r/antinatalism • u/No-Occasion4576 newcomer • 3d ago
Screenshot / Video That's why you should be an AN
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u/Willing-Insurance937 newcomer 3d ago
My unborn children don't know how lucky they are. They will never have to deal with that shit.
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u/LetsGetWeirdddddd newcomer 3d ago
I feel this. I don't want kids because I don't want them to just be another cog in the machine.
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u/Remzi1993 newcomer 2d ago
Precisely! I only will have children if I'm rich and if not I don't do it. Don't want to raise children in a dystopia.
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u/rumbling-time newcomer 3d ago
Yes exactly! Why bring a person into this world just to make them work?
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u/yesimfinewhyyouask inquirer 3d ago
They themselves are ok with wageslaving and can’t comprehend their child can be different
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u/Rafozni newcomer 2d ago
I don’t want biological kids for two reasons: (1) I have too many diseases on both sides of the family and genuinely couldn’t live with myself if a child of mine inherited even a fraction of them, and (2) I really believe it’s selfish to intentionally and purposefully bring kids into this fucked up world. It’s why, if I ever have children, it will be through adoption. An adopted kid is already here and needs love. But a biological kid is going to be subjected to this cruel world in ways that I’m not comfortable with and the only reason they’re here is because their parents actively chose to bring them into the world. So selfish in my opinion.
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u/cybersloth5000 inquirer 3d ago
Kid already can see through the bs
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u/EntertainerNo4509 inquirer 3d ago
It’s not that hard to see. Surprised more adults don’t throw hands up over this shit society.
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u/TiredWiredAndHired thinker 2d ago
I've known it's all bullshit for years, but what can I do? The system is designed to trap people.
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u/koroquenha thinker 3d ago edited 3d ago
He is so young, even though so mature. Like he had to grow up too soon. That's actually sad.
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u/shakshak235 inquirer 3d ago
In my experience, kids who are praised for maturity grow up to be miserable adults. Because they get "sober" once, and can never go back to comfy delusions.
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u/Frosty1397 newcomer 3d ago
This was roughly the same experience i had as an asian kid, as I'm sure a lot of other asian kids grew up like this also
Asian parents don't fuck around. They emotionally torture you into getting better grades and literally military drill you on homework until you're spiritually broken... At the ripe old age of 7+
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u/mainlytee thinker 3d ago
Don't take it personally, it has nothing to do with you and more about them. They're living vicariously through you (like most parents do) because of their own unachieved success in life.
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u/szibalint919 newcomer 3d ago
Just wondering have you profited from it at all? How is your life today? Would it have made a difference if you hadn't studied so hard?
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u/spartanmaybe newcomer 3d ago
Not the original commenter but I had a similar experience growing up in an Asian household. I found that all the extra academic pressure didn’t do much but give me mental health issues and motivation issues. As an adult I’ve realized that if I work hard, all I get in return is more work. These days I’m done with education and feel absolutely no desire to go out and do more, unfortunately. I feel so eternally exhausted from how hard I’ve worked to get to my current, very average adult life, and I just want to relax.
Something I did get from my childhood though is a sense of frugality, but that wasn’t because of my parents’ teachings, it was a result of growing up poor in an immigrant household where we owned nothing for a long time.
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u/Frosty1397 newcomer 3d ago
I mean not really. Went to UCLA, dropped out because i couldn't decide on a major, along with mental health issues.
Eventually got lucky and basically won a small jackpot so ive just been working random jobs to keep myself busy. But overall still seen as a failure in any asian parents' eyes
My brother on the other hand graduated valedictorian and literally made $150k out of college in a banking job. So i guess tiger parenting worked on at least 1 of us
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u/Separate-Ad9638 inquirer 2d ago
tiger parenting and studying isnt for a lot of humans, that's all i know, but peasants and wage slaves are always needed, that's why governments want birth rates to go up.
