PS: The point here is NOT that poor people shouldn’t have kids, it’s that no one should be having kids without having the basics of childcare covered, which necessitates widespread systemic, societal, and economic change so that no parent needs to worry about those basics, and kids can grow up in secure, healthy environments. I completely forgot to mention this when I originally posted it, and that’s my bad.
Yes, it is a hot take. At best, it’s capitalist victim blaming, and at worst it’s social darwinism.
You are blaming poor people for wanting a family when it should be a basic right for those who want it. We as a society should be ensuring our children are taken care of with healthcare, nutrition, education, etc.
To be clear, I am 100% child free myself, but I acknowledge that we collectively need kids from all backgrounds for a healthy society to persist.
I mean, yes but… at the same time the people that already have kids that are insufficiently fed /housed mayyyybe shouldn’t be shooting for #5 and #6 etc.
sure, you can cherrypick extreme examples of any human behvavior to get angry at.
It’s not that extreme, and I mainly just it as an example because it’s something I’ve seen often enough for a variety of reasons (religion, Gov’t cheques, etc).
That said, stuff like Elon and his quest to artificially impregnate at many women as possible with his progeny is just as messed up.
For those of us that aren’t crazy rich arseholes, having one’s first kid is often a trade off between an age when financial security is more likely, of prime birth/parenting years when one has a lower chance of complications/defects/etc, and then the issue of age gap between offspring after.
it’s not a hot take to admit we physically cannot support the current human population much less continue to grow
don’t put words in my mouth
my personal stance is in agreement with you and an actual first world community that valued children would help those willing to have them afford to do so
i just don’t think parenthood should be winged otherwise, it only harms the child
sure but until we put money into that all we do is create suffering
I mean, yeah, I agree. A kid should be one of the most serious choices a human can make. And the ability to safely make that choice (especially the choice to skip it) should be our civilization’s clearest priority. The fact that it’s treated with such utilitarian callousness by the billionaire class is unequivocally sociopathic.
Like… fuck, being a parent is hard work. The right to take a step back and give it some thought and prep is just a no-brainer.