Should You Need a License to Have Kids?

You need a license to drive a car, pull a fish out of a lake and marry a stripper in Vegas, but any jackass can bring a life into this world. We see the downside of this nightly on reality TV, YouTube and in our schools. Bad parenting is killing our country. It's worse than drugs, corrupt lending, Wall St. crooks and a flexible legal system. And it begs the question:

Should parents need a license to have kids?

The blog over at Freakonomics actually put up a poll asking their readers if they think parents should have to get a license to have kids. Only 6% of those who voted thought it was a terrible idea. Six. But more on that later.

Now, there's the whole "it's my right as a human being to reproduce" argument to counter the question, and it's tough to fight biology. But no one is out there watching bad parents, punishing them or educating them. We choose to put insane amounts of money into things like presidential campaigns instead.

I'm not sure having a license is the answer, but it sure sheds light on the fact that bad parenting is killing this country as much as reckless spending and no accountability. It sucks money out of schools, churches, cripples our judicial system and sends innocent kids to the streets to fend for themselves. Yet not one presidential candidate has ever mentioned a word about it.

The Freakonomics post was also interesting because 60% of the people who voted thought it was a good idea, but impossible to implement, and another 32% thought it was something that should be done. So that basically means than 92% of people who voted think that parents should need a license. People who read Freakonomics aren't uneducated either.

What do you think? Should parents need a license to have kids?