Ted Turner: You know who’s done pretty well with population control? China

posted at 6:26 pm on May 7, 2009 by Allahpundit

Revelatory, not because it catches Turner opining on a subject about which he knows little — I do that for a living — but because, forced to make an assumption about Chinese policy to fill in the gap in his knowledge, he gives them the benefit of the doubt. Is there any aspect of Chinese governance that doesn’t involve “draconian steps” at some point to deal with public noncompliance? Why would this be any different? And of course, it isn’t. Incidentally, if you think China’s population control experiment has been a “success,” take a look at this number. Things are going to get very interesting in Asia, very soon.

I’m almost afraid to ask what sent him off on this line of discussion. Presumably it’s global warming. Aren’t shrinking western birth rates thinning the herd for him quickly enough? Click the image to watch.

Blowback

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You learn something new just every single DAY. Now we know what Ted Turner does not consider draconian. That this would include measures like forced sterilization of women, and fines and loss of jobs for couples having more than one child, might be considered a little startling. But hey, it’s information.

J.E. Dyer on May 7, 2009 at 8:55 PM

I don’t know what it is with these types of people and their fascination with China. One of our company VP’s became enamored with a consulting company and brought them in to help us identify ways to build green, sustainable products. That in itself was amusing and ironic because “green” is the last thing someone would associate with what we build and “sustainable” means something entirely different in our world.

However, the lead dude for these consultants, a PhD of some sort was absolutely lovestruck with China. First he waxed poetic about how the Chinese had figured out sustainability because they used every bit of waste (human and animal) on their farm plots and that “they knew about sustainability because they had been able to live on those plots of land for 1000′s of generations”. He then commented about one of his discussions with a Chinese government official who told him she was responsible for ensuring construction of houses for 1 million Chinese. His comment was admiration along the lines of what an awesome responsibility she had. My thoughts were along the lines of why in @#$% is a GOVERNMENT official responsible for planning housing for people? Of course that was before the election of The One — I’m sure that’s coming soon to a town near me.

At any rate, it was quite disheartening to see the absolute adoration of the Chinese totalitarian state that this guy held.

/yeah, and his consultations were pretty worthless also. My management pretty much laughed it off when they found out what the whole thing was about.

AZfederalist on May 7, 2009 at 8:57 PM

The Chinese have not been very successful with their population control, nor has it been without draconian measures. Limiting people to ONE child was utterly foolish – even I was able to predict a massive gender imbalance. (and the female infanticide that went with it) As for the measures used…well…I don’t think I need to add much.

Population limits should be done with two children to a family and NEVER enforced by physical coercion. People should be allowed to have more – just with the caveat that benefits such as public schooling will be not extended after the second. Have more and you pay out of your own pocket from cradle to college, the way it used to be. A firm stance on that will slash birth rates plenty as well as somewhat mollify the childfree, who are (rightly) very tired of paying for other people’s choices.

Dark-Star on May 7, 2009 at 9:02 PM

I love central planning for the many opportunities it provides, to laugh at the central planners.

Kralizec on May 7, 2009 at 9:04 PM

No not too draconian, Teddy boy – this way works real sweet

http://thepoliticallyincorrectfish.com/pif2/?p=637

Friendly21 on May 7, 2009 at 9:05 PM

Yeah, Ted you should only have one child. As someone has commented China’s experiment in population control has created a huge imbalance between the sexes, fifty million more males than females. I am very interested in how they are going to solve that problem through central planning.

SC.Charlie on May 7, 2009 at 9:15 PM

I was wondering how long it would be til I heard the libs talking about population controls. I have heard way too many liberals in vairous chat rooms, facebook, etc. saying that the Earth is overpopulated, which is ridiculous.

jeffn21 on May 7, 2009 at 9:22 PM

Is he in the next room?

Ok guys, what the F$&k are we going to do with grandpa?

