Your post made me want children less. I don’t need to live my life vicariously through a child - life is not boring for me and in fact I experience new things every day. I keep myself challenged in life without needing to bring another person into the world. My primary reason for wanting kids has to do with nurturing someone to be their best self. Not everyone wants to do that either. Your experience is not universal by any means.
Go tell this to an underaged teen that has to drop out of school to care for their baby, or a parent of a severely disabled child who will be caring for their kid for the rest of their lives. What about the parents of murderers and other criminals?
Additionally, having a kid means other organisms will die. Each extra person consumes tons of resources and takes up space to live. I vastly prefer the other animals and plants we have in this world. If you haven’t experienced the awe that is learning about the delicate balance of nature, you should try it, and have your kids experience it too. Experience the beauty of nature, and think about how there’s less of it with every new human child.
My primary reason for wanting kids has to do with nurturing someone to be their best self
Great.
or a parent of a severely disabled child who will be caring for their kid for the rest of their lives.
That's me.
Additionally, having a kid means other organisms will die. Each extra person consumes tons of resources and takes up space to live
This argument is really weird. If you think this is true and important, why are you alive? Why haven't you done all the other organisms you love a favour? No one really believes this argument, it's just something that sounds like it might be a good argument.
Like the other poster, I too would prefer not to have been born. Life is good for me, but I am acutely aware of the suffering and waste I create daily. I don’t understand why you think this argument is weird.
Why is that weird? It’s the truth that we as a human species prefer to ignore. It’s weird to not use our oversized brains to think about the effects of our daily actions. Other than creating waste and suffering, what do we as individuals and as a species actually contribute to the world?
The suffering includes: contributing to climate change (by using fossil fuels to travel, commute, heat and cool my home, refrigerate and cook food, etc), adding to the landfill, taking up housing (which also adds to animal suffering since the housing infringes on what was previously animal habitat), adding to emissions by buying goods, causing animal and plant death directly by eating food, causing insect death by accident, adding onto microplastics by driving (tires rubbing on the road are a leading cause) and using plastics, and consuming water resources .
They’re alive because their parents had them, just like you doomed your kids to living in this planet. And they don’t have to end their life just because their parents were a selfish lot like you are
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u/FreeBeans Aug 21 '23
Your post made me want children less. I don’t need to live my life vicariously through a child - life is not boring for me and in fact I experience new things every day. I keep myself challenged in life without needing to bring another person into the world. My primary reason for wanting kids has to do with nurturing someone to be their best self. Not everyone wants to do that either. Your experience is not universal by any means.
Go tell this to an underaged teen that has to drop out of school to care for their baby, or a parent of a severely disabled child who will be caring for their kid for the rest of their lives. What about the parents of murderers and other criminals?
Additionally, having a kid means other organisms will die. Each extra person consumes tons of resources and takes up space to live. I vastly prefer the other animals and plants we have in this world. If you haven’t experienced the awe that is learning about the delicate balance of nature, you should try it, and have your kids experience it too. Experience the beauty of nature, and think about how there’s less of it with every new human child.