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‘The Viewpoint - Honors 205 Group Presentation (Rough Draft) NOTE: EVERYWHERE EXCEPT DIALOGUE, CHARACTERS WILL BE REFERRED TO AS BY THEIR REAL NAMES PLEASE READ OVER IT AND PROOFREAD AND EVERYTHING, THIS CAN BE OUR ROUGH DRAFT. Black screen. In the background, a group of people talk amongst themselves, exchanging pleasantries (audio only). Text flashes on the screen: “The Viewpoint’ live taping. 15 minutes before air.” Cut from black to a near empty room with a wooden table and 6 chairs. Five writers with different specialties (played by Katie, Hyoeun, Ryan, Melissa, and Stella) stand in front of the table. A crew member (played by Mencius) directs them to their seats. MENCIUS; Alright, Ms. Lofton. Let's have you on the end. Then you, Ms, Stein. The host will sit in the middle. Sorry, he’s running a bit late today. He'll be here soon, Then, we'll have Mr. Singer, Ms. Cole, and Ms. Pine, you can be on the end. ae sw Each of the writers moves into their suggested seat. wt. .a *°~ I! MENCIUS: The segment director wanted me to run through some details about the show with you before the air. Unfortunately, your segment got cut alittle short, so we won't be able to discuss the whole book. There was a short excerpt that the host wanted to focus on though, one second. Mencius pulls out a paper excerpt of the hit new book “The Birth Question” by Morten Gladstone. He scans it for a second before finding the correct paragraph. MENCIUS: Oh, here we go. Page 5. Quote. “That's where the Birth Question comes into play. Is reproduction worth it? My answer would be a resounding ‘No,’ Reproduction should be ceased immediately. The act of bringing another individual into this world and into our society perpetuates unnecessary amounts of human suffering and environmental stress.” End quote. Sound good? Assorted murmurs of approval. MENCIUS: So, I think it would be best if we had a little practice before air. Get the nerves ‘out and whatnot. Nothing's worse than dead air, trust me. The five writers glance around, each of them apprehensive to be the first to speak out. Mencius glances at his phone and reads a new text message. MENCIUS: Oh, I’ve got to go pick up some cam equipment from one of the trailers. Just try to think of what you're going to say later. You'll be fine if | leave you alone, right? Mencius laughs and leaves the room. A few more seconds of silence. KATIE (light-hearted tone): So, I didn’t have the time to read all of your articles before today, sorry about that. But, | guess I can just say what I thought of the book. | thought its argument was preposterous, to be honest. Why wouldn't we want to raise children? The motivations to bear offspring are almost as numerous as the amount of individuals that wish to become parents, the way I see it. | honestly believe that all motivations, whether they're emotional, humorous, logical, moral, or romantic are valid from desires like seeing if the baby will have Mom or Dad's eyes or just needing someone to cuddle with. Reproduction is probably an instinct that's even larger than we can rationalize. Katie smiles after giving her (potentially) overly-optimistic viewpoint. Ryan starts to become slightly agitated. All while Katie was speaking, he had been shaking his head. RYAN: Well, I cannot say that I agree with you at all. Katie's smile disappears quickly. RYAN: Well. [ think that Gladstone is an awful writer and he waters down complex ideas to appeal to a mass market. | also think that he makes conclusions based on faulty or undeveloped premises. But, I must say that | agree with his eventual conclusion. In my eyes, bringing a child into this world is in itself an unjust act. Living is bad. By avoiding reproduction, we're avoiding the introduction of more suffering into the world. And also... Ryan turns to Katie and addresses her directly. RYAN: I don’t see how someone who writes for “Huffpost Moms" has the sufficient academic credentials to comment on such a divisive issue. What exactly is it that you do besides make sandwiches, change diapers, and write insipid blog posts about said sandwiches and diapers? Katie opens her mouth to form a rebuttal, but Stella comes to her aid first. STELLA: Mr. Singer! Ms. Lofton does not have to prove anything to you. She’s a well-known literary scholar, and undeniably qualified to be here regardless of what the website is named. In fact, maybe she could teach you a thing or two. I've read some of your academic papers. Ryan glares at Stella and makes a face as if asking “And what?” STELLA: Your font choice is pleasant. The rest? A bit dry. MELISSA: Everyone, let’s be civil. We just need to rehearse our arguments, Save the fireworks for when the cameras are actually rolling Everyone takes a simultaneous drink of water to “cool off” STELLA: Well, 'm with Ms. Lofton anyways. I cannot fathom how someone could renounce an institution as deeply rooted as reproduction. Gladstone's argument is a controversial one and it's already done its job by getting so many people to talk about it. But, let's be honest: it's shock for the sake of shock. Reproduction allows people to start families. These families form the backbone of society. They're what ensure that our lives