Natal conference, to be held in Austin in December, promoted on far-right podcast circuit and set to host self-described eugenicists
A high-end hotel in the liberal Texan enclave of Austin is playing host to a conference whose theme is boosting global birth rates, but which will in fact feature racist and eugenicist internet personalities and far-right media figures.
The Natal conference – whose website warns that “by the end of the century, nearly every country on earth will have a shrinking population, and economic systems dependent on reliable growth will collapse” – is scheduled to be held on 1 December at the Line Hotel.
economic systems dependent on reliable growth will collapse
Huh, maybe that’s the actual problem.
Tbh, given all the stupid and crazy shit happening on the right side of our political system, I figured it was only a matter of time before eugenics made a very unwelcome yet unironic comeback.
Next stop: phrenology!
Eugenics never went anywhere, it’s ableism, racism, classism, massively impactful systems we all live under (but only those of us impacted seem to notice).
It’s in every cut to health, welfare, social, and communal services.
It’s in every legislation that then criminalises desperate marginalised people for looking for ways to survive anyway.
It’s in every headline and tv show vilifying poor people, using disabled people or immigrants as scapegoats, perpetuating white supremacy.
It is an inseparable and essential part of the octopus of capitalism and all of its oppressive arms. Both are based on the fucked up pseudoscientific idea of social “Darwinism” (an idea Darwin himself rejected) and a twisting of so called “human nature” to serve their purpose - concentrate power in the hands of the few who deem themselves superior.I learned something new today: Phrenology is a pseudoscience that involves the measurement of bumps on the skull to predict mental traits.
In one of the Discworld novels by Sir Terry there is mention of a retrophrenologist. Someone who uses a hammer to adjust the person’s skull so they gain the desired traits.
And I’m trying to decide if I should advertise such a service to these goofballs, because someone would probably fall for it.
EDIT: “Feet of Clay” is the novel in question.
Oh, phrenology’s been back for a while. Or at the very least, these idiots have been taking tape measures to bones because of bigoted nonsense. Phrenology in the historical sense might actually be too complex for them.
Incel communities have long been touting the existence of a dating appeal hierarchy based on “canthal tilt” and “hunter eyes.” They believe that you’re born more or less likely to pick up “Stacies” based on the subtle shape of your eyebrows and chin. Meanwhile, “transvestigators” take the “we can always tell” insistence of transphobes to such insane depths that they think they can tell from photographs and video that every person they see on TV is transgender and secretly part of a literal satanic cult because of minute observations that they think they’re making about celebrity bone structure. Oh, yeah, and it’s a huge staple of transphobia just in general. “Transvestigators” have just raised it to what they think is an art form, but is really just raw, concentrated delusion.
Never underestimate the depths of pseudoscience to which people will stoop in order to create out-groups. You will always be disappointed.
Disgusting people. I hope the list of attendees is leaked.
The world has almost 8 billion people. Maybe we could do with a few less.
I think that according to economists, no. We just need enough to keep the replacement rate up.
Which economists? I’m sure I can find some who believe that population should be reduced. Economics is more opinion than science.
The prevailing consensus of economists in capitalist countries is that we should just keep running on that treadmill to generate “limitless” growth.
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Taxing the rich would fund social security for a long time.
UBI?
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I think it would be simpler to have only ubi
Anyone who thinks that should start with themselves
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We’re not even close to the point at which population growth becomes unsustainable. We’re in the position we’re in because we failed to invest in infrastructure.
Yes, about 3000 billionaires will do. But I doubt that’s who you meant…
The rhetoric you’re using does serve them though:
https://www.theworldmind.org/home/2021/12/10/the-dangerous-myth-of-overpopulation
https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2017/9/26/16356524/the-population-question
https://theecologist.org/2020/apr/16/debunking-overpopulation
For reasons I don’t understand, people seem to be incapable of separating any discussion of overpopulation from racism and eugenics. I think it’s at the point where it’s disingenuous, willful, or at the very least a massive blind spot in people talking about the problem. You should understand that bad people can embrace overpopulation with bad conclusions, and that should not taint reality. Hitler was an animal lover - does that mean it’s wrong to love animals? That’s the level of flawed argument we’re dealing with here.
Jfc…
For reasons I don’t understand, people seem to be incapable of separating any discussion of overpopulation from racism and eugenics.
It’s because they’re fucking inseparable, you not understanding why or how (never mind being as wilfully ignorant as you are since you clearly didn’t read word in the links I posted) doesn’t change that
Let me copy pasta myself for the sake of anyone who actually wants to learn more before I leave this dumpster fire:
In reality overpopulation is a myth and rather population decline is a real concern in many countries.
