Many too many are born : state manipulation of sex drive resulting in infertility

Abstract

The state may manipulate humanity coldly and impersonally, at a deep and fundamental level, in order to obtain its goals, confirming that “State is the name of the coldest of all cold monsters.” The state’s interference with sexuality and with sex is prefigured in Greek mythology where “[t]he Centaurs and Amazons of ancient Greece established the limits of the centred polis of the Greek male human by their disruption of marriage and boundary pollutions of the warrior with animality and woman. Unseparated twins and hermaphrodites were the confused human material.” Worldwide, infertility is increasingly common, such that epidemiologists estimate that the number of couples in developed countries with infertility will double within a decade, from one in seven today to one in three in ten years’ time. The reasons for this increase are multifactorial and are thought to include the rising age at first attempt at pregnancy when fertility has already naturally declined, an increase in sexually transmitted diseases which damage the reproductive organs, a huge increase in obesity which is known to adversely affect fertility, and a declining level of male sperm count and overall sperm quality. This paper will limit itself to state manipulation of the sex drive and gender orientation in order to limit population growth as the broader treatment of infertility in science fiction is too vast to encompass in any reasonable length. An interdisciplinary flavor will be noted throughout as the first author is a medical doctor, such that real-life parallels will be highlighted while excessive poetic licence that goes beyond the bounds of reasonable speculation will be pointed out.