The Conferences of Parties promising little, the MDGs proposed by UN are probably the best thing we have for us. Despite disappointing achievent of these goals by many countries, these are, at least where the world generally has an agreement. I see these MDGs as an orientation course for the world leaders and population for the ensuing changes of life and emergence of a new sustainable order of our growth and existence. Of the eight goals almost all are based on some common principles like: improved quality of life, empowerment of women, lower child mortality, better health and awareness. Environmental Sustainability also figures as one of the goals, but in my opinion the whole concept of MDGs is deeply rooted in sustainability – these are not interim goals in any sense.
However, I wish to add one additional goal to this list of eight. I would call it ‘Responsible Sex’.
Sex is one human activity that has the potential to affect our collective future in a more profound way many of us would want to care. A good friend of mine (who happens to be a nun by profession) says: if one cannot create, at least one can procreate! While it is well known that good consummating sex keeps a society healthy, energetic and positive to life, wanton practice of it make a huge number of teen-aged girls world over bogged down with unwanted pregnancy at untimely age. Apart from the risk of STDs, this makes a youthful, productive and creative section of population constrained with possible future obstretic complications, psychological trauma and emotional baggage. Medical Termination of Pregnancy is only an ‘end-of-pipe’ cure and reports of suppression of the ‘face losing’ pregnancy, quack-handling of abortions and religious guilt feeling do not help at all. Even when two consenting adults copulate, there is always a probability of ushering in of a new life in this world where teeming billions are competing for consuming finite resources. Sex is fun but it is a responsible fun where its consequences are properly evaluated and taken care of.
I am fully aware that by saying this I run the risk of being dabbed a ‘killjoy’ and a perfect doomsayer (oh my god, can we not f*** in peace?). I am not against sex, hell no, I am no saint myself. But please think about it. If we extend the scope of sex to the inevitable conception and gestation, this is one activity which is heavily and almost unfairly tilted towards the females and females should have a ‘say’ on it. Look at the world and tell me, excepting very few low-population and ‘developed’ countries, do the females have so much of a say on this? I find the idea of ‘safe sex’ a bit hollow in this juncture. Is there anything such as ‘safe sex’? Condoms? Pills? Biologically the idea of sex for procreation is preordained in us, genetically and under great evolutionary pressure. Humans are the only animals having no mating season, no mating territory. ‘Safe sex’ seems to me an oxymoron, playing dangerously with nature with uncertain payoff.
Responsible sex is the need of the day. Depopulation is a hated word to many but just by hating the word our problems do not vanish. One baby per couple can as quickly bring the population back to a bearable level because the exponential function works equally efficiently either way – explosion and implosion. That with a responsible and smart sexual orientation can solve half of our problems. Thailand is an interesting case in point. Still about a decade ago, this country was bogged down with poverty, runaway childbirth rates, high child mortality rates and all population related vices. Thailand being traditionally liberated regarding sex, it almost attained the status of a ‘nursery state’ of the world. Please check here the inspiring talk by Mechai Viravaidya about how Thailand solved the crisis by just bring in a condom revolution. In order for that revolution to happen in Thailand they had condoms ‘blessed’ by holy men and traffic police handing out condoms to traffic violators.
However what was good for Thailand may not necessarily be good for China, India or US. Disposal of condoms is a bit tricky. Most condoms are made of latex, which is moderately bio-degradable, but disposing condoms by flushing through toilets is a big ‘no no’. Firstly because latex does not bio-degrade under water and secondly because they can choke your sewer with embarrassing efficiency. In recently concluded Common Wealth Games in Delhi there had been several instances of sewer chokages by discarded condoms from games village ( looks like it had been one great interracial free for all!). Female condoms are mostly polyurethane which does not bio-degrade at all. Lambskin condoms are bio-degradable but not effective against STDs. So a global condom revolution is fraught with largescale pollution. It remains the challenge for the technologists to find a eco-friendly birth-control device that is cheap, efficient and has a ‘coca-cola’ like reach for common people (everyday there is roughly 1.3 billion servings of coca-cola all over the world).
Sex is a touchy issue. It is an expression of love, commitment, relationship and emotion. When it is such, it is responsible sex. We need to cut the rest as crap. The Climate Change will be sincerely tackled with a sensible population.
Also: Eco-Sex: Go Green Between The Sheets And Make your Love Life Sustainable, explains: “(G)ive it a good sniff – does it smell like a vinyl shower curtain? If so, you can bet your bottom dollar that it’s full of stuff you don’t want in your nether regions.” What you’re smelling are the effects of “off-gassing” – remember that new car smell? — in which products leak toxic gasses into the air. In the case of sex products, that means that these products that are also leaching inside your or your partner’s body.
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