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Correct me if I'm wrong, OP, but I think the OP question deals not so much with a desire to know why people procreate, but a desire to know why Americans are obsessed with kids to a degree that surpasses all other advanced nations by light years. To those of us who have traveled and have seen kids in other advanced nations, and to people of other advanced nations who visit here, it does baffle.
While there are exceptions to every rule (which is why they are called exceptions of course), Americans do tend to be overwhelmingly obsessed with their kids. From turning them into nice future consumers by providing them with unimaginable amounts of purchased goods, to insisting on kids being present at everything, including adult functions, from refusing to shut them up or make them behave (and even finding it amusing when they act like Moderator cut: language, to taking the child's side against adults when they know full well their child is lying, or acting like an idiot, and so on. And the pics they take of their kid. Every 5 seconds they take a photo and bam, it gets plastered on Facebook. I can go on indefinitely about this kid insanity. I'd call it spoiling the child, but it's gone so far beyond spoiling that I feel there is no longer an adequate word for the American obsession with children. It's become a psychological disorder.
This sort of wacko behavior on the part of the parents did not always exist, and I think it began with the 5 or 6 of psychologists and pediatricians (Dr. Spock and so on), who began pumping into our brains that if a child is not treated like an emperor of sorts and allowed to behave like a complete Moderator cut: language, he or she will turn out to be some sort of unhappy, really fd up psychopath. As a result, we're left with a society of lazy, obnoxious children with their parents cooing and feeling very self-satisfied with themselves that they turned them into complete freaks.
In any case, that's how I interpreted the OP's question, and that's how I am answering it.
Correct me if I'm wrong, OP, but I think the OP question deals not so much with a desire to know why people procreate, but a desire to know why Americans are obsessed with kids to a degree that surpasses all other advanced nations by light years. To those of us who have traveled and have seen kids in other advanced nations, and to people of other advanced nations who visit here, it does baffle.
While there are exceptions to every rule (which is why they are called exceptions of course), Americans do tend to be overwhelmingly obsessed with their kids. From turning them into nice future consumers by providing them with unimaginable amounts of purchased goods, to insisting on kids being present at everything, including adult functions, from refusing to shut them up or make them behave (and even finding it amusing when they act like Moderator cut: language, to taking the child's side against adults when they know full well their child is lying, or acting like an idiot, and so on. And the pics they take of their kid. Every 5 seconds they take a photo and bam, it gets plastered on Facebook. I can go on indefinitely about this kid insanity. I'd call it spoiling the child, but it's gone so far beyond spoiling that I feel there is no longer an adequate word for the American obsession with children. It's become a psychological disorder.
This sort of wacko behavior on the part of the parents did not always exist, and I think it began with the 5 or 6 of psychologists and pediatricians (Dr. Spock and so on), who began pumping into our brains that if a child is not treated like an emperor of sorts and allowed to behave like a complete Moderator cut: language, he or she will turn out to be some sort of unhappy, really fd up psychopath. As a result, we're left with a society of lazy, obnoxious children with their parents cooing and feeling very self-satisfied with themselves that they turned them into complete freaks.
In any case, that's how I interpreted the OP's question, and that's how I am answering it.
Some of what you say is valid, but don't you think your example of a "rule" is really the exception? My only kid is 23 already, and in raising her I certainly did meet some parents who overindulged their children or didn't teach or discipline them, but I wouldn't say they represented the majority.
I have noticed that the majority of Americans are very keen on having children and find it weird when someone doesn't want to have kids. Why are Americans so obsessed with having children?
And why do people call women selfish when they don't have the desire to have children? I
Does anyone else have trouble understanding the fascination with having kids?
Who knows, but it's done severe damage to this planet and ecosystem, this country had just slightly more people living here in 1800 across the entire country than live just in NYC today, by 1900 that soared to 75 million, 1950 to 150 million, now its 320 million and it's having a disasterous effect on everything.
Selfish is breeding more children when we already have 320 million people, and while over 200,000 unwanted sit in the foster-care system in this country alone for lack of permanent homes!
People should be adopting not breeding more, and by adopting I don't mean going to foreign countries and bringing home their unwanted to add to our overpopulation.
Now I read about some fool who had a donated uterus implanted in her body so she could birth a baby! this is the height of insanity.
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
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I find it funny that so many proponents of Darwinism chose to have no offspring. Are you oblivious to nature? If a group of organisms doesn't reproduce will eventually disappear and be replaced by another organism.
I guess you all are fine with the world being totally populated by radical Islam, witch doctors, and drug cartels while the populations that have produced civilization (Western Europe, North American, Japan) all vanish?
oh, it's stupid to not want to have to spend 1/2 million $ to raise each kid (properly, without sponging off of the taxpayer)? I"d say that it's stupid (and destructive) to have more than one child per woman (until our species is reduced to a point where everyone in the world can have a decent life, and its' sustainable. Thats about a 90% reduction in population size. People don't like the idea that if things go my way, future kids can't be harnessed to pay for the (current) people's retirements, disabilities, etc.
Just, why, exactly, should I CARE if our species dies out, hmm? Why should I care so much that I bust my butt for 40 years to prevent that extinction, as vs taking it easy and just pulling my own weight? So YOU can tax my kids to pay for YOUR retirement and YOUR kids' education. Not happening, jack.
I see it every day. they take little kids, 3-4 years old, to a restaurant and ASK THEM what they want to eat! Kids should be TOLD what they WILL eat, until they're 10-11, at the least. What they want to eat is garbage.
I find it funny that so many proponents of Darwinism chose to have no offspring. Are you oblivious to nature? If a group of organisms doesn't reproduce will eventually disappear and be replaced by another organism.
I guess you all are fine with the world being totally populated by radical Islam, witch doctors, and drug cartels while the populations that have produced civilization (Western Europe, North American, Japan) all vanish?
Lol, wow, that's quite the paranoia. Don't fret, my decision to not have kids has absolutely no impact on the earth's population. Plenty of people breeding.
Selfish is breeding more children when we already have 320 million people, and while over 200,000 unwanted sit in the foster-care system in this country alone for lack of permanent homes!
I think the number in foster care is actually higher than that.
However the couples I know who have gone overseas to adopt do so because of the ever present problems with caring/adopting a child in the US when the biological parents are still in the mix.
Essentially they didn't want to be 5 years into parenthood when the meth head mother comes knocking because she is 60 days clean wanting her child back even though the child was taken away from her when he/she was 12 weeks old.
I want kids, but I want to be able to live my life first, and have my ducks in a row and be at the right time in life before I have them.
But I'm not obsessed about having them. And if you think most Americans are, then you do not know what 'obsessed' means...lol.
Want obsessed? My husband is EXTREMELY baby crazy. It's babies this, babies that, WE NEED BABIES, lol. He has his favorite baby names all picked out already, and watches childrens television and clips of cute kids and babies on YouTube. He can't even hear or see a baby without having a meltdown about wanting a baby RIGHT NOW. His ultimate dream in life is for us to be parents. Every single night he tries to convince me to stop the birth control, and get pregnant. He pets my tummy and talks to it like there's already a baby in there. And if I'm late that month, he's over the MOON. Until we know I'm not pregnant. Then he gets depressed. Babies are on his mind 24/7.
Now, THAT is 'obsessed with having children'.
(We have agreed to go to Botswana and Antarctica and do a few other cool things while saving up for a year, before we have kids. It's just a very painful wait for him, lol)
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