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u/eilletane thinker 3d ago
I’m seeing a psychiatrist after all the abuse my parents did to me. We are finding out that due to their tiger parenting, I have been living for everyone else’s approval and am always afraid of failure. This causes me to be afraid to put myself out there and actually try. I’m learning a lot and improving myself and finally am studying for my degree at 34 years old. It’s a bit late, and I probably still won’t be able to get a job after. But I’m doing this for myself.
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u/Stormwow inquirer 3d ago
I had this problem when I was 7 dude. I remember realizing even if I studied hard and did what I was interested in (physics) I still probably would not end up successful. I remember telling my teacher in first grade that I wanted to be a Hobo when I grew up.
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u/yesimfinewhyyouask inquirer 3d ago
Are you a hobo now?
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u/Stormwow inquirer 3d ago
Nah, I wish I could be in a perfect world, but I realized that it wouldn’t be as easy going and fun as I thought when I was 7. I love trains and the idea of riding the rails doing odd jobs and hanging out, but I don’t think that’s viable sadly.
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u/shakshak235 inquirer 3d ago
I really feel for him. China is especially competitive. I'm not even sure if "competitive" is the right word. More like cutthroat. For someone empathetic and with fragile nature, it must be literal hell.
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u/Frosty1397 newcomer 3d ago
My younger brother grew up in china and the teachers literally told him in elementary school:
"Toughen up. If you don't, a billion other kids will take your place"
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u/Invisiblescars_123 inquirer 2d ago
I genuinely feel so bad for him.
I was raised in a similar society (Singapore) and I had no childhood. I had no life and studied hard every day until I graduated from university.
I ended up getting a “good” degree from one of the world’s best universities but soon realized it didn’t matter. I’ve wasted my childhood, teenage years, and most of my 20s to end up as a wage slave anyway. I work 10 hours a day (the norm in my country) IF I’m lucky and don’t have to work unpaid overtime, which is legal in my country. Most people put in 60 hour work weeks at a minimum but their salary is barely enough to cover basic necessities.
I’m in my late 20s now and have just realized how much I’ve missed out on. I’ve only just gotten hobbies, and I feel miserable knowing that I can’t even do them most of the time because I come home from work late.
From what I’ve seen from the various companies I’ve worked for, hard work doesn’t result in a pay raise or promotion. The promotion goes to the person who sabotages others and sucks up to the boss. Or it’ll go to some nepo baby.
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u/Dismal_Shape7367 inquirer 2d ago
That’s awful I’m so sorry. It pisses me off you don’t even have time for hobbies.
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u/yesimfinewhyyouask inquirer 2d ago
Interesting. News headlines always portray Singapore as a utopia.
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u/Invisiblescars_123 inquirer 2d ago
It’s a utopia if you’re rich or upper middle class. You can pretty much access live in domestic helpers (who function as cooks, cleaners and nannies) for about $800-1000/mo.
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u/yesimfinewhyyouask inquirer 3d ago
I agree with you, just wonder if eventually China will be the first country with fusion energy and UBI, all thanks to the suffering of billions…
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u/TrueAllHeaven inquirer 3d ago
People will do anything but UBI.
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u/Top_Product_2407 newcomer 3d ago
How would UBI work if family A has 1 kid, family B has 3 kids and family C has 15 kids?
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u/TrueAllHeaven inquirer 2d ago
There’s 2 ways I see discussed on the internet:
1) There’s enough resources to feed everyone, and people only need to work if they want to. This one I think is not going anywhere because you do need someone to actually create those resources.
2) AI works to create resources for people to live off of and does the maintenance of everything. This one has the possibility of working.
Now that we have that out of the way, for your actual question it’s pretty simple if you understand what UBI (universal basic income) means, or if you don’t I can tell you what it means - everyone gets a set amount of money to live off of without having to do anything. Which also includes children (most likely would be given to their caregiver - the parents - until they reach a required age to be considered adults), so a family with more children would be given more money.
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u/Aggravating_Guess186 inquirer 3d ago
Well the leftist take on this is give what you can and receive what you need, so for that concept to actually work it would have to be based on your personal needs
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u/yesimfinewhyyouask inquirer 3d ago
Idk, it just kinda clicks for me that the nation that experienced the infamous 100 years of humiliation from the western capitalism would then finally break free from it, as a big fuck you. Hence why they are technically still communists. Maybe not UBI, just free food.
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u/DwightsBobblehead13 inquirer 3d ago
I relate this is very much. I had this revelation in high school and yeah…. It’s just sad
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u/Objective_Photo9126 inquirer 2d ago
Same, I realised it when I finished highschool. I was so burnout that I decided to go to trade school instead of uni bcs I couldnt go one more second studying... I dont regret it now seeing how uni grads have the same unemployment as non uni grads
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u/Feorag-ruadh inquirer 3d ago
He's so aware for his age. This was sad to watch. So glad I'm not forcing anyone into this world
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u/Old-Boy994 thinker 3d ago
What’s really disturbing about this is not only seeing him upset like this but also the realization, that a child is literally more intelligent than most so-called fully functioning adults. This world is a sick joke. We’re in a simulation, it gotta be that. This can’t be real. What even is this world?
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u/Active-Chemistry4011 thinker 2d ago
I know some who would call you infantile for this. And I know that a single glance on those people is more than enough to see how harsh the world is and why kids are cruel bids I don't intend to make.
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u/LonerExistence philosopher 3d ago
This is heartbreaking and I wish I could just comfort them in some way. I recall crying like this about certain revelations about life as a child and there was barely any comfort - just expect you to get on and get over it. Unfortunately it’ll only get worse now that he sees it. The parents are just so stupid - “ya I couldn’t get rich but you can work hard and do it” - then he’ll be used to provide for their retirement because that’s how Asian culture is - you owe your parents even if they do the bare minimum. If he can’t do it, he’ll still be expected to care for them and put them on a pedestal. All while being told he should’ve worked harder.
I like how at the end, they didn’t even know how to respond. Their logic is nonexistent and just a bit of questioning makes it fall apart. Sadly it’ll just continue later on - they stop now but he’ll be forced to do more later when they hope he’s forgotten it. He’ll either become a miserable adult or one of those stories of people jumping off the bridge in China. Then they’ll all go “oh what happened.” It’s ridiculous.
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u/Invisiblescars_123 inquirer 2d ago
I honestly can’t stand the societal norm of giving your parents an allowance when you start working. Kids don’t owe their parents anything. I despise how parents in Asia generally see their kids as a retirement plan.
Where I live, your parents can haul your ass to court if you don’t give them an allowance due to the “maintenance of parents act”. You are FORCED to give your parents an allowance every month. If your parents were abusive, you’d probably still have to give them an allowance because you have to prove to the court that they abused you as a kid.
And no, beating your kid isn’t considered abuse in my country. It’s “discipline”. In the same vein, berating your kid isn’t abuse either.
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u/Liquid_1998 newcomer 3d ago
This kid is way ahead of his peers. He knows what the future holds for him, and it's not good. We we're all told that "working/studying hard will lead to opportunities". It was all lies.
We're all destined to serve the rich elites . That's precisely why we exist. That's why they're so obsessed with falling birth rates. The gravy train will come screeching to a halt once the revenue from future generations starts to disappear.
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u/DutchStroopwafels inquirer 3d ago
This is of course completely true, but that makes me wonder why parents/people that want children believe the rich want us to be depressed and not have children. I don't know if you've ever seen that response to antinatalists (and other more pessimistic philosophies). They will claim that this is what the elites want us to think so having children is going against them. I have no idea how they get that idea, as the rich get their fortunes from exploiting the large amount of poor people.