Now of course we can talk about who this concerns and why (under the current system? It concerns those who need workers to exploit, white supremacists looking to “overturn” the “great replacement”, in some cases both, and it also concerns the aging population that will end up with very little support, something which wouldn’t be as big an issue if we had stronger communities, but alienation and all that jazz, as well as the fewer workers who will remain to keep the economy going for minimal pay as they get bossed around by AI, because capitalism), and also about who pushes the overpopulation myth and why, but the bottom line is - the population isn’t and never has been the problem (we already produce enough food to sustain everyone alive today and then some), it is capitalism and it’s dependence on creating infinite growth in a finite world, at the expense of everyone and everything on the planet (themselves included except for the handful who will end up in orbit or whatever. And then die) that is the problem, and what we need to get rid of if we want to stop this dystopian spiral.Well that was a totally reasonable response from someone who is totally capable of considering the merits of an argument without relying on bad articles trying to drum up weak support for the author’s preordained conclusion with circular reasoning. Nothing to see here folks. This guy has it all figured out and we should totally worship his correctness without debate.
IMO the only myth is the belief that it’s a myth. The evidence is overwhelming.
This is a fine position if you’re ok with your worst enemy getting to make the decision about who gets to procreate and live.
That’s not what is being suggested in this thread.
The suggestion is that people (all of them) should have better access to, and education about, contraception.
I responded to this:
The world has almost 8 billion people. Maybe we could do with a few less.
Which is vague. And vagueness is often used to give plausible deniability when eugenicists are on the march. So cool on you for giving such grace to an internet stranger, but when I read things like this, it always includes what is between the lines.
And which social or ethnic group in particular do you suggest should be the ones to be sacrificed exactly? The answer to eugenics is not more eugenics.
Why does there have to be a sacrifice? Why can’t people just be encouraged to use contraception?
Because the pope says I can’t wear a little rubber thingie on my old chap.
How do you encourage marginalized people who have been historically discouraged from breeding due to eugenics reasons to voluntarily stop breeding because the people in power just lowkey want them to?
Because the people causing the collapse of the planet are not the same ones you expect to stop reproducing (literally eugenics btw)
Which ones do you think I expect to stop reproducing exactly?
You clearly stated it - the ones you think need encouragement to use contraception, and lets not pretend you mean rich people or even just the “middle class” in wealthy countries who are having fewer and fewer children to the point where they fear population collapse.
It’s also interesting that you’ve responded here, but not to the comment with the links proving you wrong.
Why not rich people? I meant all people. If rich people don’t understand condoms, they should. And use them. I have no idea why you think I would say otherwise.
You’re talking about this as if there’s no overriding socioeconomic context that carries forth implications. Any time birthing restrictions have been tried, rich and privileged groups always get exemptions.
People should be encouraged to take advantage of contraception because they should have the right to plan their families- not because we’ve decided we want to look down on people who breed.
No, you didn’t, no one who brings up overpopulation ever does, it’s a dog whistle (so even if we pretend you didn’t mean to, you’re advocating the same bullshit as those who do mean it).
But hey, double down away if it makes you happy, just know that your choice to die on this hill instead of putting your hand up to admit you had a shitty uninformed take doesn’t do you any favours… ¯_(ツ)_/¯
You put a lot of words into someone’s mouth and then had an argument with yourself. That was funny but I doubt that was your intent. Maybe try not constructing so many straw men?
That escalated quickly! Zero to genocide in one comment.
and economic systems dependent on reliable growth will collapse
We don’t need no water, let the motherfucker burn
Burn, motherfucker, burn
Oh, Texas - the state that lets women die in childbirth because of nothing based on medical science whatsoever…great place to encourage women to get pregnant.
Not that much of a revelation. We’ve already seen what these weirdos think in their Twitter posts.
You can’t have reliable growth when the system cannibalizes everything. These people are next level stupid and their money should be taken away.
quelle surprise! protip: all white supremacy at it’s core is eugenics
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Sounds about right
Sounds about white!
I forget which racist right wing news site it was.
The sidebar has a graph when white people will be the minority.
But they seemed like such lovely people.
The article simply labels people and organizations “far right” without specifying what “far right” means in this context or what exactly most of those people and organizations have said or done which is supposedly “far right”. It might as well just be a list of names labeled “bad guys”. I expected better reporting from the Guardian.
Do you really have to be hand-held past the “eugenics” and “white nationalism” mentioned in the article to figure out what they mean by “far right?”
Well yeah. Show me where the eugenics abd white nationalism are, because Im not seeing it.
Looks like bog standard name calling to me.
Dutton, Dolan said: “I think that the pro-natalist and the eugenic positions are very much not in opposition, they’re very much aligned.”
From the article you didn’t read!
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He’s the organizer of the conference, which again is in the article you didn’t read. And clearly they value certain babies over others. It’s looking like you do too.
RTFA
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Also how do we know this alleged conference is even happening? And “Austin, Texas”? Sounds like a made-up place to me! The whole article is shady AF.
/s
