Is Being Childfree Selfish? Debating Time Magazine's Touchy New Issue (points, humans)
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People like Hitler, Mengele, Himmler, Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Hussein, Gadaffi now Assad - seven of them alive during my life thus far - were/are also not disposed to render unto thinking human beings their abilities to not just follow their dreams but to even live. You seem to be of the same mind. That's not what I would call keeping good company.
Obviously to that poster. Actually, many of us find the idea of any animal extinction to be not only bad, but sad. Although, I don't know why the folk advocating this stuff just don't off themselves. It would probably be easier for them. And of course people have children to please themselves. That's exactly why I had my daughter, not to please anyone here or elsewhere.
Non-human species are going extinct as a direct result of human population growth.
Anti-natalists plan on living out their lives and dying without leaving descendants. There's nothing contradictory about it, as long as they don't add to the population.
I would like to point out that it is impossible for people who do not exist to feel deprived of their own existence.
True on the surface but then again, life isn't all about the individual, is it?
Who knows how many potential Einsteins, Mozarts, Picassos or Leonardo Davincis we don't have in the world already because of the decisions made by couples to enjoy themselves instead of suffering a little to bring a kid or two into the world.
A unborn person may not feel anything but the human race as a whole would be deprived of future great minds and the things they could have accomplished, even if their parents were dinks.
True on the surface but then again, life isn't all about the individual, is it?
Who knows how many potential Einsteins, Mozarts, Picassos or Leonardo Davincis we don't have in the world already because of the decisions made by couples to enjoy themselves instead of suffering a little to bring a kid or two into the world.
A unborn person may not feel anything but the human race as a whole would be deprived of future great minds and the things they could have accomplished, even if their parents were dinks.
No individual should have to suffer needlessly and sacrifice their own happiness for the sake of society, especially for meaningless "What ifs?". Anyway, a person who is forced to have kids they don't want is likely to become resentful, angry and eventually, abusive or neglectful to their children. Abused, neglected children are unlikely to become inventors or painters or doctors. They are more likely develop drug/alcohol addictions, become criminals and fail at school.
Besides, most people have kids. There are over 7 billion people on Earth and yet how many of them have achieved as many as those people you mentioned? The chances of producing a genius are so minute. Most people are plain average and will die forgotten, myself included. I only have one life to live and it just seems wasteful to spend the rest of it raising children who will be un-extraordinary. I am not putting myself down, I simply don't believe my genes are special.
Why worry about the tiny minority of people who don't have kids? Do you also think priests, nuns and monks are selfish for not having kids too, or does that only apply to people who are sexually active and reject procreation?
Out of curiosity, how many children do you have? If you don't have any children, how many do you want to have? 1? 2? 3? Why not 10 or more, in order to increase your chances of raising a genius? Why don't you have more children to make up for all of the childfree couples who choose not to have children?
If you think she's extreme, wait'll you get a load of me.
I personally couldn't care less how extreme you think you may, or may not be.
Newsflash! The world doesn't revolve around the whims of people such as yourself or myself. I have already covered my stance in a few previous posts in the thread.
Basically my position is this. I have not had children myself as I did not think I was mentally equipped for the job. Others that are mentally equipped have had kids, and should continue to do so if they want to.
Hint: No one should have the right to dictate whether someone else should be forced to reproduce or not. I'm as staunchly against those that want to force procreation on people, just as much as I am against those that want to deny someone else the opportunity if they are equipped for it. However, there are far too many people not equipped to deal with having kids, that are having them. That, I'm sure we can at least agree with.
Last edited by TheUnknown67; 09-12-2013 at 01:08 AM..
Reason: addition
Non-human species are going extinct as a direct result of human population growth.
Anti-natalists plan on living out their lives and dying without leaving descendants. There's nothing contradictory about it, as long as they don't add to the population.
I don't call having children or not having children "selfish", but a line has to be drawn somewhere. The earth is ridiculously overpopulated and non-human species are suffering because of it, or going extinct. Unless we can get our act together in the sense of taking care of our planet far better than we are now, I feel that some some sort of mass limit on the number of children people can have will become necessary to avert disaster.
I personally do not want children. Parenting is a big task and I do not feel that I am up to it. How anyone can call that selfish is beyond me. If I did ever reach the point where I wanted children, I would rather adopt.
Non-human species are going extinct as a direct result of human population growth.
Anti-natalists plan on living out their lives and dying without leaving descendants. There's nothing contradictory about it, as long as they don't add to the population.
Ok, I agree, but that doesn't address what we're discussing here - those who are so miserable that they wish harm to others and extinction of a species. That just seems like mental illness.
Ok, I agree, but that doesn't address what we're discussing here - those who are so miserable that they wish harm to others and extinction of a species. That just seems like mental illness.
I don't know that it rises necessarily to the level of mental illness. It's just being very angry about one's personal pain and then laying the blame at the world's doorstep and taking it as a personal attack. The reality is that the world isn't out to get anyone; it's an effort to get the world to notice anyone. The world is out for itself. But guess what, that poster is, too.
If I could communicate anything to that poster it would be that it's a mistake to project your issues onto the wider world ... the real culprits are likely your own parents -- not all are like that. It's okay that other people had good parents and good childhoods. Learn to be happy for others whose good fortune is not yours; it's a major component of good character. And deal with your actual issues; they are much more amenable to change than getting the whole world to alter itself.
I personally couldn't care less how extreme you think you may, or may not be.
Newsflash! The world doesn't revolve around the whims of people such as yourself or myself. I have already covered my stance in a few previous posts in the thread.
Basically my position is this. I have not had children myself as I did not think I was mentally equipped for the job. Others that are mentally equipped have had kids, and should continue to do so if they want to.
Hint: No one should have the right to dictate whether someone else should be forced to reproduce or not. I'm as staunchly against those that want to force procreation on people, just as much as I am against those that want to deny someone else the opportunity if they are equipped for it. However, there are far too many people not equipped to deal with having kids, that are having them. That, I'm sure we can at least agree with.
I couldn't agree more. I find it absurd when I hear people demanding that others have children.
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