"If I had to choose just one, I would say that the most ridiculous and transparent statement ever made by many young idealistic leftists is that they choose not to have children because they don't want to bring children to this world because it is so bad. (Of course, few people who say such things ever bother to point out some past era when the world would have been good enough for them to have children.)"
Why would anyone need to point out a past era when the world would have been a good enough place to raise children? If we cannot or will not describe such a time, does that somehow invalidate our opinion of the world as it stands now?
I think dislike of the state of the world is a perfectly valid reason to not have kids, and there is nothing young, idealist, or leftist about it. Then again, I don't see any invalid reason to not have kids. Don't want 'em? Don't have 'em. Your reasons are your own, and there is nothing ridiculous or transparent or poser-edgy about them.
You think the world is going to hell? Fine. You have a family history of medical disorders? No problem. You don't want to deal with a needy, dependent being? Great. You like your life just as it is? Wonderful. These are all excellent reasons to not reproduce. I'm having trouble thinking of any reason to be childfree that is not excellent.
What in the hell is the point of ridiculing anyone's reasons to not have children?
(To be "edgy," I suppose.)
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
"Look at me, I'm so edgy," indeed.
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4 comments:
I think dislike of the state of the world is a perfectly valid reason to not have kids,
If you read my post, you notice that my problem with this reason is that it is not really the reason why the people saying it have remained childfree, but it's merely a post-facto rationalization and an attempt to establish a high moral standing.
Once the decision to remain childfree has already been made for other reasons, typically simply selfishness, it is hypocritical to pretend that those weren't the real reasons but the choice to remain childfree was made for other, more noble-sounding reasons.
Perhaps there is somebody out there who really wanted to have children but decided not to, to protest against some other political or social injustice. I seriously doubt that very many such people exist, though.
Your reasons are your own, and there is nothing ridiculous or transparent or poser-edgy about them.
Yes there is, if you try to present different reasons to remain childfree in public than what you really held in private. (This is the very definition of "poser", I believe.)
I am brave enough to admit that my decision to remain childfree was selfishness and comfort. For this reason, I have no respect whatsoever for those who obviously had the same reason but can't admit it, but instead spin hippy-dippy fairy tales about "this world is so bad that I don't want to bring children into it", without bothering to explain in what way exactly the world would have to better for them to breed.
What in the hell is the point of ridiculing anyone's reasons to not have children?
If those reasons are blatantly ridiculous, then there is a very good point made in ridiculing them.
Geez, the owner of the blog you linked to is such a bitch. Pardon my French.
It's the "edgy" blog of a snob. How nice. I guess I am thankful she is not reproducing - we don't need more people like her in the world.
Ah, the owner of the blog is a man! Well, my comments still stand. Still a bitch.
I am so tired of hearing the word "selfish" applied to childfree people, whether it's by breeders or by breeder-pleasing CFers like Ilkka.
As long as no one else is hurt or importuned, there is nothing selfish about choosing to live one's life on one's own terms.
The corollary to CF "selfishness," of course, is that pahruntz are all paragons of utter altruism, and sprogging is the most selfless thing one can do in this world. Somehow, the countless news articles I see about child abuse — not to mention all the breeder entitlement-mindedness and refusal to discipline their rugrats — persuade me to the contrary.
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