The American Spectator

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Demographic Desires

5.5.06 @ 12:01AM

POPULATION TAXES
Re: Reuven Brenner's Demographic Self-Indulgence and Its Remedy:

Might I also mention the elephant in the parlor? Confiscatory tax rates.

Consider that the average, not rich, family in the U.S. pays about 40 percent of its annual income in federal, state and local taxes. Therefore before we can contemplate children, much less supporting them, we must pay the taxman before we can shelter, clothe or feed our kids. Notice that birthrates tend to be higher in red America versus blue America. Is it coincidence that taxes and the general cost of living are lower in red America? Or, is out of control government spending and the therefore requisite taxes the ultimate in anti-family policies practiced by our government?
-- Eugene Podrazik
Casper, Wyoming

The article "Demographic Self-Indulgence and Its Remedy" by Reuven Brenner finds one cause of the demographic crisis in Europe in the realization by prospective parents that having children imposes costs on them that will result in a reduction in their freedom. That is, there are opportunity costs in having children.

Another important consideration depressing European's willingness to have children is the constant barrage of environmental propaganda. Europeans are constantly warned that there are too many people in the world, that a growing population threatens the ecology, that disaster is about to befall the world. If people have been told often enough that "Human beings are the problem," they will feel guilty about bringing more children into the world. The suppression of the population is one of the main goals of the environmental movement and it has been very successful indeed in Europe.
-- Jack Penkrot

WIRELESS RISKS
Re: Michael Fumento's False WiFi Fears :

Actually, Mr. Fumento, WiFi is a health risk in the U.S., but it only affects Democrats! We're just learning about the test results since Algore (the inventor of the Internet, and probably WiFi, as well) went mad. The experiments on Howard Dean, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid are continuing, and show promising results. Karl Rove gave them all cell phones for Christmas, just last year. No one seems to know if he gave any to RINOs, but Senator Specter has been exhibiting symptoms. Lincoln Chafee wasn't on the list since he's a known alien from the Alpha Centauri system and WiFi has long been a problem there.

This is so much fun!
-- Mike Showalter
Austin, Texas

SOME LIVES ARE MORE VALUABLE
Re: Christopher Orlet's On Our Watch:

I always wonder if people like Gorgeous George have ever taken a step back and examined their positions for inconsistencies. How can they merely shrug at the evidence of a human rights nightmare in Iraq by the former regime and then demand action in Darfur? Why do mass graves, rape rooms, and torture chambers in Iraq matter so much less than a civil war in Africa?

We non-celebrities have to deal with reality. He really wants to put our troops in Africa between two warring Muslim armies? This is a good idea? Is he going to volunteer?
-- Chris

Why is it that the left always wants to defend Muslims (except in Iraq and Afghanistan), but ignores and/or encourages the slaughter of Christians in places like southern Sudan, Rwanda (where Bill Clinton with the UN and French abetted the genocide), Nigeria, Indonesia, China, etc. I know they hate the deluded followers of Christ in the U.S., but if persecution and genocide is wrong isn't wrong everywhere? I mean how could the enlightened left not always do the right thing they're such "nobler people" than most Americans and Christians?

What happens when we put troops in Darfur and stop the genocide? How soon will the Democrats, the media and Hollywood be clamoring for Bush's impeachment for lying about genocide in Darfur? Wouldn't US intervention be denying Muslim fanatics a free expression or religion?

Here is a suggestion for the rent a mobs of the left -- why don't you go to Darfur and form human shields to protect the victims of Muslim extremism. I'm sure the extremists in Khartoum will treat you better than the tyrant George W. Bush.
-- Michael Tomlinson
Crownsville, Maryland

IMPERFECT, BUT SOLID
Re: James Bowman's review of United 93:

Letter to the Editor

topics:
Taxes, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Religion, Environment, Hollywood, Law, Military, Iraq, NATO, Africa