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New Male Birth Control Pill Effectively Prevents Pregnancy Without Side Effects

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Re: New Male Birth Control Pill Effectively Prevents Pregnancy Without Side Effects

#71

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Injections into the penis are probably a non starter for a lot of people. I had a vasectomy, so I don't have anything to worry about now but I'd choose a pill over a shot any day, no matter how frequent. Also, being able to stop taking a pill whenever I want is a benefit. Had I not already chosen a permanent path, I'd sign up for a trial today.

>Injections into the penis Pass.

This hardly compares to what women on the pill have to go through, for years. Why are we so squeamish about this?

Re: New Male Birth Control Pill Effectively Prevents Pregnancy Without Side Effects

#72
post #50

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It depends on the systems. Social security is a system that would be under greater pressure, not less.

Hot take: social security is a Ponzi scheme.

By implication, the people who get out first are the only winners?

Re: New Male Birth Control Pill Effectively Prevents Pregnancy Without Side Effects

#73

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I just read an article about how immigrants (to the us) working in elder care were more culturally suited than Americans to the work, having more respect for old age. So it might be just the opposite, or perhaps respect for elders is a consequence of the demographic shift over time? Or just correlated?

By the time most of us are old, there will be no immigrants remaining.

Climate change might make more climate migrants

Re: New Male Birth Control Pill Effectively Prevents Pregnancy Without Side Effects

#74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“Right now the absolute worst thing you can do for the environment is to have a child as a westerner.” By this logic one can rationally claim the best thing you can do for the environment is to die.

Or to kill. We need to be really careful that in our haste to make progress in environmental protection and gender equality, we don't find ourselves heading down the dark path towards eugenics or self-extinction.

Or to not have children that you don't want, which is what the discussion is about.

We don't avoid killing ourselves or others because of its effects on the environment, which are great. We avoid killing ourselves and others due to other considerations. I bet you can name some so I don't have to.

Re: New Male Birth Control Pill Effectively Prevents Pregnancy Without Side Effects

#75
post #51

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Quoted post unavailable.

What? Any attempt to regulate or restrict birth control against women is consistently held up as the “patriarchy” because it restricts women’s autonomy. Now not restricting it is patriarchy? Seems like literally everything is. So far, men’s birth controls haven’t been legalized because the risks have been pretty massive. The last trial I heard of had a massive risk of suicide. “Patriarchy” has no part of it.

> The last trial I heard of had a massive risk of suicide. “Patriarchy” has no part of it.

Existing birth control options for women also have high risk of mental health issues though. So people might reasonably question why were approved for women but not for men.

Re: New Male Birth Control Pill Effectively Prevents Pregnancy Without Side Effects

#76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Injections into the penis Pass.

This hardly compares to what women on the pill have to go through, for years. Why are we so squeamish about this?

I think it's impossible to compare these things accurately but women have been taking the pill for more than half a century. It's been proven to be relatively safe and reliable for most people. Something for men would be great but I'm certainly not going to risk future fertility with something that new and untested, particularly when my partner has a much more tested and safe alternative. On top of that, men have a very simple, effective, and safe option available - condoms. They have their own downsides but they don't outweigh the risk, pain, and anxiety of an injection in the scrotum.

Re: New Male Birth Control Pill Effectively Prevents Pregnancy Without Side Effects

#77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The rough transition aside, would it be so bad to return to lower population levels? The only thing I'm sad about is that I won't live to see the population decline rather than increase.

Yes — it’s absolutely psychotic to hope for a mass loss of human life and the decline of our species. There’s no reason to think it would make things better — and many to think a massive population decline would come with a technology regression and stall of our advancement. I think such ideas are a form of mental illness, often stemming from delusions about the world.

This planet cannot naturally sustain billions of humans. It takes all our industrial capacity and cutting nutritional corners just to feed us, and now one war in one country is to cut our supplies and put millions at risk.

Not to mention how most people don't have serious, productive jobs like doctors or lawyers. Most people have dead-end office jobs, ones that fuel global consumerism. Is that the technology you talk about losing? iPhones and videogames? And even so, unemployment is still an unsolvable problem.

You should drop your fairy tale expectations of living happily forever after. Mathematical models predict population growth and decline in nature. It is completely expected that when the average westerner is satiated emotionally and physically, they are not instinctively pushed to reproduce - why would they, there's nothing serious to work towards.

Re: New Male Birth Control Pill Effectively Prevents Pregnancy Without Side Effects

#78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not a decline but a stabilisation. That's really what's needed to make our planet sustainable. Right now the absolute worst thing you can do for the environment is to have a child as a westerner. And we're not hoping for loss of life. Just a more balanced population in the long term. We can't keep growing until every square meter of this planet is covered with people, I'm sure that's clear. Eventually resources will…

“Right now the absolute worst thing you can do for the environment is to have a child as a westerner.” By this logic one can rationally claim the best thing you can do for the environment is to die.

> By this logic one can rationally claim the best thing you can do for the environment is to die.

That may well be true for most people. Luckily the environment isn't the only factor in ethical considerations.

Re: New Male Birth Control Pill Effectively Prevents Pregnancy Without Side Effects

#79

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Do we really need more people? America has almost 350 million, and is completely dwarfed by India and China. That seems like plenty of people to me.

This depends. Do you want someone to be able to take care of you after you retire? Medical care, that sort of thing? If so, that means that you need people. People younger than you. People with some sort of societal attachment to you that results in them not just tossing your entire generation into a metaphorical woodchipper, because taking care of old people is a ton of work. The traditional way to ensure that such…

Isn't that what technology is for? Maybe we should stop screaming about technology putting everybody out of work for five minutes before demanding an answer about who'll do the work to take care of old people.

Re: New Male Birth Control Pill Effectively Prevents Pregnancy Without Side Effects

#80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Injections into the penis Pass.

This hardly compares to what women on the pill have to go through, for years. Why are we so squeamish about this?

Huh?

I would think that the pill, both the men's and the women's version, would be imminently more preferable to an injection any day of the week? Particularly injections which require preparatory injections to numb pain deemed to exceed acceptable FDA levels for humans. If there is a men's and women's version of a pill, and a men's and women's version of an injection, most men and women would choose the pill.

That seems common sense to me, not squeamish-ness. This pill will garner infinitely many more users. (I mean, assuming it works I guess?)

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