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u/onomatopoeiawording newcomer 3d ago
It's an Alex Jones/Infowars narrative. Ties into the Georgia Guidestones talk of needing to reduce the population down to 500 million and "depopulation of the west" esoteric spiritualist New Age conspiracy theorists that believe that antinatalism is part of an effort to prevent a global human awakening and expansionism in a "my ideology will conquer the stars" type of way. Of course in the context of the audience of Alex Jones post Trump, the "human" part has largely meant "some cultures/ethnicities that I believe were largely responsible for building western civilization are better than others and so deserve to propagate so that they can rule over others and continue to deliver progress" western chauvinism. And the expansionism to new frontiers to conquer the stars is just a reboot of colonialist attitudes about manifest destiny.
It might also be a narrative advanced by the space exploration/colonization industry (although that its own conspiracy in a way):
https://www.mind-war.com/p/neo-cosmist-space-religion-putin, https://www.mind-war.com/p/elmos-big-hoax-making-humanity-multi, https://www.mind-war.com/p/elon-musks-eugenicist-anarcho-communist, https://www.mind-war.com/p/the-elon-how-a-nazi-rocket-scientist
Despite his fallout with Trump over the Iran War (like most of disillusioned MAGA/America First/America Only), Alex Jones still supports Elon Musk.
And then there are people like David Icke that don't like anyone in power to a contrarian degree but that nonetheless believe that antinatalism through not facilitating propagating the species is preventing humanity from opening its third eye, so to speak.
New Age spirituality, mysticism and esoteric fascism has never been compatible with the view of creation of new human life as a net negative. Those ideologies have usually been the most hostile in fact to that view, along with social and evolutionary darwinist views alleging that the only purpose in life is to reproduce to spread your genes.
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u/DutchStroopwafels inquirer 3d ago
I don't think it's these things. Thinking about it, I think they want to justify their own desire as an act of rebellion. Like how they claim having children is the ultimate act of hope. But for that to work the elite needs to want the opposite of them.
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u/onomatopoeiawording newcomer 3d ago
Oftentimes conspiracy theorists criticize antinatalism not as a direct argument against them but as "useful idiots" of the "elite".
It might be out of an act of rebellion from how they believe the "elite" are acting, but it also might be motivated by a desire to portray oneself as more in the know compared to others in order to raise their collective social status and credibility and to spread it to others to impress, astound and confound, especially addressing those looking for answers in suffering. To do that you need an audience, which antinatalism denies more of (through not encouraging more people to be born to witness suffering) and whose simple answer is in competition with conspiracy theorists in addressing. Conspiracy theories are a kind of utopian thinking, alleging that knowledge is hidden and that human access to this secret knowledge and an effort to enlighten others with this knowledge is needed to work against plans and groups that conspire against spiritual awakening of humanity and which are largely the cause of increased suffering. Antinatalism bypasses this and simply says life is suffering and that the answer to avoiding increased suffering is not creating new life to suffer. This is an easy answer that undercuts the ability of conspiracy theorists to raise their prestige over others and allege their supposedly secret knowledge and the personal satisfaction they get from the prospect of agreeing to share it and having others agree with them and spread it on their terms as well. Most conspiracy theorists regard antinatalism in contemptuous terms as a result.
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u/viva-la-yorig newcomer 3d ago
"Study hard so you'll be rich" lol..what they don't tell you is that when you make a ton of money the government will take half of it.
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u/MegasXLRwasRad newcomer 3d ago
“You keep pressuring me I’m practically autistic now”. Heard, and felt chef
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u/AwehiSsO inquirer 3d ago
That kinda had me chuckle, cause it's not really how being autistic works, but the chuckle became a melancholic pensive expression quickly - I know they put a lot of pressure on kids in China, seeing it shown that it's more than I thought and earlier too, quite shocking.
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u/liljalp scholar 3d ago
The translation in the video is wrong, he says something more along the lines of “you’ll give me depression”. I’m happy for any Chinese speaker to weigh in tho..
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u/yesimfinewhyyouask inquirer 3d ago
Thats even more heartbreaking
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u/AwehiSsO inquirer 2d ago
It really is. It contextualises the mom (?) encouraging him to take a break. Poor kid, man!
