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> Those who oppose contraceptives reveal themselves for ... It isn't that simple. I was hoping that the article would dive into the reason why contributors to

by woodman 11y ago

> Those who oppose contraceptives reveal themselves for ... It isn't that simple. I was hoping that the article would dive into the reason why contributors to these endeavors are so quite about it, given the title, but unfortunately it didn't. I'm guessing that it has something to do with the very touchy issue of eugenics, the attempts to use birth control to reduce the number of "unfit", and the fact that early eugenicists and birth control proponents where also wealthy white people. [0] The parallels are so easily drawn that it is much more simple to just keep a relatively low profile. So some of those middle-ages minded people you mentioned might actually be more concerned about the long term impact of disproportionately servicing the historically vulnerable with birth control. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Sanger#Eugenics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Sanger#Eugenics

bilbo0s 11y ago
I'm guessing you probably don't work in Health Care. Or if you do, you don't work at the level of policy or population health. The issue with implementing Eugenics in certain populations... is that suspicion of Health Care workers is abnormally high in those populations. I'm not talking about the mentally ill, or the deficient. But certain ethnic populations harbor DEEP suspicions of medical professionals and the medical industry in general. So, over time, it's become hard to get those populations to do even those things that really are objectively "good" for their health. Let alone implement a Eugenics effort. The problem is social... not technological. We have had cheap, and effective technology to keep people from getting pregnant for decades. How do you get people to use it??? If you had ever worked in health care, you would realize this is not so simple a question to answer. You have to get people to trust you. That's what Buffet should have spent his money on. Getting certain populations to trust medical professionals. All Liletta is... is yet another birth control device. We have those already. How do you get people to use them??? I mean forget Liletta. How do you get people to use ANY of them ???? The patch? Implants? The pill? ANYTHING? If Eugenics was the goal, the money was wasted. Because what you need for Eugenics... is cooperation. And, right now, you just don't have that from certain populations. Now... if you could FORCE them to use birth control... then you'd be on to something. But that's already been tried... with Norplant. And it turns out that forcing them doesn't really work either.
- woodman 11y ago
  Yeah I don't think you'll be surprised to hear that I'm not a heath care worker, I'm a programmer and amateur logician. You may have noticed that my prior statement did not touch on the subject of actually addressing health concerns, it was about the sense of secrecy surrounding these programs. That wasn't an accident, I find the topic kind of boring because people generally take the approach of simply imagining their desired outcome, assembling a list of prerequisites for the realization of the outcome, and then advocating for the implementation of those prerequisites. Boring, because I think it is the wrong approach - one that often leads to such thinking as "the end justifies the means". You do make a very good point about existing and deeply rooted suspicions held by minorities, the cause of which is certainly worth reflection. I would like to point out cooperation and force are not necessary for the implementation of any objective, especially when you're operating on such a grand scale. Also, I don't think Buffett is secretly trying to kill off any races - but I do think that the sensitivity surround the topic is directly related to birth control's early history in eugenics.

by woodman 11y ago

bilbo0s 11y ago

I'm guessing you probably don't work in Health Care. Or if you do, you don't work at the level of policy or population health. The issue with implementing Eugenics in certain populations... is that suspicion of Health Care workers is abnormally high in those populations. I'm not talking about the mentally ill, or the deficient. But certain ethnic populations harbor DEEP suspicions of medical professionals and the medical industry in general. So, over time, it's become hard to get those populations to do even those things that really are objectively "good" for their health. Let alone implement a Eugenics effort. The problem is social... not technological. We have had cheap, and effective technology to keep people from getting pregnant for decades. How do you get people to use it??? If you had ever worked in health care, you would realize this is not so simple a question to answer. You have to get people to trust you. That's what Buffet should have spent his money on. Getting certain populations to trust medical professionals. All Liletta is... is yet another birth control device. We have those already. How do you get people to use them??? I mean forget Liletta. How do you get people to use ANY of them ???? The patch? Implants? The pill? ANYTHING? If Eugenics was the goal, the money was wasted. Because what you need for Eugenics... is cooperation. And, right now, you just don't have that from certain populations. Now... if you could FORCE them to use birth control... then you'd be on to something. But that's already been tried... with Norplant. And it turns out that forcing them doesn't really work either.

woodman 11y ago
Yeah I don't think you'll be surprised to hear that I'm not a heath care worker, I'm a programmer and amateur logician. You may have noticed that my prior statement did not touch on the subject of actually addressing health concerns, it was about the sense of secrecy surrounding these programs. That wasn't an accident, I find the topic kind of boring because people generally take the approach of simply imagining their desired outcome, assembling a list of prerequisites for the realization of the outcome, and then advocating for the implementation of those prerequisites. Boring, because I think it is the wrong approach - one that often leads to such thinking as "the end justifies the means". You do make a very good point about existing and deeply rooted suspicions held by minorities, the cause of which is certainly worth reflection. I would like to point out cooperation and force are not necessary for the implementation of any objective, especially when you're operating on such a grand scale. Also, I don't think Buffett is secretly trying to kill off any races - but I do think that the sensitivity surround the topic is directly related to birth control's early history in eugenics.