Claypigeon on May 7, 2009 at 9:27 PM

Maybe Teddy would like you all to join the Human Extinction Movement?

http://www.vhemt.org/

Friendly21 on May 7, 2009 at 9:35 PM

Good lord…talk about crazy.

therightwinger on May 7, 2009 at 9:39 PM

As a mother of a son and a daughter born in China, this man, his words and his very thought process make me sick.

The terrible toll that has been inflicted on the Chinese people by this law is incredible.

If anyone questions this, please read “Lost Daughters of China”

The simple words “population control” do not sum up the human tragedy that has occurred with this disgusting law.

Do we really want to see women in this country, on the run in a desperate attempt to save their unborn child’s life? their parents put into jail to try to force the woman out of hiding so that they can do a forced abortion? And then finally that woman giving birth to her baby and having to leave the child somewhere in hopes that someone will find the baby?

I wish I could write Ted Turner off as a lone kook, but I am seeing this ignorance from multiple liberal fronts and even from some so-called conservatives.

Willow on May 7, 2009 at 9:54 PM

this is a good illustration of the lack of shunning that happens in our “elite” press.

In a sane world he would have been challenged as the moron he is. he would have been made fun of by Steward or SNL.

But the left loves it’s crazy old uncles.

r keller on May 7, 2009 at 9:57 PM

Stewart not Steward

r keller on May 7, 2009 at 9:58 PM

Ted still taking medication to fall asleep at night?

Coronagold on May 7, 2009 at 10:38 PM

The French worked hard at population control as well,,, during their French revolution. China, though,, well, you know these commies,, they always start and keep things like that at the bottom. But the French,, well, they started with those in power first and worked their way down from there.
Wonder why he didn’t praise France’s past efforts at population control??

JellyToast on May 7, 2009 at 10:39 PM

Ted needs to see a doctor. Perhaps there is a cure for the mind-destroying result of living with Jane. Then again, perhaps the only recourse is to take a revolver, one round, and do the honorable thing. If he could recognize what a dolt he is…nah. Self-approval rating is too far above 100%.

The lack of knowledge, which does not impede the announcement of strong opinion, would be hilarious in any venue except this country.

We have a POTUS running major auto companies and banks. The guy has never held a job in either industry nor any other job than, briefly, a lawyer suing banks to kill themselves with subprime lending (it’s okay, it was based on race, and he is our post-racial leader).

Why shouldn’t Turner spew this junk? His frau is no more intelligent or informed. I do wish she would appear at the trials of Khmer Rouge types in Cambodia and denounce them as she denounced US troops. The Khmer Rouge, under Pol Pot, killed more people than all the US activity in Cambodia over all the years we were involved in SEA.

Facts are indeed troublesome things…

Harry Schell on May 7, 2009 at 10:48 PM

Jane, stop this crazy thing!!!

hillbillyjim on May 7, 2009 at 10:52 PM

A new demographic study conducted by Chinese researchers reveals that China has 32.7 million more males than females under the age of 20.

As they say in Alaska, “you didn’t lose your wife, you lost your turn!”

jdkchem on May 7, 2009 at 11:14 PM

A new demographic study conducted by Chinese researchers reveals that China has 32.7 million more males than females under the age of 20.

I hear that Perez Hilton has booked a flight to Beijing.

realitycheck on May 7, 2009 at 11:19 PM

Now, with 50 million men running around with no women, the Chinese government will FORCE them to be gay and marry.

But, the real question is will the govenment let excess 2nd childs from women be adopted by the gay male couples?

Hmmmmm.

Freedom is so much better.

Sapwolf on May 7, 2009 at 11:37 PM

Ted Turner is the case FOR suicide.

Hop to it mister atheist.

Sapwolf on May 7, 2009 at 11:38 PM

Maybe the Chinese can convince the Japanese soldiers to come back and help the chicoms reduce the population.

What the hell is wrong with the world?

Sapwolf on May 7, 2009 at 11:40 PM

Ted still taking medication to fall asleep at night?

Coronagold on May 7, 2009 at 10:38 PM

You have proof of that? No, I believe you I just want to know the proof of Ted’s medication. Is is 80 proof, 100, 150 or PGA?

viking01 on May 8, 2009 at 12:02 AM

Didn’t scroll through all the answers yet, but I thought I’d scrawl this on the wall.