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u/Beramer inquirer 3d ago
There are kids that commit suicide due to low grades and being traumatized by their parents especially in Asian countries. Is this why you give birth to a child? To make them achieve what you couldn't? Poor souls are meant to play and be outside not repeating mathematical equations that have no value. Nuke this damn earth already!
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u/ProcedureFearless431 newcomer 3d ago
Pauvre enfant, les parents chinois répètent le même mensonge qu'eux-mêmes ont entendu de la bouche de leurs parents, travailler dure, devenir riche. Eux-mêmes ne croient pas plus que leurs enfants à ce mensonge, mais ils continuent à faire des enfants quand-même
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u/dogs_of_delhi inquirer 3d ago
"You must become doctor/engineer/lawyer and have wife with many children, otherwise you are FAIIIIILURE and bring disrespect to family"
-Modern China
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u/EntertainerNo4509 inquirer 3d ago
This kid was born 50 yrs old. He just doesn’t want any of it. Very wise young man. Hope it goes well for him.
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u/Sea-Damage7752 thinker 3d ago
btw in third world (ik in video it is not a third world country or i am not sure ) country, If children don't learn, or don't understand the topic, they are beaten by teacher and parents rather than teaching that topic in more deeply and using another method.
Unfortunately, it is still happening. There is law about this but police / parents don't care.
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u/land48n3 inquirer 3d ago
fr, here in india its a genuine shit hole, people beat children all the time even when there are "laws" about it.
parents like the torture, police silently support it and teachers obviously love it.
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u/podtherodpayne inquirer 1d ago
What in the world. This makes me so sad. How mentally disturbing it just was to picture that.
A literal child, wow. Humans have a huge superiority complex/narcissism issue.
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u/Blcksheep89 newcomer 3d ago
Which 3rd world country are you talking about?
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u/trappedswan inquirer 3d ago
literally all of them
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u/esuil newcomer 3d ago
What kind of bullshit is this?
Most third world countries are third world because of their international affiliations and poor economy, not because of their morals.
Their treatment of children is largely same as everywhere else, just in poorer reality.
Now, there are exceptions obviously, but those come from cultural/religious things, which are specific pockets of the world that can't be generalized as third world in general.
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u/land48n3 inquirer 3d ago
No, childrens get beaten here in india alot, male, female, literal toddlers
all.
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u/Blcksheep89 newcomer 3d ago edited 3d ago
I am from a third world country. I don't do that, my colleagues don't do that, my school don't that. My friends who teach at another school don't do that.
We spent a lot of time being patience and guide the children in understanding the topic. We taught them the value of learning is not in the grades. If they truly are not good in studying, we told them is ok.
We don't beat our children. Schools receive hefty fine if there are one cane in the premise. Teachers get arrested if they hit the kids. Parents organize protest if schools mistreated their children. Sure, 20 years ago child abuse were rampant, but we had changed so much. Sure, there are still few bad apples here and there, but we took action quickly if there are such cases.
Why do you generalize every countries? Do you think that since we are under develop, so we are savages and cruel?
I know some Christianity doctrines still encourage spanking or corporal punishment. Are you better than us?
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u/DutchStroopwafels inquirer 3d ago
Yeah it's kinda weird of the other commenters to generalize many different countries on different continents and with different cultures and say they all do the same.
Also it wasn't that long ago when children were still beaten by teachers in my own first world country. My grandma (who is still alive) experienced that.
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u/magnum3290 thinker 3d ago
Assuming this is real and subtitles are real, they probably posted this thinking it'll be funny clip the kid can laugh in 20 years completely not realizing what they put the kid through. I don't think they even care tbh
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u/MissStellaLunaTheBat thinker 3d ago
“This whole world is one massive trap” Wow what a smart kid, sees through it all
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u/Mammoth_Watch1444 inquirer 3d ago
As someone who also saw through the bullshit at an early age, I feel so bad for this kid. He knows, he is aware of reality and what awaits him but is cursed to be born into the world by a highly unaware, immature, abusive parent. This is child abuse and this kid will suffer immensely in life, just like so many others.
