Oh my God. Do not trifle with Chinese social policy.

[Oliveloaf]

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow...200726036.html

Please make special note of the "slogans" that are now being replaced
with softer language.

Charming.

[OneCentStamp]

"Please get rid of the alcohol and cigarettes before you plan to be a father."

[Tuckerfan]

And people wonder why I worry about the Chinese beating us back to the Moon. Just sayin'.

[What Exit?]

I still think their policy is the correct one and I wish India and Indonesia and others would do something about their continuing pop explosion. But it sure is hard to support a policy with such slogans as they had.

[Tuckerfan]

I still think their policy is the correct one and I wish India and Indonesia and others would do something about their continuing pop explosion. But it sure is hard to support a policy with such slogans as they had.

I never said that there was anything wrong with trying to control the population explosion. Its all in how they're going about it that's concerning.

[What Exit?]

Hey, that was a general response, not aimed at your post. No worries I hope.

[Sarahfeena]

Holy shit.

[Hatshepsut]

I still think their policy is the correct one and I wish India and Indonesia and others would do something about their continuing pop explosion. [Bolding mine]But it sure is hard to support a policy with such slogans as they had.

Wait, what population explosion is that you are talking about in Indonesia? The country is actually famous in population control circles for its remarkably effective social marketing effort to encourage people to limit their families. At one point in the 1970s, they even had a 100 rupiah coin with a "KB" motif. (KB = keluarga berencana, or "family planning.")

While I occasionally run into a taxi driver who boasts about his 5 kids, virtually all the Indonesians I know limit their families to 2 kids. Yes, the population is growing, but it is hardly "exploding." The real concern for Indonesia is not population growth (actually, the size of the consumer market is a positive thing in many ways, as it attracts investment), but whether economic growth can keep pace with the need for job creation as so many Indonesians are entering the job market.

See the link below for some indication of how Indonesia has gotten its growth rate under control.

http://www.google.com/publicdata/exp...ulation+growth

[What Exit?]

Current Pop of Indonesia is now 237M. In 1990 it was 179M. So if it is now slowing down that is great but I read that they will pass the US in 20 years. The actual land mass is not really all that large for the population. They are 4th currently overall and I think 15th in land size. But hey, they are nothing compared to India.

[Hatshepsut]

And in 1990 the US population was 248.7 million, and now it is 313.1 million.

So what if Indonesia's population surpasses that of the US in 20 years? Where is it written that the US population has to be larger than certain other countries? In fact, given that our consumption of resources per capita is much higher than a lot of other countries, it might be good for the planet if we drop a few places in the rankings.

The landmass argument is a red herring unless you really know what you are talking about. Java is densely populated, but many rural areas have very low population densities. The issues are about distribution, not growth, and the solutions lie in proper urban planning. There's also talk of moving the seat of government out of Jakarta; I don't know if that will ever happen, but it is representative of the sort of practical solutions to overcrowding that address the actual problems.

A population growth rate of around 1%, which Indonesia has, is not a "population explosion" and is not inherently a cause for alarm.

[What Exit?]

OK, I withdraw Indonesia.

[Hatshepsut]

OK, I withdraw Indonesia.

What? How dare you concede? I just spent the last 45 minutes running on the treadmill, thinking about my next line of argument.

Spoilsport.

[What Exit?]

I'm sorry but a 1% growth rate is not an explosion, I don't like to argue with reality. You convinced me the problem has changed.

[artifex]

What? How dare you concede? I just spent the last 45 minutes running on the treadmill, thinking about my next line of argument.

I am deeply alarmed by Indonesia's population problem!!! There you go

[Hatshepsut]

I am deeply alarmed by Indonesia's population problem!!! There you go

Why, you .... ! ! !

Eh, never mind. Let's get back to the OP, or at least move slightly in that direction. I can't speak for all of Asia, but it does seem that the heavy-handed Chinese pronouncements, while more threatening than anything else I've seen, do reflect a tendency for governments in this part of the world to offer up simplistic, scolding propaganda with zero wit.

Well, maybe unintentional wit is a better characterization. We went to a movie in Singapore once and saw a short prepared by the government that was trying to encourage people to have more kids. They had attractive, totally plastic actors doing a Chinese-style and utterly unconvincing "Leave it to Beaver" scene of family togetherness - I think a dad was putting to bed an adorable child, while mom looked fondly on and little brother giggled adorably. The sound track was a "happy-happy-joy-joy" affair with lyrics something like, "Children make you happy, you will be happy if you have more children, have more children, tra-la-la, the government will pay you if you have children, happy children, tra-la-la."

[Elendil's Heir]

As to the OP: Communist oligarchs tend not to be too warm and fuzzy.

[Glazer]

And if you choose suicide we will ask you rope or poison. Yikes!

[The Original An Gadaí]

There is no Pravda in Izvestiya and there is no Izvestiya in Pravda