Kevin Gowen wrote:
> Rodney Webster wrote:

>>Damnit, if only those poor people would stop breeding like rabbits we
>>wouldn't have so many poor people in the first place!
> 
> The thing is, what you say with irony, I believe with conviction. 

Ooh the irony of the ironically challenged claiming to spot irony! I LUV IT.

> If you are so unskilled as to not
> be able to earn a decent wage, you have no business having children.
> It's a mystery as to why India, the place of burning brides, has such a high
> birth rate. I am pretty sure they don't dole out painkillers left and right.

On the contrary, in countries without a comprehensive welfare safety
net, it is considered rational behaviour for poor people (particularly
in rural areas with poorer services, and anywhere there is a high infant
mortality rate) to have as many children as possible. The children are
useful for planting and harvesting crops, and as they don't need to go
to school (elementary education is not compulsory in India, and not
free, and not encouraged for certain caste) are not considered expensive
to raise.

In the case of rural India, there is a good chance that at least some of
the children will survive to adulthood and be able to support their
parents in their old age. In the absence of a universal old age pension,
having children to depend upon is the only reliable alternative to
starving to death in later years.

Just as was the case in most western countries prior to the introduction
of comprehensive welfare safety nets. Since you have a lot of time on
your hands, have a look at fertility and mortality rates for native born
citizens of western countries between 1750-1920, and then compare those
with 1920-2000.







-- 
"Forget Spanish. There's nothing in that language worth reading except
Don Quixote, and a quick listen to the CD of Man of La Mancha will take
care of that. Who speaks it that you are really desperate to talk to?
The help? Your leaf blower? Study French or German, where there are at
least a few books worth reading, or if you're American, try English."

                        Dame Edna Everage

"If you have to explain satire to someone, you might as well give up,"

                        Barry Humphries