Take the Day Off and Make Sweet Beautiful Love To Make Babies

[rdowns]

Link (http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5ijzfbfeDMgbPs8QSgMavu_5FXvnA)

Patriot babies: Russian province holds 'Conception Day'
4 hours ago

ULYANOVSK, Russia (AFP) — Officials in the Russian province of Ulyanovsk urged residents on Wednesday to take the day off work and make patriotic love, with prizes for producing a child on the country's national day nine months hence.

Sergei Morozov, governor of this province 900 kilometres (560 miles) east of Moscow, dreamt up the idea as a way of helping to pull Russia out of its demographic crisis.

"It is a wonderful idea to make September 12 a holiday," he told officials. "People can spend more time with their families, communicate, go to the cinema and direct their energies along the needed course, not least for the prosperity of Ulyanovsk."

"Family Contact" day, dubbed "Conception Day" by locals, is not Morozov's first such scheme.

Prizes including fridges, televisions and an off-road vehicle were offered to anyone who gave birth on the last Russia Day holiday on June 12.

[killmoms]

Ah, how I wish we had a "Stay Home and Make Sweet Beautiful Love To Make Babies" day here in the US.

Maybe I'll call in sick tomorrow... ;)

[Lau]

Ah, how I wish we had a "Stay Home and Make Sweet Beautiful Love To Make Babies" day here in the US.

Every day could be a Stay Home and Make Sweet Beautiful Love To Make Babies day, it's just whether you get paid for it is the question. ;)

[Queso]

Oh great. So in 18 years time we'll have another bunch of billionaires over here buying all the nice property :rolleyes:

[raggedjimmi]

Am I the only person who see's this as a bit grim? Imagine being born for a competition.

[mkrishnan]

Now if that 9/11 protest had gone with this theme...

[SuperCompu2]

wow. :p

can we get congress on the ball here? come on! :D

[question fear]

Am I the only person who see's this as a bit grim? Imagine being born for a competition.

At least you'll know you weren't an accident.

[yg17]

The forum cut the thread title off at "Take the Day Off and Make..." and I was really hoping the thread title was "Take the day off and make sexy time" :D

[Counterfit]

Well, it's functionally the same, right?

Anyways, I think Japan should look into this. I mean, their death rate is higher than their birth rate, and not because of lack of health care.

[Henri Gaudier]

Why doesn't the mayor try to make the town a better place to live for everybody rather than reward some breeder with a 4x4? If it was a cleaner, more attractive place with opportunities people would naturally migrate to his town. Or how about making adoption laws less bureaucratic? Anyone remember the Romanian orphans scandal? It may be prejudiced but in my minds eye I can see the Stalinistic tower blocks, rusty Ladas and mangy dogs. "Hey! I live in a toilet ... lets have some more kids!" All this will do if it's successful is increase the under-class. The Russian social system can't deal presently with it's social costs burden because it's being reamed by the Mafia, venture capitalists and corruption. The last thing it needs is more mouths to feed. Extend this idea to the wider world; we need less people and not more.

[dornoforpyros]

I agree, I have a big problem with giving away "prizes" for having children. Children should be born out of love, not because of economic benefits.

However I can't say I'd turn down the opportunity to skip work for some lovin

[iBlue]

Why doesn't the mayor try to make the town a better place to live for everybody rather than reward some breeder with a 4x4? If it was a cleaner, more attractive place with opportunities people would naturally migrate to his town. Or how about making adoption laws less bureaucratic? Anyone remember the Romanian orphans scandal? It may be prejudiced but in my minds eye I can see the Stalinistic tower blocks, rusty Ladas and mangy dogs. "Hey! I live in a toilet ... lets have some more kids!" All this will do if it's successful is increase the under-class. The Russian social system can't deal presently with it's social costs burden because it's being reamed by the Mafia, venture capitalists and corruption. The last thing it needs is more mouths to feed. Extend this idea to the wider world; we need less people and not more.
http://upc.edesignuk.com/uploads/smilies/3-thumbup2.gif

I had a huge eye roll at this topic but couldn't muster the words to express it. Since you did, I QFT*


*Quoted For Truth

[Abstract]

At least you'll know you weren't an accident.

But you'll know that you were a loser baby in a contest. ;)

[question fear]

But you'll know that you were a loser baby in a contest. ;)

Oh man, imagine the guilt trips:

"We gave you 9 months! We asked nothing of you! You leeched off your mother! All we ask is that you be born on June 12th. HOW HARD IS IT TO MAKE A DEADLINE?!?"

[raggedjimmi]

Even more sinister would be the babies 'forced out' if they're going over the deadline.

[saxman]

What's even more amazing is that apparently Russian women all ovulate on the same day. Remarkable!

[Counterfit]

Must be something in the water.

