Right to life
 

For those who haven't read the thread that started it, there has been a debate on the absoluteness of rights so I will give an ethical delimma to hopefully further my point.


You are the leader on an isolated island (that means NO outside contact) that can only support 1,000 people. For the past few hundred years your population has expanded from its initial 100 people (we are ignoring incest) and we are nearing the 1,000 people limit. Do to the poor leadership of the following leader, there was no movement to limit population expansion and you are going to be facing the major problem of overpopulation.

During last year's census, there was a recorded population of 990 people but due to boom in the natural ocesslation of childbirths, it is predicted that the population is currently at 1200 people. Since you are living in a small island with no outside resources, your island is facing economic collapse because it physically can not support the additional 200 people. If you do nothing, there it is more than likely you will overuse your resources, dropping the number of people the island can support even further and there will be war and an unrecoverable collapse of the economy in result that will certainly lead to the demise of everyone on the island.

Now you, being the responsible leader of the island, have the decision of either killing the excess 200 babies to keep the population in check or do nothing and hope, most likely in vain, that your whole island will not collapse.

So the decision is, in the eyes of greater society (the island), do those extra children have a right to life or not?

Third option: Expand island resources via outside help.

4th option ship all the bad ones to Ali's house. Whatever doesn't fit there can visit Ducksy.

Bad joke.

Uh isn't that how Australia started Drax?

pierce,
Perhaps, instead of killing the 200 babies, you should have a lottery to randomly select 200 people to kill; or you could institute a competitive event (such as dueling) which will serve to limit the population; or you could eliminate the least productive adults, or criminals, etc.

You also need to implement a policy to limit future population growth, such as allowing only as many births as deaths in future years. Anyone who has an illegal child gets put on a raft and floated out to sea.

Remind me never to get stuck on an unknown island somewhere with you, HLJ. Yikes! :eek:

I think the island in the OP represents Earth, and the problems encountered there will soon be encountered here, and you are stuck on the island with me.

Just kill everyone over 30 and make them into food (Logan's Run + Soylent Green).

I would agree with you if we were in Boulder.

If the island has resources that are depleteing rapidly why aren't you building boats to leave the damned thing before you have to resort to killing people and possibly eating them? (Easter Island scenario)Migration...Every animal does it to survive.....even in hypothetical terms such as that....

You have to leave the island Pierce..I'm sorry.
:)

Some migrate and some stay...The ones that stay can figure out a better way to self-sustain and drink parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme...

Or kill them all, I don't care..I don't have it all worked out yet!
:)

How would I know that? Ask Ali.

I think Pierce is just tryin' to start some shit. 'Course, there's not much else to do around here.

the sad thing is that you do not understand what a right is.

of course the kids have the right to live. as do the 1000 that came before. if your society decides to infringe on their right to life in order to save the whole nation.....it does not change the fact that the babies had the right to life.

you're really frustratingly dense about this topic.

Left to their right to what? Isn't that a song? Oh and I am NOT dense - I'm thick.