Wanting kids isn't just the social norm, it's said to be a biological imperative, the only supposed "duh" of evolution, so I know my lack of sentiment isn't especially mainstream. I listen to people rhapsodize about parenthood, that it's so fulfilling and the greatest job in the world and good for them -- the more happiness in the world, the better.
Then I see parents at Target -- with one kid screaming in the cart, one screaming in their arms -- looking as blissful as a cat in a dryer. And I remember to take my pill.
One objection pro-child-bearing people express is the old standby "but it's natural". Well, so is horse manure, but it got George Costanza in trouble for even suggesting it wasn't so bad. It's also "natural" for men to have facial hair, but most men (at least in the West) are clean-shaven, and, as Mark Twain said, hate the beard: "It performs no useful function; it is a nuisance and a discomfort; all nations hate it; all nations persecute it with the razor."
h/t to Check Your Premises
... and the fact of the matter is, at least you've given it the thought it deserves. Too many people procreate for selfish reasons and forget the responsibility of bringing "a whole new person into existence."
ReplyDeleteI comprehend this responsibility and intend to understand my self and reality before I go create a whole new one. We need to understand the path before we can guide another down it....
Horse manure is actually useful, and doesn't drain resources from society.
ReplyDeleteHorse manure is actually useful, and doesn't drain resources from society.
ReplyDeleteGood points! By the way, do babies only drain resources or eventually produce much more of them?
Frankly, I agree we need more horse manure and fewer children. We've filled the earth enough, so let's stop or drastically slow down our reproduction, at least for a while.
Of course adults produce resources, but they also consume a lot more of them. After a certain (extremely low, compared to the world population)level of population, there is a diminishing return in terms of added population (insofar as science and innovation, entertainment, etc go).
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