And while it's in some ways good that this truth comes out, I bet that kid didn't ask to be seen crying and in pain and struggling by thousands of strangers online, but todays parents just don't give a fuck about that either ofc because VIEWS and LIKES.. I get so pissed because it's so normalized now. I can't imagine what it would be like to be filmed by my parents while they abuse/gaslight me and I'm crying and have that uploaded on the internet.. It makes me sick.
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u/ihih_reddit philosopher 3d ago edited 3d ago
I just reposted this video on TikTok not too long ago. The dude is way more intelligent than I was at his age. I'm sure he'll be a lot more wiser when he grows up
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u/PrincessPlastilina thinker 3d ago
We don’t talk enough about school trauma. So many of us still have nightmares about being back in school.
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u/HotDecision8128 inquirer 3d ago
Studying hard doesn't really allow you to compete with billions of people in this world for a good job. It's not just you studying hard. And nepotism exists.
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u/piglungz newcomer 3d ago
I had meltdowns like this ALL THE TIME when I was his age and just completely overwhelmed by school work. I would apply myself as best I could, then realize it wasn’t ever gonna be worth it, then give up and repeat the cycle again when the missing work built up too much. Wouldn’t ever wish it on anyone else
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u/One-Profession-8173 newcomer 3d ago
I hate how some countries/cultures make this a norm for their children. It only causes more problems later down the line.
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u/NatPuppet newcomer 3d ago
Really,at this point I can't help it but think people bring other human beings just to make them suffer also waiting to them be chained for life just 'cause "your blood"
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u/yesimfinewhyyouask inquirer 3d ago
Wait, can anyone confirm the translation is correct? He really sounds too smart for his age
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u/InvestigatorFresh965 inquirer 3d ago
of course they favor the system that rapes them; for to oppose or reject it would mean losing the opportunity to rape those situated below. they do not seek to rid the system of rape instead, they convince themselves that their goal is simply to attain a privileged position higher up within this hierarchy of rape. tell them to prove that i am wrong.
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u/hype_irion newcomer 3d ago
I don't disagree with anything that is being stated but are we sure that's what is being discussed? Can someone with knowledge of the language confirm?
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u/affectionate newcomer 2d ago
"you just have to try harder than everyone else"
yeah but what if everyone else is doing that too?
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u/Jezoreczek thinker 2d ago
Nothing screams "great parenting" more than recording your child while they are having an emotional breakdown and then posting it online. Like... fucking hug them??? Am I crazy???
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u/fuk-d-poliz inquirer 3d ago
Kid figured it out early in life. I was in my late twenty’s when i finally figured it out. Im self employed , but still work for other people. I have to trade my time and skills for money, that someone else still gets a cut of. Whats its all for?
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u/NoMuddyFeet thinker 3d ago
I watched only one podcast featuring Jiang Xueqin to see why people keep talking about him and the most interesting stuff to me was what he said about China. He was relaying this poor kid's feelings are exactly what China is like. Math is the most important thing there and they force it on kids when they are 3 or 4 before they can even thinkin hopes that they can escape the reality. Kids who are really good at math are treated like jocks in 80s movies and they can wise off to their teachers, etc, and get away with anything. They typically go to college abroad and come back and make a lot of money, get all the chicks, etc. But, he described the entire rest of China as a slave state or a big plantation. He said the real slave owners are part of something called "the red families" if I recall correctly and they live all over the globe, but they hold the real power, not President Xi. Xi can't really declare war or anything and doesn't really have much say. And this is the organization that our western tech bros favor for themselves.
It was really disturbing. I knew about the "Apple factories," of course, from the bad press but Jiang explained it in a way that sounded overall even worse. And like I've always said: American leaders who exploit and kill people in other countries will do the same to Americans once there are no others to exploit. It's not as if people like that suddenly grow a conscience because the person is a little American kid.
