When I had to stop driving several years ago, I was truly in mourning at the loss of independence. I thought I’d never get over having to arrange for somebody to take me where I want to go. Fairly often, I discover I’m wrong about what irks me. My late husbands (both of them) would enjoy hearing me admit to this. Riding with the good souls who chauffeur me allows me the privilege of watching the traffic, the number of cars, the speed at which they travel, the red lights they run and the hurry everybody is in to get somewhere.
Over the Memorial Day holiday weekend, I watched the long lines of traffic on television – everyone going somewhere and in a rush to get there. The news announcers augmented the pictures by telling of policemen specifically on assignment to keep accidents from happening, and commercials advertised the entertainment sites that were attracting those lines of cars, filled with people eager to join the happy people already at the swimming pools, picnic sites or casinos. Soon, we would be informed of the incidents where one irritated driver cut off another, resulting in a road-rage altercation caught on film. Nobody mentioned staying home – the only advice offered was to leave early and be patient because the traffic was heavy. Lately, the difficulty with arriving somewhere often negates the pleasure of going.
In the years when my children were little and I stayed home, I read a lot and discovered the theories of zero population growth. The theories seemed valid, if only they could be implemented without enraging various segments of the people. At the time, I thought of a plan I considered feasible. Watching the traffic and people standing in line on Memorial Day brought that long-ago plan to mind.
This is how it went:
Every girl baby would have two fertility capsules implanted at birth. (Never mind that the science doesn’t yet exist to do this – bear with me here.) These capsules would have nothing to do with genetics; they would constitute only permission to get pregnant. If the girl, upon reaching adulthood, wanted to have two babies, nothing need be done. If she didn’t want any children or wanted only one, she could sell or give the unwanted capsule to another woman who wanted more than she was allotted. If the buyer, for example, wanted six children, she could obtain four capsules from other women who wanted no children or only one. This way, all children would be wanted. We could stop fighting over abortion or Planned Parenthood. We would reduce the amount of child abuse. After a few years, as the old continued to die, the population would stabilize.
What is wrong with a non-prejudicial system to keep the population level from increasing, solve some continual disagreements and allow children to be born into families where they are wanted? Eventually, it might even reduce the traffic. cc
Harriett Rose is a native Lexingtonian, a retired psychologist, and an avid bridge and Scrabble player. She can be reached by email at harriett77@yahoo.com.