the rich have kids and the poor have abortions...

For GS... ;-)

From the Washington Post:

The culture is shifting, and marriage has almost become a luxury item, one that only the well educated and well paid are interested in.

A Bible-belt corollary of this could be "the rich are Christians, the poor are heathens". They're not too far from having such an "epiphany"... They're already peddling the crap that if you're poor there's no one to blame but yourself... Jesus is spinning in his grave... Jesus was, after all, first and foremost, a communist.

But we know that such capitalist claptrap is not restricted to that vile inversion of Jesus's teachings which has become known as "Christianity". "New Age" thinking shares this view. As does the cult of "Positive Thinking".

It's all part of the crap which says that "everyone can win". That's pure propaganda. It obscures the fact that in a competitive environment of n competitors, only 1/n can win. The rest, to varying degrees, lose. And capitalism is all about creating a competitive environment.

So now, over-population issues devolve into a world in which the rich get to marry and have the "legitimate" kids, and the poor get to be demonised for rearing "bastards" or having abortions...

Totally unrelated of course, but I remember a time, circa 1986, when I made the firm and binding decision not to have any kids on the basis that (a) I could not afford to give them the lifestyle I thought they deserved, and (b) I would make a lousy father anyway. I think I've proven myself right on both counts. Countless unborn kids are thanking me profusely for making such an enlightened choice... The applause of the unborn is deafening...

GS, do you still think you have the luxury of conveniently side-stepping the difficult issue of over-population, knowing, as you do, that the default outcome is that the rich get to call the game? ;-)