Yeah, that’s a good data point as well: people grumble but don’t resist—kind of like how we treat the TSA.
Maybe our strong instincts are against regulation of sex, rather than childbearing. The two were tightly coupled in ancient times so we wouldn’t need redundant intuitions.
I also rather like the alternative hypothesis of “Rich Western cultures are freaking insane.”
Maybe our strong instincts are against regulation of sex, rather than childbearing.
But sex is heavily regulated! Just try to have sex with a prostitute, or your sister, or an underage girl, or your employee, or boss, or a mentally retarded person …
China has a long tradition of collectivism and strong central government. Contrast this with the western (especially Anglo-Saxon) tradition of individualism.
OCP hasn’t been the responsibility of the central government for years. The provinces are, predictably, weakening the policy where politically feasible. From wikipedia:
In response to [4-2-1], all provinces have decided that couples are allowed to have two children if both parents were only children themselves: By 2007, all provinces in the nation except Henan had adopted this new policy; Henan followed in 2011.
It may depend of which “we” you’re talking about. The Chinese seem mostly fine with it.
Yeah, that’s a good data point as well: people grumble but don’t resist—kind of like how we treat the TSA.
Maybe our strong instincts are against regulation of sex, rather than childbearing. The two were tightly coupled in ancient times so we wouldn’t need redundant intuitions.
I also rather like the alternative hypothesis of “Rich Western cultures are freaking insane.”
But sex is heavily regulated! Just try to have sex with a prostitute, or your sister, or an underage girl, or your employee, or boss, or a mentally retarded person …
China has a long tradition of collectivism and strong central government. Contrast this with the western (especially Anglo-Saxon) tradition of individualism.
http://lesswrong.com/lw/7wj/get_genotyped_for_free_if_your_iq_is_high_enough/5s85 comes to mind.
The one child policy is far from uncontroversial.
Yet it is sufficiently entrenched that the Chinese government shows few signs of dropping it soon even with the 4-2-1 problem looming.
OCP hasn’t been the responsibility of the central government for years. The provinces are, predictably, weakening the policy where politically feasible. From wikipedia: