It s 1542, You, And Your Fair Maiden, Or Shiny Armored...

It’s 1542. You, and your fair maiden, or shiny-armored knight, have been betrothed. Immediately, you begin to contemplate how soon you two should be starting a family. Quickly after your marriage ceremony ends, you give birth to your first baby. However, baby number one passes in his first six months. After a short period of grieving--maybe a week or two--you and your beloved pop another chitlin out. This one seems to be doing okay! It’s been nine months and she hasn’t contracted pneumonia or smallpox yet. Even so, one child is not enough--there are two of you, so, in order to neutralize the population and keep your lineage well established, you must bear at least six or seven children, praying that at least two will survive. Now, it’s 2015. You, and your yellow-sundress-clad girlfriend, or patterned-button-up-wearing boyfriend, have finally been engaged. After marriage, and perhaps a few years of wanderlust, you begin to contemplate how soon you two should be starting a family. But it’s not 1542 anymore. Nowadays, death is an ordeal saved exclusively for the elderly. The world is different. Society is different. The economy is different. And the problems that once were far, far off on the horizon are now here. We are on the horizon we had thought to be so far off. As the population nears its bursting point, all members of society must begin to consider an interesting set of new moral questions. Above all, individuals must discover their role in the perpetuation of our