Holdren has a wide-ranging mandate to advise the president how science and technology impact domestic and international affairs.
To this day, Holdren has yet to repudiate any of the frightening proposals outlined in his book. So until the Sterilant-in-Chief departs from the Obama administration, my advice to you is this: Keep a close eye on the drinking-water.
© Carey Roberts
September 15, 2009
Progressives exist in a state of constant angst, agonizing over snail darters, incandescent light bulbs, and of course global warming. But the issue that drives liberals to a state of tongue-wagging, eyeball-popping hysteria is population growth — what doomsayer Paul Erlich once termed the "Population Bomb."
And history shows liberals are willing to take almost any measure to keep the population in check — just so long as the program can be cloaked in mesmerizing happy-talk.
Want to stop the beating hearts of 46 million unborn children each year? Then just call it "promoting choice and empowering women" — doesn't that sound wonderful!
Desire to kill off 30 million African children from the ravages of malaria? Then ban DDT in the name of saving the bird shells!
Yearn to see the deadly AIDS epidemic continue to rage out of control? Then push the "safe sex" campaigns that tell teenagers to indulge in carefree sex, just so long as you use a condom.
And when all else fails, try forced sterilization. I've previously described how progressive-inspired racial purification schemes led to the sterilization of 400,000 undesirables in Nazi Germany: www.renewamerica.com/columns/roberts/090827 .
Sterilization is not merely a hush-hush liberal policy of a by-gone era. Sterilization continues to be topic of debate to the present day. And I'm not just talking about repressive societies like Communist China.
(As First Lady, Hillary Clinton decried China's one-child policy as a violation of human rights. But as Secretary of State, Clinton completely swept the issue under the rug during her recent trip to China. But I digress.)
And now there's a whole new chapter to the eugenics saga.
In 1977 Paul and Anne Erlich wrote Ecoscience: Population, Resources, Environment. The book is so replete with Chicken-Little scenarios and mad-scientist nostrums that if I paraphrase, you'll accuse me of making this up. So allow me to recite a few lines as you hum along to the tune of Three Blind Mice.
Paul and Anne Erlich begin by declaring, "Indeed, it has been concluded that compulsory population-control laws, even including laws requiring compulsory abortion, could be sustained under the existing Constitution if the population crisis became sufficiently severe to endanger the society."
That's what's called a living, breathing Constitution.
But compulsory abortion alone will not suffice: "A program of sterilizing women after their second or third child, despite the relatively greater difficulty of the operation than vasectomy, might be easier to implement than trying to sterilize men," they urge.
For reasons unknown, these benevolent people say they prefer to target women.
How to bring this about? "The development of a long-term sterilizing capsule that could be implanted under the skin and removed when pregnancy is desired opens additional possibilities for coercive fertility control."
Ever heard of Norplant?
If that fails, the Erlichs propose a back-up plan: "Adding a sterilant to drinking water or staple foods." To meet stringent FDA standards, the sterilant "must be uniformly effective, despite widely varying doses received by individuals, and despite varying degrees of fertility and sensitivity among individuals; it must be free of dangerous or unpleasant side effects; and it must have no effect on members of the opposite sex, children, old people, pets or livestock."
At least Fido and Fufu will be safe!
Admitting there are "very difficult political, legal and social questions, to say nothing of the technical problems," the Erlichs still express hope their idea will one day bear fruition.
Oh, I forgot to mention one important detail.
Ecoscience was also co-authored by John P. Holdren, recently named as President Obama's chief science advisor. Considered an expert on global climate change, Holdren has a wide-ranging mandate to advise the president how science and technology impact domestic and international affairs.
To this day, Holdren has yet to repudiate any of the frightening proposals outlined in his book. So until the Sterilant-in-Chief departs from the Obama administration, my advice to you is this: Keep a close eye on the drinking-water.
© Carey Roberts
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