In what I deem a controversial program, a Colombian man and heir to a dairy business in Bogota- Erwin Goggel- is giving peasants free land in Colombia in exchange for one thing: getting sterilized. I use the word 'free' loosely because the peasants first have to undergo surgery- the men have a vasectomy and the women have to get their tubes tied, albeit all at Goggel's expense.
Goggel's goal is to alleviate poverty amongst the peasants, citing the well known notion that poverty is generational and hard to escape within a family. He sees excessive birth rates as part of the problem and states that poverty is directly proportional to the size of the peasant family. His solution: give them 9 acres of land to have invasive surgery performed. By doing so, he wants to create a stable home environment for the existing children and allow the families to have land to sustain themselves from without the worry of having another member to feed with already stretched budgets.
The controversy? (Besides the invasive surgery?) Goggel doesn't actually give the peasants land deeds but instead gives them permission to squat on the $50,000 worth of land he purchased. He's afraid that if the peasants had the land deeds, they would be tempted to sell them and return to their "roofless" and unstable lives.
Whether or not we agree with Goggel's tactics (my verdict is still out), there are cold, hard facts that support at least the spirit of his program. Colombia's birthrate is higher that the rest of Latin America's already high average and about 50% more than the United States' and almost half of the population is living below the poverty line.
But aren't there better ways to address the problem? What are your thoughts?
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Online Source: LA Times
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6 comments:
Colombia has a Great NEGATIVE importance for the USA ... If Colombia ever falls under the boot of a Military Demagogic despot like Hugo Chavez then the consequences would be very hard for Western Hemisphere stability.
About organizations and intellectuals that travel to Colombia and supervise Elections, Congressional, Presidential, etc ... :
The World is becoming a Global Village. We are very interdependent. No country is an Extraterrestrial Galaxy one million light years away from other countries.
It is very positive that all these organizations go into Colombia to observe elections and other developments. They are indeed more independent from Governments.
Everything that happens in another country has an impact on us.
Now, more than ever we need this intellectual kind intervention and opinions.
As far as I know the USA is exporting more billions of dollars to Latin America than to Europe.
And Colombia is in the barycenter of Latin America, that is the physical center of mass, or center of gravity. With two oceans and many harbors, that should mean something to other nations, and it is close to Panama.
Colombia has a Great NEGATIVE importance for the USA ... Let me explain, if Colombia ever falls under the boot or a Military Demagogic despot like Hugo Chavez, then the consequences would be very hard for Western Hemisphere stability.
Hugo Chavez satisfies perfectly the definition of Leftist Dictator, enemy of the free press and private capital, private initiative and the rights of property.
Imagine that for Colombia. So all nations have an interest in protecting the weak flame of Colombian Democracy and Liberties, like free expression and freedom of the press.
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Vicente Duque
, keep your rant on another topic, another post, and you must be a CIA fuckm, obviously from your rant
back to the ORIGINAL poist
great idea this guy should be hero, this planet can only suport 1/2 billion OVERPOPULTION is the #1 problem, {see georgia stones message}
and with imporved health the biorth rates are up, where before the peasants have 10 kids, 7 die.
too many people on the planet for resources, this is a very good start and due to ignorance his idea of lease is also good, this is just pure sentido comun, that which there is not so much is Latinolandia, I know from 35 years there, this guy should be venerated for his idea and others should follow suit'
vincent what an idiot you are
how many kids in Venezuala and Cuba go to bed hungry every night, unlike COLOMBIA and arrogant obese, ignorfant 'sheeples' USA 35% or so of kids under 5 in AMERIKA do
see the real stats
kick out usa military dope dealers in Colombia, Dyncopr, haliburton
glocophospahte delars of death and destruction and monsanto';s bottom line
and wake up fools called business competition FARC etc vs bush monarchy'
the people are NOT so stupid
It is a myth that overpopulation is the problem
http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/2010/03/the-overpopulation-myth/
This is just straight eugenics. And it is disgusting.
I think intellectuals have no business in final decisions regarding any society. Allthough everone including leaders should be as educated as an individuals ability can achieve. People who play with other people's lives should know more about people then dogma read from a book in a closet.
Making a program like this isn't very imaginative nor uplifting to the daily life of a community. It is moral degradation. The socialistic mindset to punish within. Sadistic.
If one is raised in socialism. The logical solution to any problem is to go after and restrict the same people you infer to in helping for the betterment of the community. Inbred to maintain control.
The U.S. is now and has been making inbred policy. All facts show the U.S. in decline. At the same time they say they are saving the dead west. Ha.
de Clermont - although it sounds sociolly repugnant, it is probably a good solution. The recipients of said surgery are not well educated and will create new life ad infinitum if allowed - this is a drain on that family and society. It is responsible to stop at say 3 children and helpful to have access to land to grow their own food.The other issue is that there are indeed too many people on the planet. We are encroaching on all the other habitats either physically or chemically (pollutants in rivers, lakes, ocean, air and land). At the current rate of consumption and pollution, we humans are destroying our habitat and that of hundreds of other animals - we have NO right to that. We are NOT God and do not have the right to make other animals suffer just so that we can live more comfortably and expand incessantly. If we as a species wish to maintain the same level of consumption per capita, we must reduce the number of people dramatically.
I like anonymous's post. Typical it is anonymous. Misery loves company. I wonder what is so special about this anomymous person. Such a statement would imply that he/she believes that he/she must be one of the chosen who will continue man's genetics while the rest of us are expendible. Otherwise said individual would have committed suicide upon the moment of such a grand insight to the human condition to save the planet.
I think at some point in life you came to the conclusion that your only hope for success is by convincing others that they are bad and should dissapear without you having to draw blood.
If it is less people you want, why be against war or even an individual to have the right to kill? You do not like this either because you have no control in who will get killed. It could be you at any given time. Your only hope lies in being part of a man made process to decide who should live and die.
Thier is no life in anonymous. Even if he should succeed. For once he achieved his first goal and noticed he/she survived. He would always be under the paranoia that he will be next. It his very own plan that will exterminate man or bring the planet back with the weakest possible representation of a squabling shrivled up and sickfull two legged human. And that is leaving God out of the picture for you secularists.
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