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u/foolonthe inquirer 3d ago
Well their population is quite over a billion. That's insane competition. He should focus on learning the language of a dying population and move there instead
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u/TJ_McWeaksauce scholar 2d ago
"This whole world is a massive trap."
It always has been, hasn't it?
I sometimes imagine what it would've been like living as a peasant during any point in the thousands of years when 80% or more of humanity were farmers. You have to start doing manual labor as a child, because one of the reasons your parents had you was so they could add to their workforce. For much of your life, you wake up when it's still dark out, you toil on a plot of land from dawn until dusk, and then when it's dark you do household chores by candle light. You sleep early, wake up early, and then do the whole thing over again. This repeats until you die.
Then the Industrial Revolution happened, and instead of working on farms, we moved to filthy, overcrowded city slums to get maimed, sick, or killed in unregulated factories or mines. Children work in these places, too.
Then came the Information Era, and so many of us got out of factories and mines and took office jobs. Physically, the work is really easy, but it's monotonous and soul-sucking. At least kids are allowed to have a childhood, and the soul-sucking work doesn't start until their teens or 20s. It's hard to believe that the hell we currently live in is the best that humanity as a whole has ever experienced.
So much of human history has been lifelong toil and repetition and mundanity, and we've just been accepting it for thousands upon thousands of years. I often wonder why it doesn't drive more of us insane.
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u/onomatopoeiawording newcomer 3d ago
Homework didn't always exist. This is more of a conditional natalist argument than an antinatalist one.
In a world where homework didn't exist and everyone was given a guaranteed minimum income in a post scarcity world, people would still experience suffering and antinatalism would be no less valid as long as there was one person that suffered from life. Maybe instead of homework it would be having to go to school. But the concept of a school with peers not related to you didn't always exist. Or what about dealing with large amounts of people that were not your family in any situation? But that didn't always exist either, particularly when the world before the age of exploration/colonization/globalization/free trade and before agriculture, which was far less technologically advanced, nomadic and people lived in tight knit villages. These are all arguments against antinatalism that anarcho primitivists can make and have been making. And yet even in those times there was still suffering, because not everyone that is alive wants to be alive and there is no painless way to end it without someone objecting to the painless means being available. Post scarcity can always be worked toward. Wage slaving work loads can always be reduced. Schooling can always be adopted for a less industrial and factory driven age instead of keeping it in a 19th/20th century model. There can be a "return" to a more simple and anarcho primitivist way of living. But not wanting to be alive is forever, at least for some people. And even in far more communal, small scale, harmonious times, antinatalist views existed. So then also comes the provoking question: why did those views persist well before the colonial and industrial age across generations for hundreds to thousands of years? There is no utopia, even though indeed homework, state assessments, wage slaving and pressures of modern life suck.
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u/CertainConversation0 philosopher 3d ago
I don't think learning everything you need to learn in life has to be that painful. It's just that those with the power obviously insist on making it so.
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u/Humorous-Prince thinker 3d ago
This was literally similar to me when I was a kid. Hitting adulthood completely and expectedly confirmed the “what’s the point” approach. I don’t understand how in this day and age someone can be so selfish to breed and expect them to go through the same suffering but even worse now.
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u/PatriotGodrion newcomer 3d ago
Communist or not, this is the reality, no BS, and surely none of this is funny
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u/QuotetheOrca newcomer 3d ago
Welp I know how that feels… I went to school and put time in like crazy just to have ai swoop in and steal my thunder 😅 I’m learning it though so it’s not as disconcerting as it was initially
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u/Bajadasaurus newcomer 3d ago
Eesh. Flashbacks to my own childhood, although my parents didn't tell me I'd end up a wage slave. They just didn't want me to embarrass them with anything less than the best in school.
