The setting of "2 B R 0 2 B" is a few centuries in the future. A great doctor who had cured humankind of aging is being put into a mural along with others.
Mr. Wehling has just had triplets. The consequence is that for every birth there must be a death. Since humans no longer die (except by accident, I'm sure), someone must volunteer to die so that new borns can live. Because there is just one volunteer, Wehling is told he must choose one of the triplets with other two being required to die.
Dr. Hitz is somewhat flippant concerning the prospective deaths of the other two infants, saying that thanks to population control, the one child will lead a happy life on a "happy, roomy, clean, rich planet."
China is the only country to try to tackle the problem with overpopulation. If parents have triplets, they are not required to choose one while letting the others die. On the other hand, Chinese have not cured aging. There are a few scientists out there trying to cure aging. It's my hope that they succeed.
World population today continues to explode. When will it end?
Mr. Wehling decides to murder the doctor, the nurse, and himself, so that his grandfather (who had volunteered, but doesn't want to die) and his three newborns can live.
The painter of the mural seems already profoundly unhappy with life. I can't imagine being unhappy with life if life was perpetual. But everyone is different. After witnessing the murder-suicide, he decides that he himself has had enough of life and calls the number, "2 B R 0 2 B" ("to be or not to be") to make an appointment for his own destruction.
One man's Utopia is another's Dystopia.
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