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> Having kids is optional. Choosing not to participate in a fundamental experience of the human condition is no more a choice than choosing not to have a job.
by snoman 12y ago
> Having kids is optional.
Choosing not to participate in a fundamental experience of the human condition is no more a choice than choosing not to have a job.
- crpatino 12y agoOn the other hand, your job will be very happy to expand and take all "family time" that you have voluntarily chosen to forgo. Going with the flow takes you where the flow takes everybody else. You must first learn what is valuable for you and then plan your life around those values, not the other way around.
- superuser2 12y agoIf this is your mindset, then you've made a choice to value having children over other things like free time and disposable income. Perfectly valid. Other people do not share your priorities.
- halfcat 12y agoAnd only one of these sets of priorities is self-centered.
- superuser2 12y agoThe sacrifices you make to raise a child after it's born are certainly altruistic. The decision to have a child in the first place is entirely self-centered (or maybe centered on a partner who is him/herself self-centered.) Humans are not in danger of dying out because we're breeding too slowly; if anything, it'll be the opposite. Which is not to say that it's bad, but (assuming you are actually financially and emotionally capable of raising the kid) no better or worse than choosing differently. Condescension from people with attitudes like yours is why millions of people who know they will be complete failures as parents decide to inflict themselves and their circumstances on innocent children who don't deserve that kind of suffering.