Turner, you want population control? Open your vein first, and prove you are serious.

john1schn on May 8, 2009 at 12:08 AM

I really don’t understand it. This guy is dumber than a stump and is a billionaire. Then that means that I should be a trillionaire, but I’m not. I really don’t understand it.

cjs1943 on May 8, 2009 at 12:28 AM

As usual, Ted Turner demonstrates that he is totally clueless whenever he comments on anything outside his narrow expertise.

landlines on May 8, 2009 at 12:53 AM

Have more and you pay out of your own pocket from cradle to college, the way it used to be. A firm stance on that will slash birth rates plenty as well as somewhat mollify the childfree, who are (rightly) very tired of paying for other people’s choices.

Dark-Star on May 7, 2009 at 9:02 PM

All righty then, and all tax income earned by said “extra” children go directly into the parent’s retirement coffers and not into the public funds.

Seems to me you need a few more mega families here in the U.S. to cover your aging arses.

caygeon on May 8, 2009 at 1:29 AM

I think this is just a simple misunderstanding. Turner thought draconian steps meant using dragons to control the Chinese population. He knew that wasn’t possible because all the dragons were killed off by … You guessed it … Global Warming.

Mormon Doc on May 8, 2009 at 2:03 AM

Allah calls it first… the upcoming Chinese “Me So Horny” 30-Million-Man campaign. Will Tokyo supply the comfort girls this time?

T J Green on May 8, 2009 at 2:39 AM

The gender imbalance is due to cultural bias against female children. When that bias fades away, so will the imbalance.

One-child policy has reduced China population by 250 million, that is not a success in a grossly overpopulated country?

greenLibertarian on May 8, 2009 at 2:52 AM

I’m beginning to come to the conclusion that many billionaires are actually idiot savants. They may be great at making money, but…

trigon on May 8, 2009 at 2:57 AM

trigon on May 8, 2009 at 2:57 AM

!
Ted Turner is like an alien caught out of phase between two dimensions and he reaches out to Jane Fonda to connect to reality

Meanwhile, I worry that China will begin feeding the excess people to the tilapia fish they export to our nation.

Does Ted eat tilapia? Chinese farm raised tilapia is the fish of the masses. Tilapia are a useful way to utilize sewage

entagor on May 8, 2009 at 3:52 AM

Revelatory, not because it catches Turner opining on a subject about which he knows little — I do that for a living

AP, showing some self-awareness.

Right_of_Attila on May 8, 2009 at 6:02 AM

I dunno. Isn’t MURDER draconian? Or is that just run of the mill tyranny?

dogsoldier on May 8, 2009 at 6:57 AM

On Sept. 13, 2007, Fox News ran a story (still online) about a Chinese woman who had to have 23 inch-long needles removed from her abdomen. They had been inserted, apparently, by her grandparents, when she was very young, to kill her and make room for a boy baby. The needles were in her lungs, bladdar, and just about everywhere else.

Pins are sometimes inserted into Chinese babies’ heads, through the soft spot, to kill them.

And in some places, Chinese folks have reportedly made soup out of very small aborted babies, so as not to waste the protein.

Information about these kinds of horror is available from the Population Research Institute.

By the way, concerns about the Mexican flu reminded me of a man in my church who was a missionary in China when the Communists took over. The people in the village he was helping were made to line up for vaccinations against something — they weren’t told what. The “doctor” used the same needle again and again, and simply swished it in a mud puddle to “clean” it between innoculations.

The missionary died a few years ago at a ripe old age, but he always said that his health was never the same after that “vaccination,” whatever it was.

KyMouse on May 8, 2009 at 7:12 AM

Bikermailman, you beat me to it. Isn’t it obvious what China will do with all those “extra” males?

NebCon on May 7, 2009 at 6:42 PM

They might not start a war for any other reason than to supply food for their population. Or maybe not even for that. Maybe they’d just like to eliminate a few million of their excess men. Life is cheap. If they “lose” too many, they can always allow females to have more than one child in the future.

