A Modest Proposal
Quick, Jonathan
"A Modest Proposal" Whether or not to abolish the anti. abortion laws which have accumulated through the past few centuries has become one of the hottest debates of our time. Many...
...with excess population there will be food shortages and wars...
...These problems of too many people are very real ones...
...That apparently insignificant bit of protopla~n might grow into an Abraham Lincoln, an Einstein, an Albert Schweitzer or a Hubert Humphrey...
...It must be remembered that each tiny embryo, no matter how young, with or without a soul as you please, is an absolutely unique combination of genetic factors, a combination never before produced and one that never again will be produced...
...and not least, psychological trauma and impairment of the human spirit invariable result under condition of overcrowding...
...Then, and only then, a just atLd dispassionate decision can be made...
...Ehrlich states that we must act now to control the exploding population even though technology may offer improvements...
...The main issues are about to be obscured by the smog created in pursuit of the ecological dollar...
...There is no way of knowing the potential of any proposed victim of abortion until it has nearly reached maturity...
...His Population, ResourCes, Environment is a primer in the field...
...The limits are imposed by arable land, water, air and space...
...The book is ample in reference, illustrations and graphs...
...His training is in biology but recently has turned his full attention to human ecology...
...12 The Alternative December, 1971 Whether or not to abolish the anti...
...Certainly this is a reasonable attitude...
...Young people would listen to their elders and be respectful to them...
...Since Earth Day, 'environment" itself has become part of the general pollution...
...Until some way is found to be absolutely sure of what one is dealing with, a policy of abortion at will will destroy the potentially great while sparing in equal measure the potential criminals, the neurotically incompetent and the antisocial burdens on society...
...However, in spite of the many and reasonable arguments in favor of a policy of easy abortion, there still remains for some the barrier of human conscience...
...the undesirables, all those whom the world considers unwanted, can be eliminated...
...I herewith humbly submit my proposal...
...He observes the growth and potential of each animal, keeping always the best...
...With the prospect of judgment at the age of eighteen instead of at the Day of Resurrection, their behavior in the preceeding years would be exemplary...
...He conveys .a feeling of concern by writing dramatically, but in doing so he occasionally overstates a point...
...First, there will be no argument against the proposition that liberalization of abortions is one answer to the problems of world population growth...
...Democratic forms of government have never survived in overpopulated urban modes of life...
...The earth can support only a finite number of people...
...Surely, on the basis of reason alone, and reason is supposed to underlie all the arguments of the abortion supporters, my modest proposal should be adopted...
...We would solve the problems of our crowded cities, correct ecological imbalances, and take care of the unwanted, unloved and starving people of this world...
...Their arguments pertain to the benefits to society, and certainly my proposal would deal with that aspect more scientifically, without the loss of all these potentially great individuals...
...A fa2'mer wishing to control the quality of his stock does not blindly slaughter every other little piglet or send to the market half of his best breeding stock...
...Consider how the world would be changed for the better...
...Psychotics and neurotics would be weeded out along with those physically defective, We would greatly reduce the incidence of inheritable diseases such as diabetes and asthma...
...The author thinks the key to any solution of the world's problem is birth control...
...Ehrlich, in this book, points out the urgency of a problem that has been remote, however obvious, to most people...
...Some demand that abortions be provided at minimal expense to any pregnant woman who wants one, for whatever reason, are even encouraged to defer population growth...
...It is indiscriminate...
...But, according to those vocally advocating indiscriminate abortions, those inconveniences are not really the important points...
...Television has crammed one program after another down our collective throats...
...My modest proposal is that of reason: do not abort the unknown and unrecognizable fetus...
...Many believe the laws should be repealed...
...Secondly, since no one now-a-days pays much attention to religious scruples, and the clergy are listened to only when they renounce the teachings of their faiths in favor of some popular movement, I will not discuss this issue in a religious reference...
...Among these he will find his prize animals and he will, in time, have an outstanding herd...
...My proposal stems from the proposition that apparently world opinion no longer will tolerate the addition of millions of unwanted people, more mouths to feed in a hungry world, the unloved and uncared for who will be liabilities to society rather than assets...
...Crime would be almost eliminated, for most criminals display such a proclivity in their early teens...
...Though such a fortuitous probability may be small, there is still an excellent chance that it might grow into a useful public servant, a bank president, a doctor or a very wonderful mother...
...However, there is one great flaw in this method of eliminating the unwanted...
...Furthermore, this proposal would have a very salutory effect on our youth...
...Gone would be the longhaired Hippies and Yippies, the cheaters, petty thieves and shop-lifters...
...too many people befoul the environment and upset the world ecology...
...corporations tell us, in ads of course, how ecological they are, and gasoline is sold not for what it does to the automobile but to free the air...
...I am assured by members of the medical profession that the sight of pieces of skull, tiny hands, feet and ribs is far more repulsive than the sight of the intact body of a condemned adult...
...Paul Ehrlich has been one of the leaders in environmental studies...
...allow each child to be born and raised to near maturity when its character and talents, or lack of them, can be identified, at approximately eighteen or twenty years of age...
...So I have, after much soulsearching and study, found a plan which should accomplish what is desired by the abortion suDvorters while eliminating the possibilities for serious error which indiscriminate abortion is bound to produce...
...It is much more multifaceted than one might think...
...These ~vho are willing and able to make a beneficial contribution to society would be spared...
...With this simple and humane plan all of the reasonable goals of the abortion supporters would be met, except, of course, for the minor inconvenience and expense of carrying the pregnancies a full nine months and raising the child for eighteen or twenty years...
...Some clergy, and a certain proportion of the medical profession, particularly those interested in psychiatry and the social sciences, argue for removal of all restraints, both legal and moral...
...Ehrlich states the issues, the alternatives, and thankfully makes some value judgments...
...Thirdly, it seems inconceivable that the unborn will ever be allowed to vote...
...Lest the sentimental reader feel revulsion at the execution of millions of young people, let me remind them that a gas-chamber assembly line is far less grisly than the bloody piece-meal dismemberment of a fetus by an abortionist...
Vol. 5 • December 1971 • No. 3
