Tony Blair and Co.
While I understand the instinctive need for humans to bear children (after all, we are animals too), I cannot quite agree that everyone is supposed to have children. As Gretel Ehrlich, while trekking through the glaciers of the southern Andes, writes in her wonderful The Future of Ice,
"I don't have children. The man I am with wants children. Isn't all this beauty enough?"
We have the ability to literally lighten the load on planet Earth. But the majority doesn't give a f*ck. They preach but, at the end of the day, are really only concerned about their wealth and their "traditions". I am not against material wealth. Far from it. I firmly believe that one should be able to take care of oneself and not rely on others. But if we consider ourselves higher than other animals with the ability to surmise and suppose (not to mention the ability to preserve entire ecosystems, if we so desired), then the "instinctive need theory" becomes merely an excuse...an excuse to fill an otherwise empty life. As Butters' dad remarks in an episode of South Park,
"Well, our son is a perfect void-filler!"
261 people are born every minute...
4 comments:
While I agree that we are overburdening the earth with the soaring population, when it comes to children, it isn't a rational thought process.
There are some people who have chosen to not have children, or people who didn't intend to have them who do. There are people who always wanted large families, and those who want small families. It would be great if a biological clock would listen to the rational explanations of fervently held opinions. However, it doesn't always work that way.
I think environmental issues are very serious, and the road we start down now is what's going to determine our childrens' futures. But I still want children. It's not a rational desire, because it's not just that I want to raise children, I want to have my own rather than adopting.
But if you only have a couple children, can support them appropriately, and raise them to be respectful of others and of the environment, that's really a step in the right direction, isn't it?
wow, I can't even leave a short comment, no wonder my blog posts are so damn long! :)
"wow, I can't even leave a short comment, no wonder my blog posts are so damn long! :) "
Maybe someday you can take all the posts that you've written online and re-publish them as an encyclopedia or something :)
"or people who didn't intend to have them who do."
Do you mean teen pregnancy? A lot of non-human mammals (such as bears) have the capability to spontaneously abort their fertilized eggs if they feel unprepared to support offspring. I don't know if we humans ever had this capability but our reliance on technology means that we will never develop such a capability.
"But if you only have a couple children, can support them appropriately, and raise them to be respectful of others and of the environment, that's really a step in the right direction, isn't it? "
That could indeed be a step in the right direction :) Unfortunately it won't address the population growth issue.
Post a Comment