Credit is due to Governor Sergei Morozov, who last year as head of the Russian region of Ulyanovsk came up with the great idea of giving away brand new SUVs to women who managed to get pregnant on or around “The Day of Conception” (Sept 12) and later “give birth to a patriot” on June 12. Today’s amusing news is that President Dmitry Medvedev has taken a page from Morozov’s book, and has created a new award titled “The Order of Parental Glory” – which celebrates large families who bear between 4-16 children!
Just think – getting pregnant at the right time or place or becoming profligate in your reproduction can bring you riches and honor in Russia, while in the United States we have Bristol Palin scolding us over abstinence. The unfairness continues…
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4-16 children? What happens if you have 17? They take the medal away?The octomom is getting close, 14 already!
Russia is currently facing a severe demographics crisis so its not a surprise if the government is seeking to introduce unorthodox methods to curb the population decline.
I don’t understand. An alert reader commented proudly in response to another article on this blog http://www.robertamsterdam.com/2009/05/kasparov_hitler_used_tanks_putin_uses_banks.htm that Russia has the highest birthrate in all of Europe except France. If he is right, why would the state be expending so much effort to encourage even more procreation?
We should be doing this in Britain. The birth rate in Britain is far, far too low, much less than the 2.1 children per family, the minimum family size that would sustain our population level. Anyone against what the Russians are trying to do, to increase their country’s birth rate to a sustainable level, is frankly insane!We are relying on immigration to sustain our population level, from countries too irresponsible and too selfish to control their own population growth. It is complete madness to the point of masochism!We are rewarding the stupid, the people of chaotic barbarian nations. We are exalting the irresponsible at the expense of the civilised. We are heading the way of the Roman Empire in the 3rd century, if we do not wake up soon.So, the Nazis tried to encourage larger families. Hitler liked tea and was vegetarian too; does that mean tea drinkers and vegetarians are all evil? It is a very weak argument to use against trying to raise family sizes to a sustainable level. Hitler was evil because he massacred whole populations and he was against democracy and not because he drank tea or wanted to increase family sizes.I hope, after the next Dark Age perhaps, Russia will take pity on Britain and rescue us from our short-sighted madness.