[Abstract]

Oh man, imagine the guilt trips:

"We gave you 9 months! We asked nothing of you! You leeched off your mother! All we ask is that you be born on June 12th. HOW HARD IS IT TO MAKE A DEADLINE?!?"


Haha, yeah.

June 12th = The day of disappointment. The day that the "big burden" should have been born.
June 13th = Happy Birthday!

[MacNut]

I smell a game show idea for Fox.:p

[northernmunky]

I say the Russians have the right idea... make love not war I say!

Mr Brown... I vote all our bank holidays should be converted to 'Bonk Holiday Mondays' with immediate effect. :D

[Thomas Veil]

This is a monumentally dumb idea.

First of all, not everybody needs a new baby to enjoy family time. Just spend a little more time with the children you have, dammit!

In the second place: associating baby-making with patriotism? What's patriotic about it? Are they supposed to sing their national anthem while they're doing it?

I suppose the Russians would have a natural advantage at this. One could be shtupping to The 1812 Overture, where the final movement (heh heh heh) is accompanied by glorious bells and cannonfire. I guess if you're Russian, that's the ultimate in porn music. :D

And if this were taking place in America, what would we play? "My Country, 'Tis of Thee"?

[iAlan]

And if this were taking place in America, what would we play? "My Country, 'Tis of Thee"?

Nice One.

But I do think it is discriminatory against those of us who are gay!

[GFLPraxis]

Anyone misread the title as " Take the Day Off and Make Sweet Beautiful Love To Babies"? Scared me for a second :eek:

[Macaddicttt]

This is a monumentally dumb idea.

First of all, not everybody needs a new baby to enjoy family time. Just spend a little more time with the children you have, dammit!

In the second place: associating baby-making with patriotism? What's patriotic about it? Are they supposed to sing their national anthem while they're doing it?

The whole point is that Russia is in a demographic crisis. This has nothing to do with "enjoying family time." They aren't having enough babies to keep their population at stable levels. It's happening all over Europe, and Russia is one of the hardest-hit. The birth rate is in serious decline, leaving a terribly smaller working population to support the older, retired generation.

And associating baby-making with patriotism has been around for a long time. A prominent example of this is Italian policies under Mussolini where having more children was encouraged to propagate the Italian state, culture and race.

[xsedrinam]

And if this were taking place in America, what would we play? "My Country, 'Tis of Thee"?
We'd vacillate between:
•The Stars & Stripes and
•Dvorak's New World


:D

[FireArse]

Ah, how I wish we had a "Stay Home and Make Sweet Beautiful Love To Make Babies" day here in the US.

Maybe I'll call in sick tomorrow... ;)

urrrr....I'm not sure if they taught you this back in school, but you need two people to make babies!

;)

F

[Henri Gaudier]

The whole point is that Russia is in a demographic crisis. This has nothing to do with "enjoying family time." They aren't having enough babies to keep their population at stable levels. It's happening all over Europe, and Russia is one of the hardest-hit. The birth rate is in serious decline, leaving a terribly smaller working population to support the older, retired generation.

Yes absolutely right. And capitalism doesn't work and it is therefore unable to give a sustainable soloution to this modern conundrum and it was never more demonstrable than in the previous statement of fact. We have 2 billion old therefore we need more young but they too themselves get old. We now have 4 billion old people and so we need more working young but they themselves are now old. We have 10 billion old and therefore ..... No wilderness, no animals, no space, no privacy just vast factory farms and CCTV brain implants. Just keep rutting and consuming.

Back to the present and near future. Migration will fill the void especially as it is usually from communities that can't stop breeding.

[Macaddicttt]

Yes absolutely right. And capitalism doesn't work and it is therefore unable to give a sustainable soloution to this modern conundrum and it was never more demonstrable than in the previous statement of fact. We have 2 billion old therefore we need more young but they too themselves get old. We now have 4 billion old people and so we need more working young but they themselves are now old. We have 10 billion old and therefore ..... No wilderness, no animals, no space, no privacy just vast factory farms and CCTV brain implants. Just keep rutting and consuming.

Back to the present and near future. Migration will fill the void especially as it is usually from communities that can't stop breeding.

I didn't say I agreed with the plan, it's just that the poster I responded to didn't seem to understand the objective of this particular mayor.

And your logic is completely flawed. There is such thing as a birth rate that keeps the population stable. If that birth rate were achieved in places such as this village in Russia, there wouldn't be a crisis of population either way, too few or too many.

[Thomas Veil]

And associating baby-making with patriotism has been around for a long time. A prominent example of this is Italian policies under Mussolini where having more children was encouraged to propagate the Italian state, culture and race.This is still a terrible reason for making babies. You have children so that you can love them and nuture them and enjoy them. You don't have them for patriotic reasons such as propagating the state -- or to win prizes.

[Macaddicttt]

This is still a terrible reason for making babies. You have children so that you can love them and nuture them and enjoy them. You don't have them for patriotic reasons such as propagating the state -- or to win prizes.

