External Gestation

I consider myself fiercely pro-choice despite the fact that I really dislike abortion. The idea that a woman should be forced to carry a child to term is far more despicable than the fact that abortion is whithering away the populations of many countries and is just plain gross.

I don't like abortion, and I don't like forcing women to carry children they don't want and have no desire (and probably no ability) to raise. So for this, as with all things, I look to technology for a way to have my cake and eat it too.

One of the best things that we could invent is an artificial womb. I'm sure somebody, somewhere, is already looking for a way to gestate a kid from conception to birth without the need of burdening some poor lady's uterus. Not only could this provide more options to women prone to miscarriages, but, if a fetus or even embryo could be extracted from a pregnant woman, that woman would retain sovereignty over her body and the child she conceived would survive.

Now I'm sure some lovey dovey conservative fruitcakes will whine about how this would violate the bond between a mother and her child, but come on, if that bond were otherwise going to be severed with a coat hanger, it couldn't have been that strong in the first place. Kids who are put up for adoption would never know who their parents are anyway, so that's really a moot point.

An artificial womb would mean a more sustainable population and an end to abortions altogether without violating a woman's right to her own body. And who could be against that?

China's Ace in the Hole

It isn't news that China is gaining power, wealth and influence, but few people understand the role that their huge population will play in their future standing in the world. Right now it's seen as a liability, and it it is a liability for a socialist country, committed, at least ideologically to providing basic necessities to over a billion people. Given that the native populations of most Western countries are failing to reproduce at replacement rates, however, a population that has trouble keeping itself under control could be a profound advantage.

The countries at the top of the heap right now are either declining in population like Russia, or can only keep their populations afloat by inviting in millions of immigrants into the country. If the West is lucky, and those immigrants are able to adopt the culture and way of life that has kept Europe and its colonies prosperous, then there is little to worry about. If, however, those immigrants, who largely come from less successful countries, bring cultural traditions with them that are not conducive to the continuing prosperity of the West, then East Asia and especially China will take the West's place at the top.

There is plenty of room for criticism of the political situation in China, but whether you like the country or not, its population and the pro-prosperity culture it supports enjoy a security that the West does not.