Reply to I wish society didn't encourage people to put off having kids.

Forum Index » General Parenting Discussion

Reply to "I wish society didn't encourage people to put off having kids."

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Honestly, it's best for the planet that the human race *doesn't* reproduce at its theoretical optimal.

We've already half-killed the place, and it doesn't need zillions more greedy First Worlders running around with their single-use plastics and their giant SUVs.

May the downward trend continue until every child is a wanted and supported one.[/quote]

This. [/quote]
x1000000 I wish schools do a better job educating the next generation about population effects[/quote]

First Worlders is pejorative and dated.  OCED countries fertility rate is 1.8; replacement level is about 2.1.  The major drivers in population growth are in low income areas.  [b]The issue with OECD countries is a high-consumption life-style, a distinct issue.[/b]  Further, a declining fertility rate won't render every child wanted and supported unless you get to really dystopian world.[/quote]

Disagree; First Worlders consume, per capita, far more than Third Worlders do, even if the latter have more children. The woman with nine children in rural Niger is not buying an SUV or a mini mansion or cases of plastic-bottled water. She's not flying across continents for vacation. She's not commuting, by herself, in a car for forty-five minutes twice a day.

Economic growth predicated upon population growth will crash at some point. I honestly feel it's completely irresponsible to have more than two children at this point, given what we've learned in just the past year about what we've done to the planet.

Before you yell "LOOK AT CHINA!," I'm not suggesting that population control from above is anything but monstrous. But we need to take a much harder look at our child-bearing choices beyond saying, e.g., "Well, [b]I[/b] want five children!" That's not an ethical choice anymore.[/quote]

You seem to think that I am saying that OECD countries aren't problematic, which I'm not (see bold above).  Instead, I am staying that the specific problem caused by OECD countries is not having too many children, because the current fertility rate is not replacement level.  In other words, without immigration, the population of OECD countries would be shrinking.  Of course, immigration does exist and that is a part of why we are seeing demographic shift across OECD nations.

In terms of harmful impact to the planet, you are absolutely correct that the woman with nine children in rural Niger is not a major source of carbon emissions.  But the answer isn't that we need to have fewer children, it is that we need to do a better job of consuming less and using more sustainable methods for what we do use.  In short, people already took a look at child-bearing choices (for reasons that probably have little to do with the environment)  and decided not (by in large) to not have 5 children.  Of course, some families do have several children, but large swaths of the population choose not to have children at all.  The net result is a fertility rate below replacement level.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics