The One Child Policy of the Future, but different

By: Asa Montreaux

The past is a vast tapestry of successes, and disasters as a species. One such disaster was the one child policy of China.

But consider this to be an early, and totalitarian control of childbirth for just one moment.

What if, to save the species, we did not have to leave Earth, and colonize Mars, or create colonies on massive spaceships — what if we simply had to regulate births and deaths. Not like China had, but regulate them nonetheless. And what if there was a moment when someone said, you can have children. What if — you could be given, a license to have a child!

Imagine that you have recently received you license to drive, your license to drink, and all you can tell your friends about, is that soon you will get your license to have kids!!!!

Now, was this the same as a license to have sex? No. So what exactly am I proposing to save the world from pending overpopulation? Well, what if science needed to invent birth control so advanced that, we could choose when to have children. And what if that point, we then applied for a license to have them? Now the awkward moment, there may not be space, or availability, for you to have that child, but keep trying, and eventually, there will be!

Now imagine that each individual produced 0-2 children through the world. At that time, the population’s growth would be diminishing, and we would be reaching a stable level of people per unit of area.

After all, who would want to share one square foot with someone, and shake hands with them every time you wake up?

Would there be laws against having children without a license? Yes. Would these generally be punishable with jail? No. But this would be a beginning of a sane, and achievable way, of limiting the population, and maintaining life on Earth.

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What would be the options in terms of scientific inventions? The first would be tying tubes, and/or vasectomies. Both have a high success rate for reversals, especially the latter. But for the procedure to be mandated early in people’s lives, the procedures would need to improve so as to be nearly one hundred percent successful. Then, once the application is paid for, and approved, you can then pay for your reversal procedure, or procedures, to initiate the process of having children. As well, these things could be semi-insured through the offering of free in vitro fertilization treatment in the case of failed reversals, and malpractice damages.

Another possible option is chastity belts, which would be screwed into the pelvic bone, or someone in the pelvic area, and fertilization would not be possible, until this pelvic/cervic belt, or plate, is removed via application approval. This would not harm a woman’s ability to have children, and would still allow for recreational sex. Though there is some extent to which it sounds oppressive, all the same. 

Maybe there is something else scientists could invent, such as a better birth control drugs. These would be given to women, and perhaps men, with monthly or yearly injections, and they would prevent pregnancy from the time an application is made, until the time conception is achieved.

With just a modest improvement in birth control drugs, it is possible that we would achieve, say, an 85 percent effect of what is intended by way of a ban such as a chastity belt. Given the societies relative comfort with birth control medications, this could potentially be a feasible method of regulation implemented as an initial phase of regulation, or even as a permanent implementation, awaiting further improvement in drug quality.

Just imagine, it could be the equivalent, 100 years from now, of someone inventing the Moderna vaccine. A birth control so safe(free from side effects), and so effective, that we could legally require you to take it, and only a fraction of people, likely, would have much to say in protest of it.