Quote of the Day
Let every man be respected as an individual and no man idolized.
Albert Einstein
China's One-Child Policy and VP Joe Biden: Some Comments
I haven't commented on the Joe Biden's latest kerfuffle--in particular, how a Catholic politician should address the grave moral injustice of China's one child per family policy, condemned by the moral teachings of his own Church, in diplomatic spun terms devoid of any hint of moral outrage, arguing at a Chinese university last Sunday :
"Your policy has been one which I fully understand -- I'm not second-guessing -- of one child per family."
First of all, any legitimate American leader needs to explicitly acknowledge that having children is an unalienable right of liberty. I"m sure that Neville Chamberlain "fully understood" and didn't engage in "second-guessing" Hitler. Second, an American can be both direct and respectful in expressing dissent, which Biden didn't do: no government can claim moral legitimacy by enforcing a policy contrary to inalienable individual rights.
Instead, Joe Biden's office quickly paid lip service to some of the immoral techniques used to enforce an unconscionable policy, i.e., forced sterilizations and abortions. And they point out Biden did try to argue that the policy was counterproductive, pointing out low birth families will result in an unsustainable burden on young people as their parents become older. Let's get this straight: the issue isn't about the sustained, unapologetic violations of universal human rights; it's just not very useful progressive policy making.
Chinese Baby Girls Are Beautiful Gifts From God
In our family it was tied 3-3 (BGBGGB) when Mom became pregnant with our final sibling. Mom decided to poll the siblings on gender preference for our unborn sibling. My sisters all voted for a baby sister; my two brothers decided in favor of a baby brother. I expressed a preference for a baby sister, which immediately put me in the doghouse with my little brothers for betraying our gender. I love all babies, but there's something about a baby girl that tugs at my heart.
I have three godchildren, that baby sister (now married with 3 kids of her own) and two nieces (no godsons, even though I have more nephews than nieces). My siblings are convinced I'm partial to girls. I once babysat for my first married sister; my baby niece was hungry and I was feeding her a bottle when my sister and brother-in-law came home; my 1-year-old nephew was jealous of the attention to his sister. My sister was furious at me for "ignoring" my nephew in favor of my niece. Sigh! I was just a clueless bachelor uncle whom thought feeding the baby had a higher priority.
In the second video below, I dissent from the off-topic message on obesity among young Chinese boys. I don't think that spoiling an only child is something peculiar to Chinese children; for instance, I've personally met a lot of American spoiled brats. However, I do find it rather odd that Chinese authorities respect parental autonomy when it comes to feeding their children but not in how many children they have.
I admire Chai Ling and encourage my readers to visit her All Girls Allowed.
Join the Coalition to End Gendercide from All Girls Allowed on Vimeo.
Political Humor
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Groups
Bread, "Aubrey"
