Deep Space Wandering Fleet

Chapter 209: Chapter 209: Ethical Refutation

Chapter 209: Chapter 209: Ethical Refutation

It’s not that it was a societal welfare system, but rather its preceding plan—using artificial womb technology to massively breed human infants, in order to achieve a 5% population growth rate every year. In fact, many people had already been informed of this proposal and had discussed it for some time, but the controversies were still quite significant.

Mr. Zhang Yuan suppressed the crowd and slowly began, “Ladies and gentlemen, according to our population report, how many were born last year? The exact figure, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-three, a fertility rate of point three six percent. The birth rate is extremely low, alarmingly so! Indeed, our population structure is still very young, with a mortality rate of zero. Add to that the low quality of life and poor objective conditions, delaying childbirth for a few years doesn’t seem like much.”

“But consider, what happens in fifty years?”

“In fifty years, our average age will have risen by fifty years. Those sitting here will be eighty, even ninety years old. How many young people will there be? 100,000!”

“Yes, with a growth rate of point three six percent, in fifty years, there will only be 100,000 young people! The total population will be merely six hundred thousand, and that is with a mortality rate of zero.”

“Fifty years!”

As if a sense of crisis exploded in many people’s hearts.

The current developmental model was clearly unsustainable.

“Your Excellency Mr. Zhang Yuan, we could adopt policies to encourage childbirth, rather than aggressively opting for artificial infants…”

The female representative in the audience immediately stood up, passionately saying, “The impact on our society is too great… so great it’s unimaginable! Have you considered the reality?”

“Yes, in a few years, the number of artificial infants will surpass that of natural persons. How can this be acceptable?”

“I oppose!”

Voices of various discussions grew louder, and the opposition was relentless.

Mr. Zhang Yuan raised his hand, silencing all the voices.

He spoke out loudly, “Seat number 145, Representative Qian Lihua, as an electrical engineer, do you have any prejudice against these infants born from artificial wombs? Or, do you think they are not regular humans?”

All eyes turned toward him in unison, and Mr. Qian, his face turning pale, quickly said, “No prejudice.”

“Then, if there is no prejudice, what’s the problem with artificial infants outnumbering natural persons?”

Mr. Qian’s face flushed and paled, uncomfortable under the heavy implication of “prejudice,” which could end his political career. It took him quite a while to respond, “Whether there is a problem… I don’t know.”

Mr. Zhang Yuan then addressed another individual who previously wanted to vote against, his gaze striking like lightning: “Ms. Zhong from the Ministry of Education, if an infant is born without a mother or father and is entrusted to your care, can you raise him with dignity and humility, without arrogance or impatience, to form an independent and optimistic character, and become a useful member of society?”

Ms. Zhong hesitantly began, “But…”

Mr. Zhang Yuan didn’t wait for her to finish her ‘but,’ pressing on, “I’m just asking whether you can assure he grows up with dignity and humility, forms an independent and optimistic character, and becomes a beneficial member of society. Yes, or no!”

“…Yes.”

“Do you think such upbringing can be scaled up? That is to say, can a large number of children without parents become beneficial members of society?”

Ms. Zhong did not reply.

“If it works for one person, it should be possible for a group.”

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Mr. Zhang Yuan drew his own conclusion and turned his head to ask another, “Then… Minister Ding from the Human Resources Department, if we adopt proactive policies to encourage childbirth, what could our natural birth rate climb to?”

The Minister Ding, his hair peppered with gray, quickly responded, “The peak could reach 2-3%, but it won’t be sustainable for long and will eventually plummet significantly. First off, according to statistics, couples show the highest willingness to have one or two children, with very few desiring a third and almost none preferring more than four. Thus, relying on natural growth alone, it’s impossible to achieve a 5% birth rate – and we’re not talking about a population that lacks sophistication; these are highly qualified individuals.”

“Secondly, our population has distinct gaps, with ages clustered around the 30-year mark. After a wave of concentrated childbearing, the subsequent birth rate will come infinitesimally close to zero, creating yet another gap… No one wants to have children at 30, then again at 40, and still be procreating at 50 or 60. These generational gaps will undoubtedly lead to adverse social phenomena for a civilization.”

“Moreover, implementing policies to encourage childbearing will consume a vast amount of societal resources and hinder the development of other industries. According to our statistics, the societal cost of individual child-rearing will be three to four times that of collective childcare…”

“In other words, the cost for one person to raise a single child could support the collective upbringing of three to four children…”

The meeting room fell into silence for a few minutes.

Zhang Yuan turned around, “Minister Li from the Department of Resources, how long can our advanced equipment last?”

Minister Li stood up and replied, “Many of our robots came from Earth. Once high-precision advanced equipment is activated, it depreciates rapidly. Some machinery won’t last more than 10 years… Others maybe 30 years, at most fifty.”

“If our industrial mother machines break down, they’re truly broken. Repairing them will be incredibly difficult. If, at that time, the things we brought from Earth are damaged, and we still can’t build industrial mother machines of the same caliber, then…”

Minister Li’s face wasn’t looking so good: “Technology… will regress!”

The meeting room became exceptionally quiet.

This year, our entire civilization had achieved tremendous progress, but the vast majority were simply living off the past. Few realized how pressing the timeline was.

After some time, a person sitting below twitched his eyebrows and mustered the courage to ask.

“But sir, isn’t birthing twenty or thirty thousand children a year too many… Can our entire society support that?”

Zhang Yuan said icily, “Sir, I remind you to look further into the future. This year, 1,800 babies were born, which, 20 years later, will only result in an addition of 1,800 workers. If 30,000 babies were born, then in 20 years, we could have 30,000 more workers… We must not only exist in the present but also in the future. The difficulties of today are for the sustainability of tomorrow.”

“Any other objections?”

“No more…” It seemed he was squashed by Zhang Yuan’s momentum, and the gentleman quickly sat down.

Ms. Zhong stood up again and countered, “Babies need a lot of nutrition as they grow, especially without breast milk. They need formula and even more supplementary foods.”

“Mr. Zhang Yuan, have you calculated that with our current productivity, adding so many babies will invisibly raise the price of goods, lowering people’s quality of life? Our economic and production structures will need considerable adjustment.”

“Madam, you’re not wrong, that is the case… Our productivity is not sufficient.”

Zhang Yuan, expressionless, stated, “But… is the potential decline in living standards the reason you oppose? We traveled 20 light-years; did we do so just to enjoy life? Those who harbor such thoughts should’ve stayed on Earth instead of coming here!”

Her face flushed, Ms. Zhong stood there, dazed.

Smack!

Zhang Yuan slammed the table emphatically and roared, “Then…”

“Since no one discriminates against these children, and education isn’t an issue, nor does anyone wish to produce over ten children for the sake of civilization, and population has become the biggest constraint to development…”

“I ask you, why oppose this proposal? Why?! Do you want to see our entire civilization extinguished here in a hundred years?!”

Seemingly intimidated by Zhang Yuan’s roar, for a while, nobody dared to stand up and challenge him.

Perhaps, many remembered that this Doctor Zhang, Minister Zhang, normally so courteous and refined, was the same man who dared to amputate his own legs, the same fighter who had triumphed over a superior life form all by himself!