are stable. It’s that simple. The camera zooms in on Ryan's face and the sound from the others drops, drenched with reverb as ifit’s in another room. RYAN (inner monologue / narration): But what's the point of a society of perpetual suffering? I cannot believe these so-called scholars. You cannot support a conclusion that reproduction is a good thing by the premise that reproduction forms families. So what if society flourishes with stable families? The society itself is a living Hell that we're all too content to perpetuate by making more babies. Inhis head, Ryan yells, He then takes a drink of water. RYAN (inner monologue / narration): Wow, this water tastes so good The camera zooms back out to show the full ‘panel” of guests. HYOEUN: Ms. Stein, while | do agree that families are the backbone of society, what we must realize is that the negatives of human procreation are currently outweighing the positives of families and the disparity between them is only going to grow larger. Asa species, humans are primary consumers at the highest trophic level on Earth, Our detrimental effects on global climates trickle down and are devastating to other living organisms. A continuing population explosion will only exacerbate these effects and quality of life will continue to decrease. RYAN (loudly, almost as if he can’t contain himself): And quality of life was never good in the first place! <— teem yon MELISSA: Let's take a step back. We're approaching this from a very black-and-white viewpoint. If we take a look at the excerpt from the book, it's clear that Gladstone's reasoning, though it sounds nice, does not apply to alll situations. We really must consider the circumstances before making conclusions about reproduction or quality of life. Under different circumstances, all-encompassing conclusions like Gladstone makes can be polarizing and erroneous. KATIE: Ms. Pine, | may speak only for myself when I say this, but | feel as ifthe desire to and the act of reproducing transcends circumstances. Katie pauses before delving into her slightly long-winded anecdote. KATIE: When I had my first child, I was still in college and my husband was out of work. We were perhaps a bit too young to be parents by conventional standards. To be quite honest, we were worried. Worried about the financial situation. Worried about how the emotions ofa child would affect our lives. Worried about how the child would affect my ability to earn my degree and affect my husband's ability to find and hold a job. Through alll of it, we persevered, Sure, there were thoughts of not going through with the birth. But, we couldn’t resist knowing what it would feel like to hold a smalll part of us in our arms and to raise him or her with all of our affection. It ended up being a girl. She's 18 now and she’s graduating high school next June. She turned out fine. Funny how that stress has now become someone that I'm immensely proud of. For a moment, everyone absorbs the story. Though they may disagree with it or even feel it’s slightly sappy, they respect the tale and what it stands for. Melissa speaks up next, but does so apprehensively, as if she’s sad to have to disagree with such a pleasant account. MELISSA: Just as I was saying before, though, you're just one case. You happened to defy the circumstances and I'm happy for you, but we must really consider both the motivations behind procreation and establish an ethical framework on a case to case basis, In my paper, I've outlined a four step process that I've found helpful over the years. First, we must define the specific circumstances of the situation. Next, we must identify and consider factors like obligations, ideals, and consequences. After that, we must weigh the circumstances against these factors before, and this is the last step, making a conclusion about what must be done. Camera zooms in on Katie as she has her own inner monologue. KATIE (inner monologue / narration): Is she trying to tell me that I shouldn't have had my child? That | should've waited until | had a degree? Yeah, I'm sure that piece of paper hanging on my wall would make me such a better mother. | cannot believe this Ms. Pine. She's taking such an analytical approach to a subject that's characterized by passion. Isn't that what reproduction should be anyways? A culmination of emotion between two people? MELISSA: Also, you included something about holding your child in your arms, which stuck out to me because it goes back to step three of my framework where ideals and purpose are considered. This is just one example of a phenomena that I see quite often; parents having innately self-interested reasons for having children. Katie is outraged. MELISSA: Please don’t take this the wrong way. But, a parent having a child because he or she wants to experience something with that child is unethical reasoning, RYAN: Ms. Pine, say what it is. It’s selfish. Bringing another life into this world because you need to someone to hold and feed and make yourself feel important is selfish. By introducing another human into the world, you add to the sum total of suffering and selfishly attempt to reduce your own. STELLA: | think it goes without saying, but I will say it: reproduction is necessary for human