You don’t have kids because it’s too expensive.
I don’t have kids because I’m immature, irresponsible, would screw it up like everything else in my life, can’t even take care of myself let alone another human, these genes aren’t worth passing on, climate change will almost certainly never be taken as seriously as it should be, and it’s not like there’s anyone that would want to have my kids anyway.
We are not the same.
And also it’s too expensive.
I don’t have kids because I find fulfillment in life without them. I get to travel, spend time on hobbies, and have a social life. I know you can technically do those things while having kids, but generally not to the same degree.
Also, I think letting our population decline a bit is probably better for our species and our planet.I get to travel, spend time on hobbies, and have a social life.
I have kids, travel, hobby, and have a social life. Introducing kids to new places, ideas, and people has given me a new perspective on them and made these activities more fun.
Also, I think letting our population decline a bit is probably better for our species and our planet.
The biggest waste producers on our planet aren’t the areas with the most people. They’re the areas with the access to the most money and the least political consequence.
The OpenAI project is a great example of this. Phenomenal consumption of domestic resources - land, minerals, energy, water - at the hands of a few thousand people. If everyone in Brazil stopped existing tomorrow, Sam Altman would still be pumping out huge plumes of CO2 and sucking up hectares of water to cool his data centers.
Similarly, the assorted wars in Europe and the Middle East - Russia/Ukraine, Israel’s genocide in Palestine, the US/Afghanistan and US/Iraq missions - have been resource hogs that vastly outstripped anything a comparable number of civilians would have consumed.
Idk what the “correct” number of humans is, but the notion that we can end the ecological degradation if the population gets cut in half really underweight the biggest drivers of the harm.
I grew up in a family with over a dozen siblings.
I didn’t have space to myself nor a quiet Saturday morning until I was 21 years old, and I did a shit-ton of parenting without my consent.
Kids suck. Childrearing sucks. My dogs are nicer, cleaner, more loving, and cuter than human children. You couldn’t pay men enough to give up my quiet, clean condo on a Saturday morning.
Also it’s too expensive.
We don’t have to have kids. The nation isn’t entitled to it, certainly not boomers worried about the incredibly racist “replacement theory.” I say this as a father. My wife and I wanted kids, that was our decision for us and our family.
I understand this isn’t explicitly “replacement theory” but it dovetails with the concept so neatly that it inevitably comes up whenever I’m with extended family and I have to squash it immediately. Eugenics should never be mainstream or otherwise socially acceptable.
Yeah, actually having the coefficient of 1.4-1.7 is OK: look at France or Germany: they had these values for nearly 40 years and the population only increases
What they’re omitting but all implicitly understand among each other is white people aren’t having kids.
I can’t read other people’s thoughts, sorry
It wasn’t a dig I was just elaborating. Carlson et al really mainstream-ed replacement theory fears on the right over the last 5 or so years.
Carlson really needs to interview John Stewart again.
Already lost one show he’s not trying to risk his whole career
No need to, what’s being said is plain as day to anyone not stupid, or intentionally obtuse.
Even if A implies B in a classic logic sense, having A in mind doesn’t mean that one has B. If that wasn’t the case, no propaganda machine would work.
Furthermore, concern about population decline could come from a legit fear that there won’t be enough young people to fuel capitalism machine when one’s old , or that reproduction decline has a good correlation coefficient with upcoming wars.
On the off chance that you’re being sincere, you legitimately might be on the spectrum if you both fail to see and refuse to see the subtext here. Or perhaps you’re Dutch.
You’ve been downvoted, but I agree. I always assumed that the worry about a shrinking population was because there wouldn’t be enough meat for the capitalism grinder, but now that it’s been pointed out, I definitely can see the racist implications of it.
No.
A big driver of that population increase is war and climate refugees.
I understand this isn’t explicitly “replacement theory”
It’s just replacement theory but one step removed.
Population growth should never be a concern for a nation of immigrants. Oh no, our native citizens aren’t having enough kids to sustain macroeconomic equilibrium! Guess we better start letting some more fucking immigrants in. Why can’t we do that? Hmmm?
Who cares, let population decline for a generation or so. Maybe we will stop producing so much shit and scale back
let population decline for a generation or so
But that’s bad for the Big GDP Number
Not necessarily - less people means lower unemployment resulting in higher wages to attract people to your organization (income is directly linked to GDP). Phillips curve relationship.
Its a bitch for inflation though.
https://media.tenor.com/5F5B6IgfYWAAAAAM/game-of.gif
How do I embed the gif?
Yeah but the GDP per capita will skyrocket.
Transforming America into Monaco.
Oh no, not the economy!
Anyways…
The Economy is kinda important, especially when the big Economy Computer starts telling everyone that a downturn in Brawndo sales means they’re all homeless.
Big Economy Computer? I didn’t know USSA already have built communism.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_People’s_Republic_of_Walmart
With the size and scope of modern American mega-corps, we’re closer to it than you’d think. Hayek’s economic calculation problem is functionally solved.
