China Nixes Politically Incorrect Birth Control Slogans

To cast its one-child policy in a kinder, gentler light, China has banned slogans that could stir "anger and resentment, especially among farmers in the countryside, because of the sometimes brutal methods used to enforce it, such as heavy fines and the seizure of property," reports the Associated Press.

Among the slogans that were forbidden were "One more baby means one more tomb" and "Houses toppled, cows confiscated, if abortion demand rejected." Such slogans are often found painted on roadside buildings in rural areas.

The planning commission issued a list of 190 acceptable slogans, such as "Mother earth is too tired to sustain more children" and "Both boys and girls are parents' hearts."

But no amount of public relations massaging can change the unfairness of the policy, which has been unequally enforced, provoked rioting and created a massive gender imbalance.

Wired Science discussed China's policy earlier, after a prominent
British museum director advocated population shrinkage as part of the solution to climate change. Some readers suggested that the west follow
China's lead.

But stories like this show how government-enforced population controls can go terribly wrong.

China Bans Crude Birth Control Slogans [Associated Press]