Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Why wouldn't someone having a kid so they have support in their old age, just save the money it costs to raise a child and hire someone to support them in their old age?
If that were the issue, the answer would be obvious. Money speaks louder than consanguinity, and is more reliable. You would come out ahead saving the money for your old age support instead of spending it on children.
But that's not the issue. Old-age support is of relatively minor importance. Even if you die in the gutter, your life will have been more successful than if you died in the fanciest hospital. What matters is what you leave behind, not how comfortably you die. 1000 years isn't even the blink of an eye in eternity. People won't even know you ever existed. Your life will have been totally meaningless. Unless you leave something behind for them to know about. That you were the parent or grandparent of a saint or genius. Not that you died in a fancy hospital.
By posting this you are forcing the entire world to accept another message, which it really doesn't need, because that message brings you happiness and spreads on your thoughts. Adopting someone else's issues is selfless. Having your own is selfish.
Give me a break, I am not forcing anyone to accept of support my message.
You are forcing the entire world to accept another human, which it really doesn't need, because that human brings you happiness and spreads on your genetic information. Adopting a child is selfless, having your own is selfish.
Give me a break, I am not forcing anyone to accept of support my child.
Give me a break, I am not forcing anyone to accept of support my child.
So are you telling me that the world has unlimited resources, or does your child eat, drink and **** air? Does your child use no electricity, gas and no manufactured products? If any of that isn't the case, you are forcing the world to support your child.
You want to reproduce and pass on your genes.
You were irresponsible and accidentally got pregnant and didn't want an abortion.
You want a baby around to play with.
You want a child so you can collect welfare payments for them.
This I agree with. There is nothing we do in life that can be argued to be a self-less act. There is value to us in everything we do. It sounds ridiculous, but it is true. In teh end, we should strive to balance feeding our own desires and making the world a better place.
One last thing. Why wouldn't someone having a kid so they have support in their old age, just save the money it costs to raise a child and hire someone to support them in their old age?
We're smart and good-looking, so we did it for the gene pool. You're welcome.
Well, the world could certainly use some more smart, good-looking people. If your religious and/or political views happen to coincide with mine, would you mind cranking out another kid? Thanking you in advance.
So are you telling me that the world has unlimited resources, or does your child eat, drink and **** air? Does your child use no electricity, gas and no manufactured products? If any of that isn't the case, you are forcing the world to support your child.
Humans are under no obligation to exterminate themselves or cease reproduction to preserve a biosphere which will be destroyed by the sun in a few billion years' time, and probably radically altered by an asteroid impact long before that.
I produce more than I consume, because I make society function more efficiently. My work improves the efficiency of the system so that it allows at many more people to live on the same amount of resources as I consume over the course of my life. I solve problems and invent things that make the lives of other people better. I intend to teach my children to do the same.
Eventually, the aggregate contributions of all our progeny will allow us to either save the planet or migrate to other planets and vastly expand our resource base.
The universe will eventually die a heat death, but we will likely find a way to either reverse the process, or step out of time completely, in the hundreds of billions of years we have before the universe dies or we consume all available resources. (Which are actually the same thing, because if people become numerous enough, our energy consumption will speed the entropic decay of the universe).
However, because we move/learn/build/adapt MUCH faster than evolution or cosmic physics, we will almost certainly find a solution to the fundamental physical limitations of our species lifespan--if we don't kill ourselves first.
My genetics will, hopefully, survive until bodies and genetic makeup are rendered meaningless by scientific advancement. That's as close to immortality as we're going to get, given the limits of current medical technology. I also think that living life without having children would be meaningless and sad. I would feel like I opted out of the most natural thing for a living organism to do--reproduce. Those are my selfish reasons for having children.
The unselfish reason, is--as stated above--that by having children we working to save the human race, possibly the planet, and possibly even the universe.
I disagree. I've heard that several times. It's not the primary reason they say they become parents, but it is something they considered for sure. Even if they don't voice it, they think about it. Parents have even used that reason as a weapon to tell non-parents how not having kids was the wrong decision in their eyes; they wouldn't have someone to take care of them when they are old and feeble.
I don't think people in their 20s and 30s even think they will get old some day, let alone who might take care of them when that happens.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TerraDown
I respectfully disagree.
We never had kids, because we were selfish.
Parents are essentially saddled to huge college funding, shelter, safety, diapers, throwup, toys, dealing with screaming children, clothing, events, little time alone (anymore) with significant other, and a multitude of other things that my wife and I thought about before deciding not to have them.
It takes people who are selfless, to decide to dedicate a major part of their youth to middle-age, even end-of-life; caring for their offspring.
I know a lady right now (vicariously) whose hospice nurse says her children are robbing her blind.
Doesn't sound like they are caring for her, they are preying on her.
*I know I'm not a parent, but I come into this forum occasionally to see how you guys are raising your kids. So far, so good, imho.
Well, gee, thanks!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Iaskwhy
You are forcing the entire world to accept another human, which it really doesn't need, because that human brings you happiness and spreads on your genetic information. Adopting a child is selfless, having your own is selfish.
Oh, for pity's sake!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
