The idea that we have to incentivise breeding for population gain is and has always been stupid

[RB TexLa]

We can increase population through immigration, no need for breeding.

[Deja Q]

1. Splendid. You start. Don't breed. Adopt a hundred kids from another country.

Even then, if corporations think it's a game (e.g. McDonalds and its CEO frothing over "Imagine, 300 million in the US versus 1.3 billion in China... the opportunity is endless.")

Of course, if people are whining about obesity now, just wait... Soylent McGreen... :9

[RB TexLa]

4. We don't currently have a population growth problem

[Orrex]

2. The word 'incentivise' is an abomination

That is all.

[deaniac21]

5. You mean it isn't a word.

[Orrex]

7. I can't speak to that, since Dictionary.com recognizes it as an 'Americanism'

But it's so horrible that all by itself it nearly inspires me to great violence.

[Pithlet]

6. I agree. n/t

[madinmaryland]

12. I think he was using that as a slur again a brazillion peoples!

:shrug:

[Fumesucker]

3. It's not so much incentivising breeding..

As incentivising raising educated adults.

Kids are *expensive* to raise properly, both in monetary terms and in terms of the amount of sheer time it takes.

[Obamanaut]

9. And the current state of the economy etc is "expensivising" the kids. nt

[opihimoimoi]

8. Its past time to scale back the POPULATION

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-QA2rkpBSY

[Hanse]

10. Is that like how senior citizen discounts for coffee is an incentive for getting old?

Because a free 9 oz. coffee is totally worth being old?

[Pithlet]

13. Don't you hate that? It's a punishment for being young is what it is.

So unfair. Think of the money they're wasting with crap incentivization like that, too. No wonder the economy's in the shithole. Grinds my gears.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

11. I have no problem with that.

Except the problem is that despite the handwringing over so-called low birthrates in the U.S., we are actually reproducing at a pretty good clip compared to other developed countries. http://www.susps.org/overview/birthrates.html

While we may still be "below replacement rate" (whatever that means), we are still producing more than enough people to do the (rapidly decreasing) jobs we need done. In fact, the children of the Baby Boomers, known as the Echo Boomers, actually outnumber their parents. When you factor in the increasing difficulty of attaining a college education, decreasing wages, and the movement away from a manufacturing to a service economy, it's hard to argue that the U.S. needs to import millions of low-skill workers for the next few decades.

Talk to me about that when we are at 1 child per family (where we should be). I'm not disagreeing with you on principle. I'm just saying that's not where we are at this time.

[exboyfil]

14. Are individuals fungible?

Will my kids when they reach adulthood be more or less likely to support my Social Security than immigrants from another country who don't have their elderly in our S.S. system?

Is there something unique about U.S. culture that will be lost through massive immigration to meet replacement rates?

[exboyfil]

15. Government programs which "incentivise breeding"

Which government programs have the biggest impact on encouraging breeding?

Welfare
Child Tax Credit
Child Tax Exemption
Public School Education
Subsidized Day Care
Subsidized Preschool

Which ones should we cut out and why? What do you think the long term impact of selecting one program over another would be?