Yeah, I know. I'm not defending him, just explaining it.

[the vj]

We have a guy working in my house, he is 23 and he has 2 3 years old doughters from different mothers.

I onced worked with a girl who lived in a getto and she had 4 brothers and two of them died by the crime.

Crime is a big issue here, over populated city, lack of services. There are places where the water arrives on saturdays only. Single mothers with 4 kids.

Better not to have more kids around here.

[MacinDoc]

Yes absolutely right. And capitalism doesn't work and it is therefore unable to give a sustainable soloution to this modern conundrum and it was never more demonstrable than in the previous statement of fact. We have 2 billion old therefore we need more young but they too themselves get old. We now have 4 billion old people and so we need more working young but they themselves are now old. We have 10 billion old and therefore ..... No wilderness, no animals, no space, no privacy just vast factory farms and CCTV brain implants. Just keep rutting and consuming.

Back to the present and near future. Migration will fill the void especially as it is usually from communities that can't stop breeding.
I think you're missing the point. In Russia, Europe, the United States and Canada, the fertility rate is less than what is required to sustain the current population. In many of these countries, such as Russia and France, the population is shrinking, while in others, such as Canada, the population is only sustained by net migration. Followed to its logical conclusion, in the absence of net migration, the decline of fertility rates in the West and Russia would eventually lead to zero population in these parts of the world. You can argue that the void will be filled with net migration, but this will result in a tremendous change in world demographics. In addition, the resultant loss of biologic diversity in the human species will cause a substantial increase in disease susceptibility and genetic defects. In addition, net migration can never address the relative lack of children in our current demographics, so the imbalance between old and young will continue.

In other words, the low birth rate in the developed world is not much better in ecologic terms than the high birth rate in developing nations.

By the way, unless a socialist system can magically make people able and willing to work into their 80's and 90's, I fail to see how it could improve the current demographic crisis. History has proven socialist societies to be less productive than capitalist societies. So, if the average worker is less productive under a socialist system, then more workers will need to be found to do the same amount of work.

[Henri Gaudier]

I didn't say I agreed with the plan, it's just that the poster I responded to didn't seem to understand the objective of this particular mayor.

And your logic is completely flawed. There is such thing as a birth rate that keeps the population stable. If that birth rate were achieved in places such as this village in Russia, there wouldn't be a crisis of population either way, too few or too many.

Hello MA. No I didn't think that you agreed with it either! And as for my logic not holding water well the population is increasing exponentially and it has to do so if the present economic model is kept. Kept forever until catastrophe hits. Irreversible catastrophe that is. As an environmentalist I already know we are in the sh*t due to consumerism, waste and over population and the only thing capitalism can come up with is to do it even more; to spend and consume out of recession, breed to increase the young working population to pay for the old etc ad lib to nauseam.

[takao]

I think you're missing the point. In Russia, Europe, the United States and Canada, the fertility rate is less than what is required to sustain the current population. In many of these countries, such as Russia and France, the population is shrinking, while in others, such as Canada, the population is only sustained by net migration.

actually france and the US don't really have problems their birth rate is still around 2.0 for a family which is needed to sustain it

really screwed are the central european countries (germany is hit very hard) and eastern europe/japan

for france: they started with big financial benefits for having more than 2 children somewhere in the 20ties since so many young people died in the 1st world war and they are still keeping some of the programms introduced

[Macaddicttt]

Hello MA. No I didn't think that you agreed with it either! And as for my logic not holding water well the population is increasing exponentially and it has to do so if the present economic model is kept. Kept forever until catastrophe hits. Irreversible catastrophe that is. As an environmentalist I already know we are in the sh*t due to consumerism, waste and over population and the only thing capitalism can come up with is to do it even more; to spend and consume out of recession, breed to increase the young working population to pay for the old etc ad lib to nauseam.

Population is not increasing exponentially (most experts are predicting that the world population will level off at around 10 billion), and doesn't have to in this present economic model. Sure there need to be a few changes to the economic models around the world, but right now Europe needs more young people to balance (not completely outnumber) out the old, whether it be from immigration or an increased fertility rate. People aren't advocating breeding to create an even bigger old population in the future, but to create a balance (old people die eventually).

(P.S. Just because you're an environmentalist doesn't mean that you know anything about the environment; it just means you want to protect it. I'm an environmentalist, too.)

[LizKat]

Am I the only person who see's this as a bit grim? Imagine being born for a competition.

Could be a matter of great pride, as in "When I came along, we finally got a refrigerator!"

Just imagine being conceived primarily in the hope that your older sister will have a little brother. Around half the world's population probably falls into that scenario.

[shu82]

Come on babies don't come from wanting to have babies. They come from enjoying unprotected sex:rolleyes:. We don't have trouble making babies in the US. Its just that what is being born isn't exactly what I would call a choice harvest.