Remember, all those “only” male children have been pampered. So they have a huge population of high self-esteem men just waiting to do something.

Sloan Morganstern on May 8, 2009 at 8:05 AM

Like Ted Turner, I strongly support China’s one child policy. What are the realistic alternatives for the Chinese not to live in a bleak wasteland?

And why is this male/female ratio such a big issue? After many wars, we’ve had more imbalanced male/female ratios. Check out the Soviet Union in the 1950′s. Surely, China can endure such an imbalance once as part of a demographic transition. And those “extra” men may be very useful when China and the rest of the world actually catch on to the fact that Islam is as evil as Nazism. Soldiers will be needed.

thuja on May 8, 2009 at 9:21 AM

Stewart not Steward

Actually it is Lebowitz and not Stewart. Funny how he didnt want to use his actual name and chose such a name…. Scottish I believe.

ObamatheMessiah on May 8, 2009 at 9:59 AM

See how easily support for reproductive RIGHTS morphs into support for population CONTROL.

Amphipolis on May 8, 2009 at 10:11 AM

Seems to me you need a few more mega families here in the U.S. to cover your aging arses.

caygeon on May 8, 2009 at 1:29 AM

Only because our nation’s economy and especially Social Security have been mismanaged to the point of irrecoverable damage. Historians will surely remark on the fact that a responsible American could, for a short time in the USA’s history, save up enough funds to live comfortably in their old age without having to breed their own caretakers.

Dark-Star on May 8, 2009 at 10:29 AM

Ya know what I’d like to see? Uncle Teddy and Uncle Joey B. sitting around an open mic brainstorming about fixes to today’s current issues. I’d probably pay admission to something like that.

Wyznowski on May 8, 2009 at 10:51 AM

I don’t think the Army is for us.

I believe that China will do what China always has done in the past. China will expand North Eastward and absorb the “Northern Resource Zone” of the Siberian plain. Gold, Uranium, Oil, Farming, Timber, are all there and are best retrieved and worked by young, strong males. Russia population is fading and simply does not have the guts to take on a multimillion man army in an exhausting campaign to defend her eastern border. China tends to surround herself with weak states as a defensive measure. My guess is that they will stop short of the Ural Mountains, absorb the Siberian oil fields and vast mineral wealth to send back home, while using the natural barriers to shield her from any push back from Russia. With a demographic of 1.2 births per White Russian couple, there is simply not the manpower to mount a counter offensive. The current purchasing of raw materials all over the world is clearly the run up to a land grab.

Also there is a “Time Limit” to their actions. If the front of the demographic curve gets too old, they will consume without being able to serve, so you want to time the military buildup so that your young army is ready about the same time the new satellites, cruisers, tanks, etc are in top shape and maximum readiness. Say about 3 to 5 years.

We may well be bystanders for this one.

GunRunner on May 8, 2009 at 1:14 PM

Excess males = warrior class

Queen0fCups on May 8, 2009 at 2:36 PM

And why is this male/female ratio such a big issue? After many wars, we’ve had more imbalanced male/female ratios.

The ratio itself is of little concern, it is WHO HAS IT that IS.

Check out the Soviet Union in the 1950’s.

And guess what the USSR did in the 50′s, Einstein?

Surely, China can endure such an imbalance once as part of a demographic transition.

Yes. Millions of innocent Chinese, on the other hand, CANNOT.

Yes, but the And those “extra” men may be very useful when China and the rest of the world actually catch on to the fact that Islam is as evil as Nazism. Soldiers will be needed.

Only the Chinese are not all that CONCERNED about the Islamists.

More likely, they are going to send all those excess men after US!

Get some common sense, rat.

Turtler on May 8, 2009 at 3:12 PM

GunRunner:

I don’t think the Army is for us.

Perhaps. But how do you explain the NAVY?

And also, why would they NOT use te Army against us.\?

I believe that China will do what China always has done in the past.

