The disfuntional element in the United States seems to be getting worse and worse and bigger and bigger. This is happening in other countries too. Consience does not seem to be as in style as it was when I was a child. Things are more dangerous, people on average are more violent, criminals are not as despised, and sociopathic behavior is even celebrated on a ridiculous scale. I am totally convinced that this results from the trend of bringing kids into the world and giving them insufficient parental supervision. It is a fact that, generally, kids turn out better if they are raised by both of their parents. There are definitely exceptions, but most kids who aren't raised by fathers significantly lack conscience. What is really bad is when a disfunctional woman who can't even take care of herself brings several, or even many, kids into the world and the fathers are long gone before the kids are even born. That is a very dependable recipe for a batch of sociopaths. High quality discipline and proper love are necessary for the formation of a conscience. Again, there are exceptions, but something has to be done about this horrific trend. It is a disease in society.

The most common proposals for dealing with this seem to be cutting off government subsidies and imposing forced sterilization. The first one I agree with to some extent, but somebody has to take care of the kids after they are born. The second one I think is out of the question. Nazi Germany style tactics are not an option. However, there is another proposal that might be extremely effective and within ethical boundaries. How about incentives for consentual sterilization?

The very people who would be the worst at raising kids, or the worst about NOT raising their kids, are the same people who would do almost anything for even a small amount of money. This is especially true of hard drug addicts. If you offer a crack addict or a heroin addict with no money $100 to get a vasectomy or a tube tying, they will take it. Even extremely disfunctional people who aren't hooked on any drugs will jump at a chance to make $100 without having to keep a job. So offering financial incentives to people for agreeing to be sterilized will attract most of the very people who need to be sterilized. It would not be forced on anybody, and it would do society a great amount of good.

I remembered this when I read a post in another forum about how the legalization of abortion in the U.S. in 1973 resulted in a drastic reduction in the murder rate in New York in the mid-90's. Imagine what this plan could do. It could be operated and funded by the government, but it could also be operated and funded by private organizations. Tons of people would be glad to donate to that cause.

What do you think?