Comments on: Why Have Children? http://mindforums.com/why-have-children Wed, 14 Mar 2012 16:26:09 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: lsky http://mindforums.com/why-have-children/comment-page-1#comment-1710 lsky Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:51:30 +0000 http://mindforums.com/?p=441#comment-1710 An easy first step for the government would be to introduce tax penalties for each kid you have (instead of the current tax credits). An easy first step for the government would be to introduce tax penalties for each kid you have (instead of the current tax credits).

]]> By: Dima http://mindforums.com/why-have-children/comment-page-1#comment-880 Dima Sat, 29 Aug 2009 17:24:23 +0000 http://mindforums.com/?p=441#comment-880 Thanks for sharing your views. I understand people have different reasons for having children and I accept that, as long as there is a reason. I am afraid this is often not the case. This is a very delicate matter and people can be very sensitive, but the facts are indisputable: more children are being born than can be taken care of. It is disturbing to put a price tag on human life, but unfortunately this is exactly how our world operates. You've made some truly valid points about Social Security and the 'Octomom' that do deserve our attention. At this point governments and the media seem to be reinforcing multiple births. There are many reality shows: "18 Kids and Counting", "Jon and Kate plus 8", "Table for 12", etc. If this is not reinforcement, I don't know what is. Maybe in the future governments will try to enforce some form of restriction, but not yet. Personally, I like the idea of having some form of license for parenting. Throughout history, whenever governments have had a part of their population considered burdensome, a form of genocide has taken place - the surplus population has been disposed of, in one way or another. Famine, child mortality and others are considered exactly this, as they affect a part of the world population that is most vulnerable and unable to contribute to society. We really are pushing the limits, I wonder how much more our world can take. "Can you blame nature if she's had enough of us?" ~Tori Amos Thanks for sharing your views.

I understand people have different reasons for having children and I accept that, as long as there is a reason. I am afraid this is often not the case.

This is a very delicate matter and people can be very sensitive, but the facts are indisputable: more children are being born than can be taken care of. It is disturbing to put a price tag on human life, but unfortunately this is exactly how our world operates. You’ve made some truly valid points about Social Security and the ‘Octomom’ that do deserve our attention.

At this point governments and the media seem to be reinforcing multiple births. There are many reality shows: “18 Kids and Counting”, “Jon and Kate plus 8″, “Table for 12″, etc. If this is not reinforcement, I don’t know what is. Maybe in the future governments will try to enforce some form of restriction, but not yet. Personally, I like the idea of having some form of license for parenting.

Throughout history, whenever governments have had a part of their population considered burdensome, a form of genocide has taken place – the surplus population has been disposed of, in one way or another. Famine, child mortality and others are considered exactly this, as they affect a part of the world population that is most vulnerable and unable to contribute to society.

We really are pushing the limits, I wonder how much more our world can take.

“Can you blame nature if she’s had enough of us?” ~Tori Amos

]]> By: lsky http://mindforums.com/why-have-children/comment-page-1#comment-824 lsky Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:51:50 +0000 http://mindforums.com/?p=441#comment-824 Good question to ask, indeed. I guess for most people it is as much a biological necessity as it is a social one. You want your own genes to survive you and you also want to pass along your knowledge and experience. For some people it's just "something to do" and others should have never been allowed to have children. For others yet, it's the single most important purpose of their existence. As bad as it may sound, it makes sense to have some kind of restrictions on childbirth. If you only have a couple of kids and you can take care of them (provide and care) that's fine. But deviations should be discouraged. The "Octomom" is a good case in point - there's no way she can properly take care of 14 children and they will also end up burdening our society - we'll end up paying for those kids' upbringing and education - it doesn't make sense. The fact that the Earth population has doubled in the last 40 years is mind boggling, especially when you consider the increase in life expectancy. Child mortality (due to hunger) is a bit of a normalizer but still far from enough. I'm not saying more children should die but those children shouldn't have been born in the first place. It is a failure of the parents and the parents alone - although it could be for different reasons - they failed to provide food for their offspring. Why should we have to care for those children? For consumerist society the increase of population has been a good thing. It means more profits for big corporations and can also keep the government Ponzi schemes (like Social Security) going. It is not, however, a sustainable trend . We're already pushing the limits with genetically modified foods and unprecedented pollution. I believe pretty soon governments around the world will have to come up with some restrictions. Until then it's free for all. Good question to ask, indeed. I guess for most people it is as much a biological necessity as it is a social one. You want your own genes to survive you and you also want to pass along your knowledge and experience. For some people it’s just “something to do” and others should have never been allowed to have children. For others yet, it’s the single most important purpose of their existence. As bad as it may sound, it makes sense to have some kind of restrictions on childbirth.
If you only have a couple of kids and you can take care of them (provide and care) that’s fine. But deviations should be discouraged. The “Octomom” is a good case in point – there’s no way she can properly take care of 14 children and they will also end up burdening our society – we’ll end up paying for those kids’ upbringing and education – it doesn’t make sense.
The fact that the Earth population has doubled in the last 40 years is mind boggling, especially when you consider the increase in life expectancy. Child mortality (due to hunger) is a bit of a normalizer but still far from enough. I’m not saying more children should die but those children shouldn’t have been born in the first place. It is a failure of the parents and the parents alone – although it could be for different reasons – they failed to provide food for their offspring. Why should we have to care for those children?
For consumerist society the increase of population has been a good thing. It means more profits for big corporations and can also keep the government Ponzi schemes (like Social Security) going. It is not, however, a sustainable trend . We’re already pushing the limits with genetically modified foods and unprecedented pollution. I believe pretty soon governments around the world will have to come up with some restrictions. Until then it’s free for all.

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