The Birthing Rights Lottery

It's my nineteenth birthday, and sure enough, in my mailbox this morning I found the letter that every woman receives when she reaches the age of majority—my Birthing Rights Lottery notification.

In my hands, I hold the piece of paper that will tell me whether or not I have the right to bear a child in this life.

They call it a lottery because the privilege is supposed to be a random draw, with one out of every three young women being given the good news that she has been awarded procreation rights. But I doubt it's random.

Ever since President Slater's New World Evolution Party was elected into power six years ago, every Unified West citizen has been giving their blood to the New Ministry of Health for analysis, once a year on their birthday.

We're told it's so that each person can be given the appropriate vitamin cocktail according to their personal deficiencies. The New Health Equality policy was brought in shortly after Slater's election in 2054. It purports to level out the playing field of baseline health for all citizens, no matter their socioeconomic status, by providing everybody with a yearly super-vitamin booster shot specific to their needs.

A wonderful idea, right?

But did President Slater make changes to the food industry, to promote better preventative health for the people? Perhaps he implemented new policies that would see organic farming being subsidized, or make nutritious groceries more affordable to everyone?

No. A fast-food burger is still cheaper than buying the ingredients to make a salad, and an ice cream sandwich from the corner store is cheaper than a piece of fresh local fruit.

It's hard to reconcile this with Slater's "good message" of truly caring about the peoples' health. And besides, the blood testing isn't mandatory until the age of twelve. If our well-being was truly at heart, wouldn't it be ideal to give these vitamins to younger children, still in their formative years?

Who knows what those booster injections really are—sugar water for all we know. I suspect our blood is being taken for reasons other than providing a dose of essential nutrients to the people. I bet they're examining our genes for hereditary diseases, or other undesirable attributes.

And what is undesirable? When every life is a beautiful gift—the blessing of a unique spirit on the earth—who decides what human qualities make the cut, and which ones don't?

I wouldn't be surprised if President Slater's subjective preferences make up the guidelines; perhaps he's creating his own version of the infamous Adolf Hitler's Übermensch ideology, hoping to build a strong new elitist race, and rid humanity of weakness.

It is his own arrogant illusion to think he can improve human nature through selective breeding.

I want no part of it, and shudder at the thought.

I'm not the only person who has these suspicions, but for the most part, those of us who are unconvinced keep our beliefs to ourselves. To voice an alternative interpretation of our government's agenda is to invite popular outrage and social shunning.

I think this is because nobody wants to believe that real darkness is possible. We prefer to keep that door closed, so we can continue sleeping without worrying there may be monsters in the closet.

Keep your night-lights on, children. You don't have to get used to the dark.

What a lulling message.

It's not that we need to go to the opposite extreme, to let the darkness consume us. On the contrary—we can never let it put out our own light. All I'm saying is that if I'm allowed to have a child, I will teach him or her or them to open their eyes at night.