Poll: Would you support a human Genophage?

[Slayer_2]

I think it's a great idea, I'll even volunteer to be one of the "unlucky" ones.

 

[aashell13]

overpopulation is avoidable without such drastic measures. the birthrate falls off dramatically as countries develop and the education level of women improves; in fact several developed nations, most notably japan, have birthrates below replacement levels.

so no, no genophage, or any other global population control program.

 

[CaptOfSerenity]

Infertility's not a disease, and people need to realize that kids are fucking terrible creatures, who grow up to be not very good people. Most of us are mediocre at best, in terms of morality. We are manipulative, crass, psychotic assholes. I'm all up for it.

Also, no more having 7 kids per family.

 

[Comando96]

I grew up in a rural area where farmers still applied ye olden methods.

Believe it or not, but people use to fertilize their fields for thousands of years already, long before petrochemical products even existed.

A mixture of animal feces and water for example provides a fair amount of nutrients and minerals, and since pretty much everything poops, we shouldn't run short on it anythime soon. Covering the ground with compost (in other words: rotten biological waste) is quite effective as well.

We couldn't produce the same quantities of course, but given that the current mixture of mono cultures and chemical fertilizers literally rapes the ground and we waste large amounts of food every day (just look at Mc Donalds quality control methods that require to trash everything that didn't get sold in a matter of minutes), that might not be so bad after all. A little rationing, a reduction of the meat production and a complete stop of this goddamn bio fuel production and nobody needs to starve, unless the population keeps growing at the current rate.

I live in Leominster, Herefordshire.

Its bloody rural round 'ere.

Spoiler

The County

The Countryside with Dinmore hill in the background. In Welsh Dinmore hill would mean big hill hill.

Where I live
EDIT:
Fucking hell I can actually see my house O_O And the route in one of the fields I use to walk my dog...

Where I live... while flooded a few years ago.

The Capital "City" Hereford in 1877

Hereford... now...

Its one of the most Rural area's of the country to have people living in.

When we talk about fertilizers... lets not confuse those made in factories and those out of cow shit. One is bullshit compared to the other... pun fully well intended.

Its the concentration that modern fertilizers have over the old. Ammonium nitrate is one of the fertilizers and this is a simple chemical to make... but very hard to do on a factory scale. This is where the use of oil comes in key and is the difference. Manure would have a concentration of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium of 10-15%, averaging at 14%. Synthetic fertilizers a concentration ranging from 20%-60% depending on what you want to buy.

Once we can't do that... we need fewer humans... or at the very least to stop at 7 Billion...
We COULD afford 7 Billion humans and POSSIBLY MAYBE even a few more if we all went vegetarian... but then... how shall we produce that maure? :s

I maintain that overpopulation isn't the real problem, I think it comes down to money. It's not that we have too many people, it's that it's that there just aren't enough jobs being made for them.

Sorry... what bullshit is this? Jobs made for people?

This is the problem the planet is running into. An increasing population with resources being finite. You don't find jobs for people... you find people for jobs. The human race since the Industrial Revolution has increased mechanisation drastically, first due to steam and then oil. More machines, fewer people are needed. This is a good thing, unless the population increases unnecessarily... which it has... resulting in over population.

Billions of dollars are sitting in rich folk's bank accounts doing fuck-all, when that money could be invested or spent somewhere else. Invest in a business, invest in the government, do something humanitarian.

Money is a representation of available resources. Oddly enough if someone used 100 billion Dollars the cost of what they bought would go up and therefore not benefit other people. Standard rule of economics... just letting you know. More money that is applied the more it costs the Africans to eat unless you employ them all... but if you did that the Greeks would find it harder to eat... also if more Africans could eat then the more the population would go up leading to the point where... oh wait... lets not do that.

The planet is sustainable, we sure don't need to start chemically castrating people. We just need to get the rich fuckers and governments doing their part instead of lining their own pockets.

True... well actually not the rich in Government but mainly their friends who fund their campaigns.
But yes... something should be done with that money... like making a fertility lowering compound that can be released into the global water supply that can be countered at will.

Even then, I won't deny the mass starvation in third world countries. But that could still be helped with a more determined aid program from the wealthier nations of the world. These countries could be developed into self-sustainability, but not enough people out there can find the money to put forward.

There is a key problem with medicine. People live longer. People living longer equates to more resources being required for them to live... that means food... and that requires oil... and that is running out.

Your head is in the clouds mate... sorry but we need fewer people and to maximize farm land around the world and get ourselves at oil before it runs out and we find our civilization ripping itself apart.

Solar, no too little time and organisation.
Wind, no, you must be fucking joking.
Nuclear, A transition fuel at most. Uranium is mined and there is a finite amount of it... at best we can use all of it up while we change to electricity... nothing permanent.

Are we fucked? No... not quite.

2 key area's need to be adressed. Firstly eveything that uses oil needs to be adaped or changed. This includes Agriculture, Plastics... how the hell do we make enough food as well as a replacement for Plastics??? Carbon Polymers have been revolutional... when we run out........................................... just... the best alternative at the moment is some form of hardened paper... but agriculture... fuck thats a hard problem to solve.

As for electricity... Nuclear Fusion. Lets not fuck around, we need Fusion or we are fucked.
A BBC documentary hosted by Brian Cox looked into it at depth... and without it... we're fucked...