Would that be the worst thing in the world? Probably not
Maybe you can solve the problem by letting immigrants in
Our leaders wouldn’t mind that except that immigrants might come from countries where they grew up with access to banned books…
I don’t think that racism boils down to red scare or whatever you are implying. Racism has a long tradition like the Asian Exclamation Act from 1924
I’m implying that our leaders don’t want immigrants for the same reason they gut our educational funding, and that they attack our librarians. An educated population scares them.
The average immigrant has been educated (by school or by life) outside our controlling parties’ spans of influence.
I’m from a country with a very narrow span of acceptable political ideas. The average imported person will expand our horizons, and weaken our fragile belief that our current two party system serves our best interests.
be for real. our leaders don’t want immigrant people because they [the leaders] are white supremacists and/or want the support of white supremacists. they don’t like poor, uneducated immigrant people either (in fact they hate them even more!)
That wouldn’t solve any issues, it would just replace to population
The problem is not having enough young people to balance out the eventually aging of the GenX and Millennial generations. If things get too top heavy on the elderly side, the entire house of cards that is consumer and service driven capitalism tends to start toppling over. Immigration has traditionally helped in this regard by providing younger labor and tax base when native populations fail to keep up.
Hmm, yes; replace a population of immigrants with checks notes another population of immigrants. Yes indeed that is somehow a problem.
/s
Especially in the US this ‘worry’ is ridiculous and a dogwhistle.
the one that built the country has every reason to govern who gets to live with them and who doesn’t
What issues are you having in mind?
After a century of telling people work, career, consumption and wealth are the most important thing in their life, business leaders are now shocked people will prioritize work, career, consumption and wealth over having many children.
Furthermore, after cutting programs for making child care, health care and education affordable, politicians are wondering why people don’t bring as much children into the world that need a lot of health care, child care and education.
Now you know why the corporate backers of Republicans want to use their platform to outlaw abortion and birth control.
Replacement theory + controlling women
Ask Nicolae Ceaușescu what happens next
I always thought about it as a way to secretly promote gay agenda. If contraceptives were to be banned, I would’ve become celibate or gay
You don’t “become” gay for outside reasons. It just doesn’t work what way. You might be bi now, but due to societal pressure you haven’t felt safe to explore it.
I mean I have some same-sex attraction, but I’m not seeking actual experience. IDK if it’s everyone’s case, but I am speaking for myself
Government in the 1940s: “Here, we’re demolishing black and rural neighborhoods to give returning veterans a cheap suburban housing stock. Also, we’re doing big industrial jobs programs and ramping up our domestic manufacturing base.”
Baby Boom Happens
Government in 2020s: “Here, we’re larding you up with debt all through your twenties and turning every facet of life into a micro payment we can ratchet upwards on a whim.”
Baby Bust Happens
Hmm, will Gen Z become known as the Busters?
I kinda like that
Already known as the roommate generation.
There was a time when a man with a highschool education could work a single full-time job to buy a house and support a stay at home partner and 2 children. Bring that back and you’ll probably get more babies.
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Where can I get some of that $1200 rent that isn’t in the middle of some hillbilly backwater?
I had a 2 bedroom in Albuquerque for 1100 last year, with horrible noise pollution but still.
I’m stuck in my 2 bedroom townhouse apartment hybrid for 1125 because a studio around me is 1200 a month (or anywhere in range of my office). I live alone, and sleep on my couch, I don’t need the rooms, but I can’t leave.
Great job capitalism!
Lots of great smaller towns in the middle of the country. Usually pretty progressive too if you stay in town.
Get a lotta roommates.
Reminds me of the CEO who took a giant paycut so everyone in his company can earn 70k/yr minimum. Guess what some of his employees started doing. They started to have kids.
People like him should be the norm, not an anomaly. In a system in full support of greed, only the greedy are meant to thrive unfortunately.
I’d just adopt more dogs. Who would want drooling grimlins running around draining your bank account destroyed your social life.
GOP: “that’s okay, just trap them to have children and make abortion illegal.”
Remember JD Vance said that childless individuals “should not have as much of a voice.”
People who fuck couches should have less of a voice
🥲
Ignoring the elephant in the room called “Child Care.” Often that’s more expensive than housing.
*Happy post-soviet country noises*
Got some good child care stuff.
jokes on billionaires, because of your shitty greed there wont be anyone left to buy your worthless junk
They will be long dead before any of this matters, so I doubt they will care.
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Is it just the dick swinging thing about having the largest number on paper?
Glances at Elon Musk
I think so, yes.
I think they have other plans like seeding mars with their semen, transporting their consciousness to a robot or cryofreezing themselves until infinite life becomes available to billionaires.
When did we go from “baby boom” to “this is the correct population level we should sustain”. A boom eventually gets a correction
when it became clear that the people who “weren’t having enough kids” were white, it’s been white supremacy this whole time
Republicans: the solution is fascism!
