Cav's Place

One of the things that caught my eye last week was a news piece about the latest attempt made by health officials from the Indian state of Rajasthan to curb population growth: They are now offering prizes for people who volunteer for sterilization. We’re talking about food blenders, televisions, motorcycles and even cars, though admittedly the cars in question are apparently only Tata Nanos. What’s more, all Indians who volunteer for sterilization will be eligible for the prizes, not just the residents of Rajasthan.

While obviously not the safest, surgical sterilization is by far the surest and cheapest birth control method, permanently solving the problem with a single procedure and eliminating the risk of improper use that most other methods have. It is most likely the only suitable method for those who, for one reason or another, are unable to correctly use others, while also being a part of the suitable punishment for those who are unwilling to completely avoid pregnancies otherwise, though in such cases the procedure should be performed in such a way as to have very unpleasant consequences.
When it comes to people who have access to other safe and effective birth control methods and have proven to be able to use them properly, it’s not exactly one of the things I specifically encourage. That is because it involves surgery, may even have some associated long-term risks and doesn’t have any other potential associated personal benefits in itself. Still, it’s certainly an option at all times and of great benefit to the cause and the world, so anyone who volunteers for this should be commended and, if they do it before having any children, perhaps even rewarded in some way. In addition, certain other procedures that would also count as surgical sterilization but also have immediate personal benefits, such as removing a woman’s uterus to permanently eliminate menstruation, could be performed, adding to the reasons why something like this could be a good choice.

Since my general view tends to be that people should be expected to not cause significant damage to the environment, the first requirement of that being not to breed, and punished if they do, not rewarded when they don’t, what I just wrote may seem somewhat weird. After all, when Ami was telling me that both the carrot and the stick are needed in order for such things to work, I replied that my approach when it comes to such important issues, and the overpopulation one in particular, is more like a fucking cat o’ nine tails than a mere stick, yet here I am supporting and even suggesting some sort of rewards for people who do something that would ensure that they won’t breed. But there is good reason for this, mainly having to do with the fact that, in case something does somehow go wrong, you can’t switch to some other method and wait for the negative side effects to go away, because this isn’t temporary.
While this may bother even more than the concept itself bothers, I’m also going to say that any rewards could perhaps be greater for the men who volunteer than for the women. After all, if she were to use another birth control method and it would fail, a woman would face an abortion, so any potential risks associated with surgical sterilization could be weighed against that. On the other hand, a man doesn’t face that risk, so there is one very important factor less in favor of such a decision, which makes an even stronger case for rewarding those who choose to have it done anyway. Not to mention that having many children is unfortunately still seen as a sign of strength by most men, which makes that annoying cultural aspect of the issue even more of a problem and therefore an even greater incentive may be required in order to make any significant progress.

So what am I saying? On top of what I kept saying all along, namely that the people who are either unable or unwilling to properly use other birth control methods to avoid pregnancies need to be sterilized, very carefully in case of those who are unable and very brutally in case of those who are unwilling, I’m now adding that people who volunteer for surgical sterilization before having any children should perhaps be rewarded in some way. Granted that such rewards imply the use of resources, but even very significant rewards, much greater than those listed in the piece of news I started this from, would require far less than a child would end up consuming, so any such action would clearly benefit Earth.
I’m not exactly keen on rewarding those who volunteer for sterilization after already having children because the damage is already done. However, I must admit that it would certainly prevent even more damage, so I could go on the above rationale and say that we must start somewhere, so even those who already have one or two children could be rewarded in some way for volunteering, though obviously less than those who don’t have any. But that’s really where it ends, because those who already have more than two children absolutely must be sterilized under the current circumstances, so the only reward for those who come willingly should be the fact that they won’t be punished like those who’d try to avoid this would be. I’ll say that’s too much of a carrot as it is…

In the end, what we need to do is make sure that the vast majority of people won’t breed and that those who freely choose to be childfree would be recognized and rewarded in some way, in time. The methods used to remain childfree are less important from this point of view, but some are more effective, some require less resources, some are easier to make available and some may make people more wary. Due to the fact that it only needs to be done once and the effects are permanent, surgical sterilization is extremely effective, requires few resources and is easy to make available, but it also makes people quite wary because, after all, it does require surgery, which automatically implies certain risks. As a result, it should be rewarded far more than any other single choice a person could make, so there are very few potential rewards I’d find anything to complain about and plenty that I could even encourage.