 

[Iron Lightning]

Ah, yes, using an uncontrollable, evolving virus to make large segments of the population infertile is a great way to preserve the longevity of the human race. Even if we accept the premise that overpopulation will be a significant issue using a "Genophage" is the stupidest solution that I can think of.

 

[FalloutJack]

Only under the express stipulation that it's all about getting rid of the terminally idiotic. And by that, I mean people who have far too many DUH moments in life when they shouldn't.

 

[nackertash]

It's a good idea from a distance, but if i were one of the 1 in 3 I would start violently rioting as im sure many many would.

Not because i wouldn't be able to reproduce, but because someone else made a decision to take away something that is a part of me. Something given to you by no one, something no one can ever have any right to take away, someone else making a decision that you will not take part in what is essentially the most important thing a person can do.

It might be necessary but its also the most fucking disgusting and incomprehensibly evil things that could ever be done.

 

[nackertash]

Only under the express stipulation that it's all about getting rid of the terminally idiotic. And by that, I mean people who have far too many DUH moments in life when they shouldn't.

When I become The First King of Earth I plan on getting all the idiots in a big sports hall and just spraying into them with automatic weapons to pass the time.

I would say vote for me but there will be no voting involved.

 

[FalloutJack]

Only under the express stipulation that it's all about getting rid of the terminally idiotic. And by that, I mean people who have far too many DUH moments in life when they shouldn't.

When I become The First King of Earth I plan on getting all the idiots in a big sports hall and just spraying into them with automatic weapons to pass the time.

I would say vote for me but there will be no voting involved.

Give me the job of Royal Creative Death Designer and I'll help with the insurrection.

Who says being a sadist isn't funny?

 

[Ryank1908]

If it was the FINAL chance for mankind? Perhaps. But aside from overpopulation, there are a billion reasons why we need to adapt for life in other environments - underwater, on the moon, on other planets, whatever - as well as alternate ways to farm and create power. A genophage would not eradicate those other issues, like peak oil, colony collapse disorder, climate change, and all the other things that might be hypothetical, or might be the reason humanity comes to an abrupt end.

 

[tthor]

Howver, if you employ something like this genophage, then you will have to target areas where birthrates are high. Third world countries especially in the Middle East.

Mmm, the ethical issues of targeting individual demographics, no matter the reason tend to get a very messy. I'd argue for something completely free of human judgement

I think that is called "Plague". The original population limiter

 

[Pierce Graham]

It would depend. If there was no other option and we'd have no room anymore, yes. But odds are by the time overpopulation would become a problem, we'll be able to colonize other worlds, and we'll have plenty of room.

 

[AngryFrenchCanadian]

I'd say no, because I don't think it would be ethical.

 

[Tipsy Giant]

nah, we just need to rid the world of religion, that would result in birth control and boom smaller families

1:that's not even clever
2:there's more than one religion(I'm geussing you think all religions are Christianity/catholicism]
3:that's not how anything in the world works.

I am mainly talking about Catholicism although all organised religion is pointless.
Missionaries were sent to third world countries to indoctrinate the people with superstition.
Third world countries have overpopulation as they are told they will go to hell if the use birth control.

Stop me if i'm wrong

 

[Casual Shinji]

Again with the space colonization crap.

Trust me, that shit is never going to happen. And if it does, pity the poor bastards who are choosen to live on another planet.

I'm not worried about overpopulation in the slightest. Nature always has a way of balancing things out, whether it's through a plague or starvation.

 

[Don Savik]

Its not a problem of overpopulation. Its a problem of population density. Level some mountains with bombs and build more houses there. Whats a mountain going to do for us anyways besides look pretty on a postcard? (postcards are useless now with the internet anyways)

We need to adapt the land thats unlivable first to support communities before we make half the planet infertile.

Also, we have a planet covered in water......why not make some floating island cities?

Maybe its just the sci-fi fan in me going off, but it seems like a waste of planet.

 

[SD-Fiend]

nah, we just need to rid the world of religion, that would result in birth control and boom smaller families

1:that's not even clever
2:there's more than one religion(I'm geussing you think all religions are Christianity/catholicism]
3:that's not how anything in the world works.

I am mainly talking about Catholicism although all organised religion is pointless.
Missionaries were sent to third world countries to indoctrinate the people with superstition.
Third world countries have overpopulation as they are told they will go to hell if the use birth control.

Stop me if i'm wrong

i'm probably not going to change your opinion over the internet but it's a bit foolish to just blame religion on high birth rates not every country with lots of people is a 3rd world country or even catholic for that matter. and just saying religion is the problem is just using that as a scapegoat

 

[nackertash]

Only under the express stipulation that it's all about getting rid of the terminally idiotic. And by that, I mean people who have far too many DUH moments in life when they shouldn't.

When I become The First King of Earth I plan on getting all the idiots in a big sports hall and just spraying into them with automatic weapons to pass the time.

I would say vote for me but there will be no voting involved.

Give me the job of Royal Creative Death Designer and I'll help with the insurrection.

Who says being a sadist isn't funny?

I like you're style, welcome aboard.

Just remember that your survival is based on whether you are more entertaining to kill or more entertaining to be allowed to live.

I DEMAND INNOVATIVE AND ENTERTAINING SLAUGHTER.

 

[dslatch]

I really shouldn't say yes, but after watching Cops I kinda want to

 

[Fishyash]

I think trying to control the population is a bit of a leap in measures to save our resources.