Stop Breeding, Poor People!

National are going to be providing free birth control for beneficiaries. Sorry, did I say beneficiaries, I meant female beneficiaries and their daughters.Why is it being limited to only one gender? National haven't said. I can only assume it's because contraception hasn't been invented for men. OH WAIT A MINUTE, it has! There are condoms, and reversible vasectomies, and case workers hired to turn up once a week to deliver a stern kick to the testicles, though I think that last one has been outlawed.

So why are we targeting women? Because women are sneaky and conniving and know that the key to the good life of extravagant benefits and access to state housing is by having Benefit Babies. Birthing them in the queue to pick up a benefit cheque, watching the cash roll in. This is also being targeted at teen and youths even though statistics show that this has been naturally declining any way. However, while this may be the case our teen pregnancy rates are still high by OECD standards.Plus teenagers are annoying and nobody really likes them.

The other question is why are we solely targeting beneficiaries? Community cards already mean that the pill and condoms are cheaply available to those earning under a certain amount. Surely ready access to the full spectrum of contraceptives for both genders is in everyone's best interest, so that children are hopefully born into households that are somewhat prepared for them. Is this not just a cynical political move to bolster approval from it's base by targeting a maligned group and taking the focus off Banks, asset sales and National's mandatory kitten killing programme?

We're doing this because we're scared of The Poor. Because the old Sallies jingle "we're all in this together (except if you're gay because we're a homophobic organisation)" went by the roadside a long time ago. There's a recession and it's Them vs Us, and beneficiaries aren't a part of society, they're a burden on it, off on the fringes, taking tax money away in order to raise their sub-standard children who will go on to steal our cars and breed more, like out of control car stealing rabbits. That is the thinking that's behind this. We're back to the days of eugenics all over again. This isn't about providing choice, this is about providing a way for society to stop the poor from having children because the amount of money you have equates to your worth as a human being. Why else do we celebrate complete arseholes whose only redeeming feature is that they're rich?

Look, having a kid while on a benefit is not the best life choice. It make life harder for the parents, it makes life harder for any children who are already there. So the chance of easily accessible and affordable contraception is great. The wording of this though, the way it's being implemented...it just feels like another step towards New Zealand being more divisive and increasingly wary and distrustful of each other.

Maybe National should rethink their 'Stopping Slutty Solo Moms Slinging out Baby Benefit Bludgers' slogan? Also if they keep talking about how this is about pushing people into work maybe they should stop making people redundant and actually help create some freckin jobs. Just saying.