survival. Isn‘t that apparent to you all? Throughout history, certain religious texts have placed emphasis on the value of reproduction and these texts have withstood the test of time. For example, in the Bible, reproduction was a primary survival strategy for the ¢ of Israel, as outlined in Numbers 21:35. The Israelites, originally a small and scrappy tribe, created a mighty army under God’s commandment to “be fruitful and increase in number.” And in the Qur'an, it is emphasized that reproduction is a way to establish a strong community of faith, a key component to survival. We can’t just cease reproduction as some would propose. We would save the Earth, sure, but humans would die out. HYOEUN: Although reproduction seems to be the method to continuing the human race, if current trends persist, it seems to be quite the opposite. It seems counter-intuitive, but let me explain. The human population is now over 7 billion people, a 700 percent increase over the last two centuries. t's still rising and does not seem to show any signs of slowing down, Already, we're affected by overpopulation and resource depletion. Our transgressions also affect other species, though we hardly think about it. We're killing ourselves and the Earth. KATIE: But, what are the reasons people have children even in a world of scarce resources? They're driven by emotion, not a cold, scientific worldview, Now, I don't necessarily hold the belief that being a parent is the holy grail of humanity. People without offspring are expected to rationalize their choice of being childless and yet no real attempt has been made to ask the procreating majority to state their reasoning, Still without a doubt, becoming a mom is one of the best decisions I've made in my life. My children have given me a reason to live despite all the grey hairs, cold sores, and so on. | live in hope that if my ‘own children choose to become parents they could heighten the bar once more as they raise their own children. | believe that if this is the aim of all parents that, in time, humans could slowly become better people. HYOEUN: While I'm glad that you've had your great emotional experiences, we must once again be reminded of the facts. Procreation is primal, It’s instinctive, sure. But it’s also a dangerous process at its current rate. The fertility rate right now is 2.1, meaning that every woman has 2.1 children over her lifetime. The population is by no means shrinking, And what do all these new humans do? They use fossil fuels from birth to death. This leads to increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. These greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide trap heat in the atmosphere and cause global temperature to increase. The consequences of this are phenology shifts, species extinction, and habitat loss and degradation. Most biologists recognize that it will be impossible to preserve high species diversity and high functioning ecosystems if 1) the human population grows to 10 billion or more, whi we're already quite close to hitting and 2) the rate of consumption of fossil fuels does not decline. And that’s only one issue, There are also questions of food demand outweighing food supply and other crises that stem from overpopulation, Remember, all of these issues come from our inability to stop reproducing so rapidly. STELLA: But with no reproduction, these ecosystems that we're destroying would not even exist in the first place. In most cultures, there is a certain religion and one of the common threads that run through these religions is the promotion of reproduction. They promote such an institution because the Earth was a gift to humans from a deity or deities, It’s our purpose to populate and flourish here on Earth. We mustn't place the well-being of the Earth's ecosystems over our own well-being. RYAN: [SOMEONE ELSE WRITE WHAT RYAN SAYS HERE, I'M NOT SURE WHY HE’D AGREE WITH STELLA] HYOEUN: It’s not like our level of well-being is directly related to reproduction, though, And we can’t isolate the Earth’s well-being from our well-being anyways. Hurting the Earth hurts us too, The prosperity, health, and happiness of humans are completely intertwined with the preservation of biodiversity and functioning ecosystems. Neither of us can live without the other. From here, all five improvise lines that become less and less related to the topic of reproduction. They take personal jabs at each other and the volume level grows steadily. CROWD (huge mess of voices): | hate you! Nothing matters! ‘And so on and so forth. [OPTIONAL MONOLOGUE BY RYAN GOES HERE] Cut to Mencius walking towards the door into the room. He opens the door and starts talking to the five scholars, MENCIUS: Hey guys, the host will be here in a second. We go live in two minutes. (Hyoeun: I THINK THIS IS TOO CALM FOR WHEN A CREWMEMBER DISCOVERS THAT HIS GUESTS ARE ARGUING.] Right when Mencius starts talking, the five scholars immediately put on smiling faces and a fagade that everything is OK! Cut to black. Audio only at the end. MENCIUS: So, you guys excited to be on TV? [WE SHOULD COME UP WITH A BETTER ENDING LINE. MAYBE ONE OF YOU GUYS COULD SAY THE LINE. IDK, WE'LL COME UP WITH SOMETHING.]

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