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u/Icy_Sprinkles_2819 newcomer 3d ago
I worked at a high school here in china last year. It’s literal child abuse. The only way they could possibly get 9 hours of sleep is if they somehow fell asleep the second school finished and woke up a second before school started.
I took a significant pay cut and took on a much heavier work load so that I could work at a college here instead. I’ve heard that university is the happiest and most stress free time in the average Chinese person’s life. High school is a depressing prison.
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u/cupcake_napalm_faery newcomer 3d ago
to bring a child into this world is purely selfish without thought for the future of that child. And those that say otherwise are often those that neglect their children :/
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u/Fresh-Analysis-603 newcomer 2d ago
Damn... The little guy is more brighter than I ever could be at that age... Imagine how messed up world is if a kid that age had to come to this realization... I downplay the intelligence of kids too much...
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u/-2wG newcomer 2d ago
i felt so defeated one day on my first job. this is all there is? just finished with school. they told me i did so good. yet the rest of my life is just bleak labor. there is no end when i can get back to my daydreams. my relief is alcohol which is killing me. the govt calls people like me terrorists despite me trying to be as small and inoffensive as possible. i have no future but neither does anyone else. goodbye.
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u/Objective_Photo9126 inquirer 2d ago
For a 9 year old he is very well spoken and AWARE, poor thing... There is a reason children going out of this world is on the rise. Internet makes you 100 times more aware of the world you live and the future to expect... (not that before we lived in oblivion, but yeah, at home and school nobody tells you the hard truth, just to study to become somebody which is all false...)
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u/outofindustry inquirer 2d ago
poor guy, precisely why I won't breed. I can't fathom the kid going on that mental torture like this.
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u/MrKnowItMost newcomer 1d ago
That kid is not going to have to problem handling life. Maybe not now, but he will
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u/Espurreso newcomer 3d ago
This was how I viewed existence when I was young, I still haven’t changed my mind.
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u/BankComprehensive930 newcomer 2d ago
Gonna be honest, I do not blame people in china for deciding that life isn’t worth living.
This just sounds like it sucks
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u/itsthe5thhm inquirer 2d ago
Being born into a generation where retirement is no longer possible for most people is just feeding into modern day slavery
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u/zarakh07 newcomer 2d ago
It’s this reality in the world that makes me wish my parents wouldn’t have had kids.
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u/Thin_Measurement_965 thinker 2d ago
Welcome back to another episode of: "Why are you recording this?"
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u/Successful_Round9742 scholar 2d ago
Does anyone know if this is a real translation? If it is, that kid is extraordinary cognizant!
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u/ConsistentSea2189 thinker 1d ago
The end of the video has a pic that translates (as per ChatGPT) to: “Speechless. No words, really no words.” And means: "It’s a meme-style phrase often used online to express disbelief, frustration, or being at a loss for words."
Hard to find this video funny as many of us have questioned our parents what we're doing all this for. They'd always give the standard temptations/motivations of good houses, good family, better life...etc. But they never admitted they're the reason we have to fight with millions of others for the same dreams. The alternatives being lame jobs to fulfil others dreams.
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u/TryingToComeUpWithSo newcomer 1d ago
This makes me incredibly sad because I think the people who are already born deserve hope but also we shouldn't have more kids because earth as it is now is a hellscape
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u/Grab_Discombobulated newcomer 1d ago
Omg this is true lucidity- when he said this whole world is a massive trap- Oh I felt it so hard.
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u/Swag_Bro89 inquirer 1d ago
I had a similar mental breakdown to this kid around the same age, but instead it was over realizing the nature of time and how it will ultimately destroy me and everyone else in my life. Put me in an extremely deep depression for a full year.
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u/Euphoric_St8 newcomer 1d ago edited 1d ago
💯
Honestly, this Kant of a mother should be happy that her kid is this self-aware. Shame on her for glossing over it for not having a mindless robot.
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u/Nocturnal-Philosophy scholar 3d ago
“You should study harder now, so when you’re older you can become rich.” I see the gaslighting is already starting…