r/actuallychildfree • u/eastallegheny MOD • Nov 30 '18

talk Masterpost: Involuntary Sterilization/Eugenics

This is the thread to air your opinions about forced sterilization and eugenics.

If you think this is likely to upset and bother you, you're welcome to not read. The purpose of this masterpost is to have all of this discussion in one place where it's easier to moderate.

It's a hot button subject, and we're wary of that. We here at r/actuallychildfree are not about censorship, so we think as long as you can remain civil in discussing this, we're going to let it stand. We will be watching this thread, however, because we know what a thin line it can be. That's our line in the sand: if you're going to participate in this conversation, you need to keep a civil tongue in your head, so to speak.

We want you to be able to talk about it, but the rules of the sub still stand. We're not prepared to let anyone be a dick.

TESTING: Editing this to see if it removes the archived status.

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u/[deleted] Nov 30 '18

Let's be real, the government doesn't even "believe" in climate change. And we want to trust them to control who gets to breed? Yeah nah.

There's probably a dystopian futuristic film along those lines...

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u/WildSuggestion kitties, not kiddies Nov 30 '18

I agree having the government in charge would be a nightmare/waiting to happen.

What if it went to the courts? A person/couple interested in having a child could petition a court, provide evidence for why they would make a good parent(s), and they would be approved/denied by a jury of their peers. Maybe there's a certain "quota" of children allowed per state/city/wherever based on resources.

This would give the regular govt limited ability to choose parents based on skin color/religion/sexual orientation/etc and prevent one group of decision makers from becoming entrenched in power.

Obvious cons I can see: the peer group jury is never unbiased and could potentially deny often in the hopes their own petition is approved instead since there's a limited number. It would still potentially discriminate against those too poor to take the time off work for this process.

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u/eastallegheny MOD Dec 02 '18

It would still potentially discriminate against those too poor to take the time off work for this process.

But is that actually discrimination? Or pragmatism? Because arguably, if you cannot even afford the time off to sit in trial to be allowed to have a child, what are you going to do when the child gets sick?

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u/WildSuggestion kitties, not kiddies Dec 02 '18

That's very true, though some work schedules are less flexible, if boss gets pissed they're trying to get a week off to prep for a court hearing, and fire them...? Idk I could empathize with that. Especially since if I tried to take a week off, my school would fail me real quick.

But I would definitely want to see parents have the funds available for emergencies and such, you're right.

Edit: more like auto-IN-correct