Oh, the perils of social engineering in a world ruled by the Law of Unintended Consequences! American mush-heads like Tom Friedman of the New York Times may openly pine for an American government that could act as swiftly and arbitrarily as China's (to build high speed rail, shiny new airports, all the result of far-sighted leaders providing the people what they need, unencumbered by property or democratic rights), but the folly of such power is demonstrated by the sorry reality facing China as the result of its heavy-handed meddling in human reproduction.
The Wall Street Journal (link may expire) reports on the rising pressures for modification of the one child policy. Lauri Burkett writes from Beijing:
China's top national statistician on Friday called for changing the country's one-child policy because of the nation's shrinking pool of workers, adding to a chorus of opponents who say the policy will have long-lasting effects on the country's economic stability.
The absolute size of the working population, aged 15 to 59, fell by 3.45 million people to 937 million last year, Ma Jiantang, head of China's National Bureau of Statistics, said in a news briefing Friday.
As China's working-age population shrinks, Beijing has been sending mixed signals about its plans for the one-child policy.
"You ask if I am concerned about labor-force decline? Yes, I don't want to deny it," Mr. Ma said, adding that leaders should come up with "a more proper, scientific policy."
Mr. Ma, a senior official himself, couches his argument in terms of wise leaders using "scientific principles," and is unconcerned about the human cost of forced late term abortions or the issue of personal liberty when it comes to the most basic decisions in life. There has also been a blowback:
RIGHT'S RIGHT 
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Mon Jan 21, 2013 9:39 am
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