Thread: Population Control

Originally Posted by tommo

If you were President/Prime Minister or ruled the world what would be your method of population control?

A few ideas of mine are:
a) Nothing, let us fill every square inch of the Earth until we die slowly of starvation.*
b) Simply cull some of the bad cultures. i.e Christians, Catholics, Muslims, Racists etc.
c) Secretly poison batches of food or drink.
d) Develop a virus which wipes out a mass of people then stops a few days later so we don't all die. Ala Transporter 2
e) Stop people from having as many babies**
f) Destroy places which keep the population growing. i.e Sperm banks, IVF clinics etc.

* This would mean all other animals would die and risking the high possibility of the surviving population having no food either.
** This would keep the population as it is; would not lower it, but is the least violent of all options.

Actually number 3 wouldnt just keep the population as is, because if people are dying then the population is dropping if no babies are being born.

I'd castrate the stupid.

Make potential parents have to pass a certain test to be able to raise a child. Intelligence test.

Originally Posted by Abra

I'd castrate the stupid.

Originally Posted by TimeStopper

Make potential parents have to pass a certain test to be able to raise a child. Intelligence test.

Maybe a less bloody alternative to Abra's idea.

My contribution was mostly a joke. I'll try and take it serious, for the sake of discussion.

Originally Posted by TimeStopper

Make potential parents have to pass a certain test to be able to raise a child. Intelligence test.

How would you enforce this? What if they have a kid anyway? Would you force an abortion?

Under my world order, "stupid" wouldn't necessarily mean unintelligence on any test (if you have a low IQ, but can hold a job, you are fine. If you have an average or below average IQ, are a druggie, and aren't looking for a job, you are stupid. Or clinically depressed.). I'd consider rapists and pedophiles "stupid," along with anyone else who commits sex crime. I'd fix welfare... Somehow... As to discourage the poor from having children for the purpose of getting extra money.

In third world countries, it's all a matter of improving the standard of living (same is true for the rest of the world. Upper class has negative population growth). If I ruled the world, I'd work on improving the places that suck today.

Just wait until 2012

Did I mention the masses of newborn religions with their myriad of ways the worl is going to end in 2012?

Oh, hi Jesterfoot.

Originally Posted by Abra

How would you enforce this? What if they have a kid anyway? Would you force an abortion?

Can't speak for Timestopper but I would, the Chinese do it if they have more than one kid.

Originally Posted by Abra

Under my world order, "stupid" wouldn't necessarily mean unintelligence on any test (if you have a low IQ, but can hold a job, you are fine. If you have an average or below average IQ, are a druggie, and aren't looking for a job, you are stupid. Or clinically depressed.). I'd consider rapists and pedophiles "stupid," along with anyone else who commits sex crime. I'd fix welfare... Somehow... As to discourage the poor from having children for the purpose of getting extra money.

I REALLY don't want to turn this into another drug debate but, at the risk of doing so, what if someone was a 'druggie' but had a job? What if they didn't have a job and were a 'druggie' BECAUSE they had clinical depression? or were called dumb all their lives because of their IQ, or whatever other reason. How would you separate these people? Pretty easy to fake clinical depression.

Originally Posted by Abra

In third world countries, it's all a matter of improving the standard of living (same is true for the rest of the world. Upper class has negative population growth). If I ruled the world, I'd work on improving the places that suck today.

That's true. Plus, which I'm assuming you meant, education about safe sex and whatnot; not having a child when you're already struggling to live yourself.

Originally Posted by Fableflame

Actually number 3 wouldnt just keep the population as is, because if people are dying then the population is dropping if no babies are being born.

Yeah I was going to mention that but I was trying to keep the explanations and etc. short and brief since I didn't want to sound like some sort of genocidal, nazi type or anything.

I'd dress a dog as a cat, and send it into a pack of wolves.


This is of course a metaphor for concentrating funds on space technology and making efforts to begin colonising and terraforming new planets.

Originally Posted by tommo

I REALLY don't want to turn this into another drug debate but, at the risk of doing so, what if someone was a 'druggie' but had a job? What if they didn't have a job and were a 'druggie' BECAUSE they had clinical depression?

I dislike druggies. And the question was "What would you do?" not, "What should be done?".

If they kept a job, and were not abusive, they'd keep their children and sperm/eggs, no matter the drug.

If they have clinical depression... Hmm. I guess if I ruled the world, I'd have to invest to see which cases of depression were genetic. Those people would be rendered infertile. Those that were caused by situation will be put under a review board, perhaps a rehabilitation program.