Breed Humans? - Page 2

In breeding in the Royal familieswas common place which was theorized to produce regressive traits. Although other environmental aspects may have been the greater contributor. Such as the plumbers comes from the latin word for lead because the Rome's water supply was made of lead pipe. OF course we now know that lead is a cause of birth defeats as well as a poison. Which is why we outlawed the use of lead bsed paints, infants were eating the chips of paint that would flake off walls. Lead baes solder was commonly used to soder copper pipe used in water supply has been banned from use more recently as well as various insulation materials. In our haste for growth we have many times done terrible harm to ourselves

A subject I would not have been so brave to bring up. But then I'm a man. It is appropriate that this be brought up by a woman. And a young women who has not given birth at that.

This is reality as much as we might ignore it. There are too many of us on this earth. Though many of us dream of going back to living off the land. The reality is. There just isn't enough land to support us. Organic gardening and stuff like that is good. But it is just not possible for all of us to eat organic food without stripping all the land of its nature. As much as we hate technology, it is our only savior in a world that has way too many people in it. It is only our wits that will save us now. There needs to be a change and unfortunately that means turning to technology. However, I have to side with Xseyes on the gene thing. We don't know enough to be messing with that. We could really mess things up. I think a change needs to happen (leaving our genes alone). I am surprised that this conversation can happen without a lot of anger. Maybe it is time for this discussion.

This is the way I think it should go down. We do have the technology to sterilize and then at a later time, unsterilize. I believe all children should be sterilized before reaching puberty. And JetPlane, there are lots of woman who would want to have a child. They see themselves as an incubator of the miracle of life.
Having grown up myself without a father. I know that a child needs both mother and father. A couple might decide to have a child, but before they can have a child, they need to go to school and earn a degree in parenthood. Only upon earning a degree would they be allowed to have a child. Being a parent, the state would provide them with financial support. A lot of conservatives might disagree with me on the last part. But the way it is now:

A man does not look at a woman and say - she would make a good mother for my child, or vice versa. We look at each other and only think about the pleasure. Most children are born by accident. Not wanted or planned for. Mothers give up their career and fathers may have to give up college and children are blamed. On the social scale, parents are on the bottom. We already pay for so much of their raising and medical costs, not to mention the present and future cost of child abuse which has become so prevalent. Something I see today that I never saw as a child. Children are raising themselves, having been abandoned. Studies have been done with other animals, when populations get too high, they become violent with one another. Something we are seeing today. My wife is a school teacher. I sometimes worry that she may be shot. We never worried about a teachers safety when I was a child either. A metal detector at school would be unthinkable. I never heard of a child being killed by a gun at school. A knife maybe, and even that was rare.

Hundreds of years ago: A man did choose his woman by how well she could bare children. And the woman who had the most children were the highest in honor while the baron felt shamed. And for those societies that allowed the woman to choose, she would choose a man that would generate strong children. Those attitudes have changed I believe because we are just way too populated right now. We are in a state of overpopulation sickness. If we could stop all unwanted, unplanned pregnancies and only allow those who truly wish to be a parent. We could solve a whole world of problems and actually save money having the state provide financial support. We need to take control - or like the wild animals, we will kill ourselves off and damage the earth along with our own demise.

I'm glad you brought the subject up JetPlane - been wanting to say that for a long time.

Celundin - the breeding of the monarchy wasn't based on scientific knowledge of genetics, today it could happen with fewer adverse effects.

okcitykids - " We could really mess things up. I think a change needs to happen (leaving our genes alone)."
I don't see how any permanent damage could be done. Every step science has made has had its risks, one cannot improve the world without taking some risks.

Sterilizing then desterilizing is a good idea. As long as it is cheap and safe anyway.

"Hundreds of years ago: A man did choose his woman by how well she could bare children. And the woman who had the most children were the highest in honor while the baron felt shamed. And for those societies that allowed the woman to choose, she would choose a man that would generate strong children. Those attitudes have changed I believe because we are just way too populated right now. We are in a state of overpopulation sickness"
I disagree. The US is not really overpopulated. Only east Asia is really. I think people don't worry about having a "strong" bride/groom because death in develloped countries is so rare today in the young.

Edited for awful spelling and grammar.

Already - by accident. They have discovered that if one smart person marries another smart person, they're child might have a good chance of having autism. I've heard that we could cure the common cold messing with genes, I've also read that the common cold, now only a nuisance could become a killer virus if we mess with the genes. We're causing wild salmon to go distinct and the domesticated genetically enhanced version are spreading disease to all the other fish. There is too much we don't know - I would prefer it be left alone.

When I was young. You could jump on the highway and not see another vehicle. Not so today.

You might be right about the developing nations. But that's changing quickly. We are dying now days of so many things, things that were once rare, like cancer. While they say my generation will possibly live into the hundreds, yours will not. Because of chemically enhanced diets, 16 year old kids are suffering from osteoporosis. Its not looking good for your generation. Current farming practices develops high yields of mineral different food.

Here in America it isn't that bad compared to the rest of the world. But it's bad enough and getting worse. There has to be a change. But I think the thing that angers me the most is a political arena financed by corporate america to prevent loss of profits would have you believe that everything is all right.

I happen to agree with OKcitykid, I really question that today's society claims larger & healthier children? I heard it said that you are what you eat, having consumed all the preservatives is bad enough. The reason you don't get fat using those sweateners is because the body can't use them! So perhaps the reason our children are bigger has more to do with those chemicals we fed into our food supply to produce greater yield? A great many of the chemical imbalanced being in society may be a byproduct of these benefits produced by that society?

Cturtle the chemicals companies put into are for the most part completely healthy and safe. The foods are often identical to "organic" food except for one thing : we know how much of each chemical is in the food because we know what we fertilized the plant with.

Kids are fat because they eat alot. That's it. I'm on a trip to the US ATM and I'm amazed at the amount of food they serve you. A medium coke in the US is like a large in France, A "small" sandwhich was too much for me to eatin one go, even in restaurants the servings are waaay too much for me (without hurting myself).

Twenty years ago I took Environmental I and II in middle school. Everything they taught is now coming true.

Hmmm.. Were they vague prophecies or very specific?

What comes to mind is predictions for outbreaks of cancer. Now that it has begun to happen. They've managed to blame the tobacco companies. Tobacco has been around, cancer has not always been so prevalent. I've worked for a cancer insurance company. They're market "Farmers". More farmers die of cancer than anybody.

Predictions of global warming, etc. We've known about these things for a long time.

Oh well.

Well we can't pump greenhouse gazes into the atmosphere forever, simply because we'll run out of fossil fuels eventually.
The reason we have cancer is partially tobacco but mostly that our bodies were never *made* to live as long as we do. Every time a cell divides little imperfections appear, until eventually a cancer cell is born. We live so long now that these imperfections more often have the time to appear and create cancer cells.

But you seem very pessimistic about the future, what would you change in the world today to make it brighter?

That's very interesting about cancer. Never heard that before.

My earlier post about having to earn a degree before you can be a parent. That would be a vast improvement. I think computers have changed things and will continue to do so. Me, you and others would not be able to come together and discuss these things without the computer. I think the ability to share an idea without pier pressure. Most of us are good and history has proven most of us are capible of great evil. Both history and science have proven pier pressure to be the villian. I think the computer will change things.