Authors Note: I wrote this for school. It's short, it's crap, it needs a good flame... Criticize and I'll see if I can work it into the article. ((Fixed all grammar/spelling mistakes))
Lying is, and always has been, an activity to be frowned upon. From the moment children speak, they are taught that lying is wrong. It is one of the first things the children of our society learn, along with "Hot, don't touch." How long will this naivete last? How long will it be before the children realize that everything they have been taught has been based off a lie?
The lie started out small, as most lies do. And, like all good lies, it is based at least partially on the truth. It began as the fact that eventually Earth would no longer be sufficient to hold the increasing numbers of mankind. Eventually, after many years of scrambling, the government passed a law. The population limitation seemed to appease the public for quite some time. We were safe. Earth would not be overrun.
Then came the underlying fear. What would happen to those that ignored the laws? What would become of all those poor, neglected children? Because, of course, they had to be neglected! How could parents split their attention and affection between three children? Much less four or five! So instead of embracing these children, they were excluded. "Third" began to become an insult. The more siblings a child had, the more a freak they became.
I have heard the pitied section of the human race referred to as "surplus population." Never before have I felt such disgust and seen such discrimination. Exclusion of African Americans, then women, it is clear that such things have happened in the past. Those people stood up for their rights as human beings, and they succeeded. Where is the spokesperson for our "surplus"? Are we to continue treating them like pieces of particularly disgusting garbage? Are they forever doomed to be used as surplus crops? To be used but never respected?
Every individual should have equal rights, as citizens. There should be no limitation to the number of children a couple is permitted to conceive. Procreation should not be limited . All Thirds, Fourths, Fifths etc. are people, not poor, shunned beings that should be pitied for their birthing and ignored for their semblance of status. The only individuals that should be pitied are those that look down on these children and their parents.
And here we stand, faced with humanities greatest flaw. The arrogance that says we, as a whole, can defeat any enemy that we may come across. Had we set to colonization when we first left our atmosphere, we would not be faced with potential-annihilation. If we survive the bugger threat, we should be prepared for the lesson they should undoubtedly become. Colonize; spread the human race to the far corners of the galaxy, until no threat, no invasion will see us facing the end of humanity.
These colonists, the Thirds and Fourths of our world, are sent, not as outcasts, but as adventurers for the future. Because, in the end, the most noble title any child can have, is Third.