EXHAUSTING THE FISHERY IS MY PERSONAL CHOICE, ISN'T IT?

I went into my local Sporting Goods store today to buy some fishing gear for this coming summer season. I engaged pleasantries with Tracy, the lady at the counter. It was about four months since I last spoke to her. In that conversation, I lamented the fate of Kate, a tragically unfortunate woman in her mid twenties with schizophrenia. The whole island knew of Kate. Like so many schizophrenics, she was always seen pacing with a cigarette in her mouth, often talking to herself and sometimes flying into rages. Unfortunately Kate is an attractive young woman. It is unfortunate because she is prey to cads who pick her up while hitchiking and have their way with her. About four months after her first childbirth she took her baby in her arms and at midnight in the moonlight walked into the frigid waters of the harbour and attempted to swim to the next island. She was apprehended, the baby rescued, placed in temporary social services care and then adopted. Of course the father of this child was no where to be seen. The father of Kate's second child was more responsible. He took custody while she went into psychiatric care. But her stay was short. In Canada there is really nothing doctors can do with mental health patients who won't voluntarily submit to treatment. They are typically detained for two days after a doctor issues an order to the police. Then they are released. Kate has been detained and released over and over again. This past fall Kate let it be known that she wanted a baby. She enjoyed being pregnant and having a child that cloyed to her and needed her. So every day and every night, she put on her make-up, tarted up, and trolled the roads thumbing rides. By January it was evident that she had been successful in her quest. Her third issue should be due before the spring is out. Even in a tight community with high accountability, there is always a supply of male scum to meet the irresponsible demands of someone like Kate. I can't find words to describe the impotent rage I feel, and my feeling is broadly felt in the same depth. When I reviewed Kate's latest woes with Tracy, I bitterly remarked that with 6.7 billion people on the planet, and our environment consequently on the ropes, government---the community---should have no qualms about seizing people like Kate and sterilizing them. And then hunting down the scoundrels who take advantage of them and summarily neutering them without anesthetic. "Well, she said, having children is a personal choice." Remembering that conversation, I brought my lures to the counter and announced, "Tracy, I won't be buying a fishing licence this year." "Why not?" she asked, "You have to stay in your limit or you might get a heavy fine. Besides, Tim, you've gotta leave some fish for the rest of us." "Whether I catch one salmon or twenty salmon, surely that is a personal choice," I replied.

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