In a recent article entitled, “The Global War Against Baby Girls,” http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/the-global-war-against-baby-girls Nicholas Eberstadt writes about a “still-growing international predilection for sex-selective abortion.” In simpler words, that means that moms and dads are aborting their babies based upon the child’s gender. More specifically, parents are aborting baby girls… resulting in millions upon millions of missing baby girls.
Over the course of the world’s history, statistics show that 103-106 boys are born for every 100 newborn girls. This “sex ratio at birth” (SRB) is going haywire, though: some Chinese towns now report 123 boys for 100 newborn girls, for an alarming SRB of 123. Since 1979, China’s official one-chid policy has caused mass feticide of girls by parents who want a male child. These super-high SRBs are also enabled by China’s universal and unconditional abortion availability and its widespread and inexpensive obstetric ultrasonography.
Mass feticide is a horrible worldwide trend reflecting shared global values, an example of what I call “Monoculture.” In addition to China, East Asia’s four “Little Dragons” (Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan) report troubling SRB increases. Other countries seeing increases are Vietnam, India (SRBs as high as 120), Albania, El Salvador, Philippines, Libya, Serbia, Austria, Cuba, Italy, Kyrgyzstan, Portugal and Spain.
And this evil tale gets worse, because of another Global Current — Migration. Because of China’s high SRB, brides are in short supply. Chinese men look to neighboring countries, therefore, for imported young women. A literal market for women is created, feeding a robust flow of trafficked young girls from Thailand, India, and Burma. “Brokers” in those countries are buying, coercing, and kidnapping girls with promises of jobs and economic opportunity… only to sell them to husband-buyers.
The world’s population is on the move like never before. Trafficking –whether for military, brothels, or sweatshops– is the human face of Migration. Until this pointin history, evils and ills of one country might have stopped at the border–but no more. Now, the global economy, mass marketing, and shared values ensure that both good and bad trends spread. And, in our age of Monoculture, America is also affected…as trafficking spreads rapidly in cities of all sizes. It’s a small world, after all
There was a “Motels” song in the 1980′s with the line “I’d sell my soul for total control”. Your post made me think that that is exactly what our civilization is up to. The fact that we make the deal but don’t ever seem to get what we paid for should make us think twice the next time the devil makes an offer. We don’t, of course.
Yes, Steve, you’re right. China can’t legislate its way to harmony. The one-child policy reflects a Utopian belief in better living through social engineering. It never works. As Christians, we’re not fatalistic, but convicted about our fallen state and therefore happily reliant on God’s unending grace to overcome our unending sin.