So we have one famous guy saying we all should just shut up and not talk about it, and on the other side we have a well-respected scholar citing studies that demonstrate serious problems in our country.  Obviously we should listen to the rich and very, very recognizable guy (as is Bill Cosby) talking from his gut in spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary by people who are not recognizable.  Among the people on the other side are people like Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates (not so famous or recognizable) saying "uh, yeah, this is a big problem".  Dude gets arrested and harrassed in his own home. 

"Don't talk about it and maybe it'll go away" was a pretty common position by white people during the civil rights era, too. 

But I know it's a topic that makes a lot of people uncomfortable to acknowledge, so I'm not going to jump on your case.  It's a topic worth learning about, Tim Wise is a nice intro but you can go looking for other sources.   I actually came into the topic studying philosophy and essentialist questions by accident, but Tim Wise is a hell of a lot more accessable than drudging through 100s of pages of philosophy text. 

Learning about all of this stuff honestly felt like something of an assault as a white kid originally from Kansas, and it does feel like it at first, but if you're interesed in studying politics and moral questions in any serious way, the first thing you have to do is confront the hard shit, not avoid it.  

I'm out for the night, later all.

No. You might as well say there should be a child limit or no children when both parents work 2 jobs and don'
t have enough time to bring up children.

And why stop there, if your genes aren't perfect then you shouldn't reproduce since your kids might become a burden on the medical system?

It's not only morally wrong, it's also never going to work. Someone with 3 kids looses their job, what are you going to do? Hit them harder by taking support away or take one of their children away to foster care?

Fighting the symptoms by not allowing poor people children is not going to solve the problem. Race is also still an issue although nowadays it is ok to say, 'they' are just using the race card to blame their problems on. It's more popular then ever nowadays to blame the victim.

What I don't get is people are always ready to be generous to fight hunger and poverty abroad yet conveniently ignore it at home. Or even try to hide the problem by not allowing people to give out food. There are children that rely on school meals for food and go hungry in the weekends. What did those kids ever do to deserve that?

Kids shouldn't be a curse to have. Yet plenty of employers rather not give a job to a pregnant women. Today's society is all about maximum productivity for minimum wages, leaving little room to raise children and teach them values. I'm not saying we should go back to mom staying at home to raise the kids, but it's a shame that a lot of families can't get by anymore with just 1 working parent.

I would say yes, but since I believe in the government being as small as possible, I will have to say no.

Think how much power would have to be given to the government to oversee this.

I do not think there is much worse than parents having kids that they cannot/willnot provide/care for, but there are better ways to handle that then making it illegal.

Ah yes, we have a scholar saying that racism is as much a problem as ever, so that must make it true.  Please.  The truth is those people who go out talking about racist America (most of them white) wouldn't have a job or as much political power if people (especially minorities) were allowed to see that racism is no longer a problem like it used to be.  Sure you're always going to have a very small minority that are truly racist, but you can't just force people be accepting or nice.  As long as they aren't going around lynching or attacking people, which we have laws agaisnt if they do, then they can live in their own little world.  You'll also notice how Timmy says he can go on campuses because he fits "the mold", though I'm sure colleges have had plenty of minority speakers, he doesn't mind taking all that money that "should" have gone to a minority for his visits.

Of course, I expect to see the race card played out in full force come Election 2012.

I thought i was crazy for thinking people should not be allowed to reproduce unless they can prove they are able too. Ie have a job and able to pay their own bills. Seems a big problem in the world is that the people that should not be having kids seem to have the most and the ones that are able to take care of kids and bring them up right have too few. Somethings got to give.

i'd say no. who is the govment to tell people,how many kids to have?

well in that case. why is the government going to take care of kids that people have that they cant care of? People seem to want it both ways i am free to decide how many kids i have, but i expect the government (my nieghbors) to pick up my slack. The ones really hurt are the kids who are brought up by parents that are unable to do so, either financially, mentally, or dont have the time to do so.

well,america is'nt china. I mean,what's next is america going to ban sugar,fatty foods,soda,guns,and anything that's a burden on the health system and goverment. I mean,I don't have the answer's,but I just don't think the govment telling people how to live there lives is the answer. 

Why don't you worry about the billions going into the millionaires pocket and not the .001% going to the poor.

Why not just kill all the poor people and be done with your plan in a faster, more efficient way? Fuck it, lets kill the blacks, non-christians, gays, and left voting population too while we're at it.