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You're right, I see now I set up a bit of a strawman there, thanks for pointing that out. So what concrete action do you advocate as a result of your opinion? I
by xamuel 7y ago
You're right, I see now I set up a bit of a strawman there, thanks for pointing that out. So what concrete action do you advocate as a result of your opinion? Increased access to birth control? Or are you saying it's just strictly an opinion? In which case, how is it different than just electing not to have kids yourself?
I think some people (including myself) might have the knee-jerk reaction that the main difference between antinatalism vs. just vanilla opting-out-of-parenthood, is that the former offers you a way to feel smug/holier-than-thou. What would you say in response to that knee-jerk reaction?
- RankingMember 7y agoCertainly a good question. I would say I understand the knee-jerk reaction because there are many who trumpet their choice to not have children as though it's some kind of merit badge. "r/childfree" for instance on reddit is one such place where this sentiment is rampant, along with some weird kind of child hatred/being happy when children are unhappy. I think if we had a conversation you would see that I bring up my perspective (and I only do so if the context comes up) not to chide people or feel better than them, because I'm not. My intention is purely to make some small contribution to raising awareness of what our exponential population growth is doing and will continue to do to our planet. The end goal is for people to have one additional shred of a thought before they have a kid. Not to feel guilty, but just to give a micro-second of consideration to the planet and its other inhabitants' wellbeing before adding another human to it. That's it.