Tuesday, May 23

Birth rates and makin' babies...

mommypanties


I know this is last week's news, but I was on vacation, and I want to sound off about John Gibson's plea that we all make more babies. I'm lovin what Bibliosquirrel had to say:

...the phrases "making babies" and "John Gibson" in the same sentence is likely to put women OFF their feed, if ya know what I mean.


[Full disclosure: Blue Gal has done her bit to keep white American babies in the gene pool. "2.1 children per couple" is the demographic replacement rate, and Blue Gal, after her ob-gyn told her having 0.1 babies would cost extra, went ahead and had three. And while there are instances in life where three is one too many, when it comes to my own children I wouldn't change a thing.]

Even Canadian commentators weighed in on this issue. Margaret Wente in the May 13 Globe and Mail has a purely Canadian perspective, but her point is universal (subscription only so I won't link to it):

...rural Canada [is] depopulating. Moose Jaw and Carbonear are destined to be ghost towns, unless we can persuade Chinese and South Asians to settle there, which I doubt. Your caffe-latte-coloured great grandchildren (if you are lucky enough to have any) will be amazed to learn that people once lived there, and that Canada was once overwhelmingly white.


Two thoughts come to mind here: first is the preservation of whiteness, which Gibson swears was not his point (and Blue Gal can't figure out what is point was, then).

We somehow think this debate grew out of the current US immigration debate. It didn't. In 1751 Benjamin Franklin was all freaked out in Philadelphia about German immigrants:

Why should Pennsylvania, founded by the English, become a Colony of Aliens who will shortly be so numerous as to Germanize us instead of our anglicizing them, and will never adopt our Language or Customs anymore than they can acquire our complexion?


Huh? Germans not white enough for you, Ben Franklin, poster boy for the Minutemen?

A little later in US History 101, we'll learn about Teddy Roosevelt, another dead white guy who worried publicly in 1903 that the progeny of dead white guys would not longer rule the world unless white guys persuaded white gals to spit out the babies like poor, southern European, (oh hell, just say it, Catholic) immigrants were. He went so far in one speech as to warn against (white) "race suicide." Yeah.

The important lesson that Gibson's veiled hate speech uncovers, is that peoples who refuse to get along with their neighbors (uh, that would be us vis-a-vis Mexico) either in the short run or the long haul had better make sure they procreate. For instance, Palestinian mommas are churning out babies faster than a Jewish mother can make her daughters feel guilty about it. The battle for Israel is being lost in the time bomb of the maternity ward. This from the Population Resource Center:

Jews currently make up just over half of the population of the region, but due to high birth rates, Arabs will become a clear majority within twenty years. In 2020, the region will be home to about 6.4 million Jews and 8.5 million Arabs.


And Israel will either have to allow the majority full citizenship (no more Jewish state) or be guilty of apartheid with the minority in control of a much larger majority. They're afraid that change is coming in Israel, and they should be.

Speaking of control, it should be noted that in spite of the dearth of white births around the world, the Bush/Blair/Putin/Stephen Harper (Canadian PM, Conservative) administrations seem to be doing an excellent job of making sure the white guys continue to own everything, even to the point of pre-emptive wars over petroleum reserves. So not to worry, white guys, I think you've got it under control. Take a Prozac, take a Viagra, and take it easy.

bush rich white


The second thought is preservation of population levels. Now I know the baby boomers are the center of the goddamn universe, and it's just awful that they're too selfish to grow up and have babies of their own. But my sense is Mother Earth is breathing a huge sigh of relief. There is actually, absolutely, no way that a generation that comparatively huge to the ones before and after can or should "replace" themselves demographically. The boomer generation has left a huge environmental footprint on the planet which will take eons to re-fill. It's perfectly okay with the environment if we have a few less people here. (Blue Gal goes green in a soon to be published environmental post. Watch this space.)

On topic and highly recommended: this op-ed by David Barash in the LA Times.

And not to "should" all over you, but as Gibson so clumsily back-pedalled, the skin color of the babies who are here should not be an issue. Blue Gal is blue, notice, and she is gonna loooove her mocha latte grandchildren. Her daughters are mere toddlers, but the guilt lessons have already begun...

grandchilddog

22 comments:

  1. Well...I couldn't resist creating OWE
    (Operation White Elephant - "Because Ranting is Saner Than Procreating"


    *snark*

    And Like Blue Gal I have done my part to repopulate the White World (times three)...

    But as ANYONE who has Three children (and teenagers to boot) KNOWS - Ranting Really is Saner than actually procreating!

    So GET to it!.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This fear stems from the theory that some cultures, skin colors, and religious philosophies will be unable to keep society functioning properly.

    Sure, a lot of it is due to inherent selfishness and the desire to keep control in the hands of people who want to hoard it for themselves.

    But around here, especially, a bunch of white folk see the dysfunction in black communities and fear that if they are not in control then certainly society will go to hell in a handbasket.

    And the truth? Well. What do you think?

    ReplyDelete
  3. To put it another way...

    I notice an extreme amount of distrust, fear, hatred, and suspicion between whites and blacks. I see the same sort of mutual distaste between blacks and hispanics. Which is growing ever more.

    In Los Angeles, for example, there is increasing violence between blacks and hispanics. And I think that will become even more prevalent as time goes on.

    Now, while such feelings are understandable--are they then justified?

    Being that whites (particularly white males) have set a precedent that states that certain skin colors, religions, and points of view are favored above others--do you think that whomever gets power will rise above this flawed, unfair line of thinking, or will they then perpetuate these same sorts of inequalities?

    I have a pretty dim view of human nature and I think that humans have a tendency to be petty and vindictive. I don't see a spirit of mutual cooperation. Instead I see an eternal game of tit for tat and splitting hairs.

    I don't think humans will act in the best interest of each other unless they absolutely must. And that day may be coming soon. When all people must work together to make sure that this planet is a healthy place to live...without greenhouse gases, global warming, overpopulation, and rampant pollution; when we must help out our sisters and brothers, else we perish in the process...

    then and only then will we make change for the better.

    Obviously, the ball is in the court of whomever is in control right now. And I just don't know if anyone's ever going to rise to the occasion and really fix these base injustices...

    Until we have to. Until we have no choice. And hopefully by then it won't be too late.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sorry about the numerous comments.

    I just keep thinking of other things to say.

    I'm a student of history, obviously, and I understand that humans have always had a sort of hierarchical pecking order in place. I can't see evidence anywhere of a spirit of common purpose and mutual cooperation between people of different cultural standards and points of view.

    There's always been a majority that oppressed a minority while expecting and insisting that a minority should conform to its unique standards, expectations, and viewpoints.

    Assimilation, which is probably not feasible in this society and perhaps in any, is the only solution I see. And then the questions is then...assimilate to whom? Whose philosophy?

    Who's to say that your philosophy holds more weight than mine?

    ReplyDelete
  5. People like Bill Gates, Blair, Dubya, Putin...

    They will assert that since white males have set up this system that they are best able to deal with it. They will assert, further, that the transition of power from whites to some other ethnic group will be awkward, fumbling, and highly unstable because they do not properly understand the system. Thus, they believe that the "growing pains" created by this "passing of the torch" will be such that it will bankrupt society.

    I think about how, in this society, black people were empowered. They were given rights equal to whites. They were granted power. But it seems to me as though they did not understand an unfamiliar system which had been designed by whites.

    So then...where does that leave us? Can a newly-empowered ethnic group skillfully manage to set up a successful government without (perhaps unintentionally) falling prey to the same biases, prejudices, and failings?

    Would racism, sexism, classism exist just as potently if blacks or hispanics were in charge...being that they have used white society with all of its flaws as the template?

    ReplyDelete
  6. I want to sound off about John Gibson's plea that we all make more babies.
    Ahem...
    Whatchoo mean "we"?

    I doubt very much Gibson was pleading for more of my people to breed. Besides, your use of the pronoun seems to imply that only Whitey reads your blog, BG. Tut tut.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Actually, Gibson's quote does read as if he wants "us" to make more babies. I think you're making a great point, qwerty, one I did kind of overlook, but the assumption of whiteness actually renders back to Gibson's viewers, not Blue Gal's readers, who, of course, are blue. Thanks for keeping me on the narrow path, tho. xo

    ReplyDelete
  8. Comrade Kevin seems to be talking of Utopia, which will never come to the human race. Humans seem to me to be like the figures on a totem pole, one at the top, one at the bottom, and others in between. But humans are not carved into wood. They strive to climb to a higher position on the pole and they pass over those in their path, making those they pass angry at being relegated to a lower spot on the pole. It has always been thus with humans, and always will be. To expect, or even hope, for anything else is utopian, I fear.

    ReplyDelete
  9. gee, i guess i really am out of the loop. i have written several posts on exactly why i think people should not procreate- and it has nothing to do with skin color. in fact- i shouted out for people to read an entire blog that is devoted to controlling poor behavior in children and adults. i think that until we can behave as adults and are mature enough to even think about having kids- we shouldn't. fortunately or unfortunately- most people don't listen to my ranting.

