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- Some want to perpetrate human kind and society with another generation of well-raised, educated, and motivated individuals. They don't have to cure cancer, but some people do hope they can raise their children to incrementally improve the lives of those around them and the human condition, overall. Of course, that doesn't always happen.
This is my reason.
Because we're already way outnumbered.
Here's an interesting question: Why do so many parents feel the need to invalidate a complete stranger's choice to not have any kids? Choosing not to have children is not damaging and harmful like murder or rape, so quite frankly, I don't understand why other people are so bothered by childfreedom.
Using this flawed logic, it could be construed that it is also selfish decision not to move to Detroit and become a police officer to help better the city:
Of course it is a selfish decision. It's a good decision, but it is also made in your own self-interest, and therefore "selfish". It's not at the level of selfishness of, say, swindling an old lady out of her life savings, but you make the decision not to be a police officer out of your own self-interest. Now, when you qualify it with the impact on family, spouse, or by recognition that you suck at fighting crime and you can benefit society more by being a defense lawyer in Miami, you then are making your decision based (somewhat) on the best interests of others, rather than yourself.
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You have no desire to fight crime. Though a very good reason, this is, by definition, a selfish reason. You acknowledge the capacity to stop criminals on the street level, but you chose not to because it is not one of your wants. Qualifying the statement by saying you don't want to subject your family to the stress of fighting crime in one of America's most dangerous cities, does not make it less selfish.
See how that works? You could insert any decision into the frame of reference you have created and label it selfish. As such, it proves your logic is completely flawed.
No, my logic is sound. It is your distress that selfish acts are a fact of life, and your desire to live in a world with clear boundaries where you can securely stand "in the right" or "in the wrong", which clouds your judgement. As I stated, it is perfectly okay to do things for selfish reasons, so long as you take steps to minimize the harm your selfish actions cause, and maintain a moral barometer more-or-less in line with your fellow citizens.
Examples:
-Robbing a bank because you selfishly want more money: Probably not "OK".
-Eating a non-fair-trade candy bar from the store because you selfishly want to save money regardless of unfair labor practices: Probably "OK".
-Issuing questionable financial products to people who cannot afford them so you can make hundreds of millions of dollars a year: Gray area.
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A stronger argument could be made that having kids is selfish. Unlike those of us that choose to remain childless, you are making decisions that directly affect other people's lives (i.e your offspring). By doing so, you are also creating more demands on the Earth's ever dwindling resources. The carbon footprint yet another human leaves on the planet will only serve to hasten the Earth's demise, and using your own genetic immortality as an excuse to create more unneeded human life forms does not make it any less selfish in the least.
I don't disagree with you. The continuation of my own genetics is instinctive. It is selfish to indulge that urge. As well, the more people there are, the fewer natural resources there are. This particular reason, which you use to justify your decision to remain child-free, is not selfish. However, I believe it is based on a very limited, and incorrect view of Humanity.
You should also consider that the more educated people there are, the more minds there are working to solve the tough problems or generate new forms of expression (or run the support structures that enable the work of scientists, artists, engineers, etc.) and the faster technology, medicine, philosophy, and art advance.
If every person with the wealth and education (compared to the majority of humanity) to produce offspring capable of, say, building aeroplanes or running powerplants, decided not to have children, society would quickly regress to a medieval state. Then again, if just a certain percentage of people decided not to procreate, society might see a net benefit.
The balance between consumption and creation is difficult to define. So my opinion that it is better to bring a new potentially productive person into the world, rather than preserve the resources that person would consume, is not necessarily correct. Correctness has no bearing on selfishness. Your intentions are altruistic, and it doesn't matter if you are, in fact, hurting or helping others. Sadly, selfless acts are not always "good", just as selfish acts are not always "bad".
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You want a taste at playing God, plain and simple. And that, my friend, is the most selfish reason of them all.
This is silly. I cannot imagine any scenario where becoming a parent equates to playing God. Parents don't drown their children or turn them into pillars of salt when they misbehave.
Child-free by choice, yet I pay taxes and pay for school levees to support other people's children. I also pay more taxes, while they get tax breaks for pumping out more kids.
The financial penalties we have, compared to the benefits people get for having larger litters of children is very unbalanced.
the fact that anyone can call a childless person "selfish" is a total insult. We are paying for your offspring in more ways than one. Children are a drain on family, environment and community "resources" no matter how you look at it. It doesn't mean children are "evil", its just a financial fact.
It takes some real balls to accuse childless people who are quietly minding their own business and taking care of themselves, "selfish." Next time you want to do that, feel free to pay me back my higher taxes that you collected as a benefit from having your kids.
I see so many parents constantly complaining about being tired, and over worked, divorced, stressed and having no sex life.
I honestly think they are jealous of child-free couples. We enjoy life, play, have disposable income, and a fabulous, spontaneous sex life. I have no idea how anyone could equate being child-free with being selfish. Jealousy is the only answer I can come up with.
Why anyone would bring a child into this horrible world is beyond me. Fact is, those who have children are the selfish ones. They have children for selfish reasons. Period.
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