Obviously, somebody is ignoring China’s long history of maritime misadventures in the Pacific and its attempts to expand into India and Central Asia…

China will expand North Eastward and absorb the “Northern Resource Zone” of the Siberian plain. Gold, Uranium, Oil, Farming, Timber, are all there and are best retrieved and worked by young, strong males. Russia population is fading and simply does not have the guts to take on a multimillion man army in an exhausting campaign to defend her eastern border. China tends to surround herself with weak states as a defensive measure. My guess is that they will stop short of the Ural Mountains, absorb the Siberian oil fields and vast mineral wealth to send back home, while using the natural barriers to shield her from any push back from Russia. With a demographic of 1.2 births per White Russian couple, there is simply not the manpower to mount a counter offensive. The current purchasing of raw materials all over the world is clearly the run up to a land grab.

Ok, so the Chinese go in, conquer Siberia from a nation that has been trying to ALLY with them, and populate it. Not unreasonable, and certainly possible, but THEN what? They still have this massive army doing nothing, this mysterious naval buildup that has been harassing the Phillippinos and ourselves, and the fact that Alaska (which is also underpopulated and rich in resources), Taiwan (a historical part of China and filled with natural resources and Industry), Indochina (Resources, manpower), Indonesia (see Indochina), the Phillippines (See Indonesia), and dozens of potential Casus Bellis dangling around.

Do you REALLY think they would stop there?

Also there is a “Time Limit” to their actions. If the front of the demographic curve gets too old, they will consume without being able to serve, so you want to time the military buildup so that your young army is ready about the same time the new satellites, cruisers, tanks, etc are in top shape and maximum readiness. Say about 3 to 5 years.

Fair enough, though that also puts their naval buildup into new context, and one that runs directly counter to your thesis (do you REALLY think the Chinese need a massive navy to destroy the Russian Navy in the Artic or whatever they need to do in this “Northern Resource Zone” scenario of yours?)?

We may well be bystanders for this one.

Or we may well be the roadkill. Never underestimate how bitter China is over Korea, and don’t underestimate their hostility towards us, as we are their greatest ideological enemy, and one that must be crushed in order to bring the CCP’s dreams into fruitation.

I hope you’re right, but my gut and by brain tell me otherwise.

Turtler on May 8, 2009 at 3:40 PM

One-child policy has reduced China population by 250 million, that is not a success in a grossly overpopulated country?

greenLibertarian on May 8, 2009 at 2:52 AM

“Success” must include not only achievement of goal, but also acceptable cost. China’s policy has an unacceptable cost. By your definition, if a doctor performs surgery to halt the spread of cancer, and the patient dies on the table, since the spread of cancer is halted the operation was a success.

RegularJoe on May 8, 2009 at 4:36 PM

American could, for a short time in the USA’s history, save up enough funds to live comfortably in their old age without having to breed their own caretakers.

Dark-Star on May 8, 2009 at 10:29 AM

Actually, that’s an illusion.

It doesn’t matter how much money you have if there’s no one producing goods and services. As the number of consumers outpaces producers, you eventually encounter runaway inflation of the “wheelbarrow full of money for a loaf of bread” variety.

We as a civilization have probably planted the seeds of our own destruction. The only questions now are whether we’ll allow ourselves to starve to death or allow the country to be flooded with immigrants (think 200 million, not 20 million); and just how long can we go before there’s no longer an American culture left. And that’s BEFORE you factor in the Obama effect.

Our only hope is to somehow convince our twenty-somethings to have 3+ kids per couple. Strikes me as a longshot.

RegularJoe on May 8, 2009 at 4:47 PM

Dude, this is standard for him. He wished he could have killed some of his children. He’s a freaking Commie who wishes the USA WAS China.

The only thing I find fascinating about this is why he just doesn’t go live there himself. He’s one of these Howard Hughes types, squirrely luney tunes who believes that the planet is over populated. He thinks he should be the only one living and probably wears Kleenex boxes on his feet so he doesn’t catch some disease the stupid, over-populating, breeder, unclean masses might give him.

Sultry Beauty on May 8, 2009 at 5:02 PM

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