    ReplyDelete
  10. 'Course betmo, if parenthood were reserved for those truly worthy of the title none of us would be here. Disfunction thy name is family. Again we're talking utopia here. I have screamed at my kids until the neighbors knocked at the door. I'm sure some of them would still have liked to call the child welfare people on me. And I'm a highly educated, reasonable mom, who just lost it on one (okay, maybe more than one) occasion. And I love my kids. My own mom has had herself checked in a couple times. None of us are perfect parents.

    What would be reasonable is if we had more national discussion of reproduction and contaception, and encouraged a zeitgeist of responsibility for all types of sexual behavior. That is a long way in coming, more's the pity.

    Great comment, keep 'em coming. And I've visited your place more than once this week. Keep blogging and keep the faith.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I can't believe no one has commented on the woman with three tits yet.

    ReplyDelete
  12. What woman with three tits?

    ;-D

    but speaking out of turn... I found a great "blue" post for our Blue Gal.

    Enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
  13. About the situation in Israel - Israel has taken extreme measures to try and win what they call "the demographic war".

    It subsidizes huge families (using money received from the U.S.) but only for Jews; it forbids Arabs living inside Israel to build - they can only build new homes outside of Israel, in the Occupied Terrritories. But once they're out of Israel, they cannot return, not even for work or for a visit, without a special permit - which is seldom granted.
    Israel's supreme court recently confirmed legislation that denies such a permit to the Palestinian spouse of an Arab with Israeli citizenship. The justices (heavy irony, here) decided that the law was not in conflict with the principle of human dignity.

    Israel has also gone on an increasing search for Jews, worldwide, which it brings to Palestine, in order to populate the place. The imported Jews (or "Jews", because they've really taken some very broad definition of what "Jew" is) were settled into land previously owned by Palestiian Arabs.

    I could go on for hours. For years. For 58 years, in fact, which is how long this has been going on under the name "Israel". The original concept of "a people without a land for a land with no people" belonged to the initial conceptualizer of Zionism, Viennese journalist Theodore Herzl, who was inspired by the wave of nationalism that was blowing through German-speaking countries.

    I'll never forgive him.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous12:33 AM

    My wife and I have done our part to shmeer the races beyond recognition. The sooner we're all the same color the better.

    Welcome back!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous12:34 AM

    Oh, and three tits would totally rawk.

    There, is that better?

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hey Blue,
    My latest video features the make more babies line throughout. It's what I like to call my "make more daddies" video! :>)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Here's the link to Poetry Man's excellent, scary video.

    Here's Douglas's gorgeous contribution to the gene pool. I would be delighted if your son reproduced with either of my daughters, Doug, er, in at least 20 years.

    And the minute I decided to wade into the mine field of Israeli/Palestinian birth rates, I JUST KNEW my soul-sister Shunra would give me props. You rock, doll!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Being afflicted with an incurable boobs fetish I just had to save the pic of the 3-boobed gal,,,,,the more the merrier!!

    ReplyDelete
  19. The Knight has done his part on increasing my race's population-4: 2 boys & 2 girls. Yeah I'm very happily married & taking care of them. They were not concieved of a desire to populate, but the ever popular human emotions of love & lust.

    As far as Comrad Kevin's comment:

    "Being that whites (particularly white males) have set a precedent that states that certain skin colors, religions, and points of view are favored above others--do you think that whomever gets power will rise above this flawed, unfair line of thinking, or will they then perpetuate these same sorts of inequalities?"

    Look no farther then New Orleans. Pre-Katrina they lost a multi- million dollar lawsuit after firing 43 people purely because they were white. They argued unsuccessfully they wanted the city government to reflect the population's racial make-up. Then there's the post Katrina "choclate city" speech. Alas, human nature is human nature.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Love ya', BG!

    (You know that. But I'll just repeat it...)

    It's nice to have a place where the complexities of That Situation can actually be talked about. It's terrible, it's embarassing, and there's no way it's going to get resolved unless it gets talked about.

    My personal preference for a resolution involves lots and lots of mocha babies there... ...I'll cook you some kick-ass Palestinian food soon, real soon!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous9:36 AM

    Yea, one day Americans will teach there kids about the "Evil Crackas" and their fluorescent skin color. Americans will say "they enslaved us." Do ya ever think they will ever mention what the "Darks" did to the "Evil Crackas" in Southern Africa (farms), Jamaica, Haiti, Panama or even in the Great USA??? Do you think they will tell them about The Black Panthers and the NAACP as well as KKK?

    ReplyDelete

I really look forward to hearing what you have to say. I do moderate comments, but non-spam comments will take less than 24 hours to appear... Thanks!