"Having Children is Selfish"?

[JohnRich 4]

News:

Meet the women who won't have babies - because they're not eco friendly

Had Toni Vernelli gone ahead with her pregnancy ten years ago, she would know at first hand what it is like to cradle her own baby, to have a pair of innocent eyes gazing up at her with unconditional love, to feel a little hand slipping into hers - and a voice calling her Mummy.

But the very thought makes her shudder with horror.

Because when Toni terminated her pregnancy, she did so in the firm belief she was helping to save the planet...

At the age of 27 this young woman at the height of her reproductive years was sterilised to "protect the planet". "Having children is selfish. It's all about maintaining your genetic line at the expense of the planet," says Toni. Every person who is born uses more food, more water, more land, more fossil fuels, more trees and produces more rubbish, more pollution, more greenhouse gases, and adds to the problem of over-population..."

Source: Daily Mail

[billvon 3,111]

Having kids is not selfish. Exceeding the carrying capability of the place you live (or the planet) is extremely foolish.

[shropshire 0]

My pop says that we're selfish, because we dont want kids.... I never understood that.

Each to their own.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[SpeedRacer 1]

perhaps it's best that she doesn't reproduce.

Not an uncommon sentiment. It amazes me how many people think of human beings as numbers.

Speed Racer
--------------------------------------------------

[kbordson 8]

It depends on your definition of "selfish" and whether you are "excessively burdening" others with your decision to have children.

If you have 7and 8 and 9 children and on welfare and have no desire to actually RAISE those children to be productive members of society. . . . then I believe that that is inappropriate. But..... some people can "support" that many children. (finanically, educationally, emotionally). Do they then unnecessarily burden the planet? Perhaps, but we (as a global community) are not able to come to the "only 1 child per person" belief system. (I am impressed that China could, but even that system isn't perfect - because then you have to be very selective with which child you have: male/female, developmental disabilities, physical abnormalities)

So... I was the first that answered "yes"

[PLFXpert 0]

Quote

If you have 7and 8 and 9 children and on welfare and have no desire to actually RAISE those children to be productive members of society. . . . then I believe that that is inappropriate. But..... some people can "support" that many children. (finanically, educationally, emotionally).

The some people that can support 7, 8 and 9 children (hell, I'll even go as far to start at 4) typically don't have that many. I wonder why.

Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.

[Muenkel 0]

My parents had 8 children and they're the least selfish people I know. Everything about their married life was geared toward raising decent, productive, well-mannered people. My parents wanted a large family and got one. No regrets.

What I think is selfish are the people who have children and don't make them their priority in life.

_________________________________________
Chris

[shropshire 0]

<>

That, Chris, is so true.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[dannydan 5]

Quote

What I think is selfish are the people who have children and don't make them their priority in life.

priority ONE!!! After ADULTS have children, "it AIN'T about "us/me" anymore...PERIOD! It's about the children... This does NOT mean that ADULTS with children can not have fun and be "feel" stuck, just means that WE have made a change that we had better focus A to Z on....

Most of the time having children actually makes us adults better people to the community either locally and or globally.

: DD

(all my caps are my way of emphasizing)


edit here to ad; I didn't cast a vote!!

[SivaGanesha 2]

I don't think it is selfish to have children; however, I think it IS selfish to want grandchildren if your children don't want to have children.

"It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

[akarunway 1]

Quote

It depends on your definition of "selfish" and whether you are "excessively burdening" others with your decision to have children.

If you have 7and 8 and 9 children and on welfare and have no desire to actually RAISE those children to be productive members of society. . . . then I believe that that is inappropriate. But..... some people can "support" that many children. (finanically, educationally, emotionally). Do they then unnecessarily burden the planet? Perhaps, but we (as a global community) are not able to come to the "only 1 child per person" belief system. (I am impressed that China could, but even that system isn't perfect - because then you have to be very selective with which child you have: male/female, developmental disabilities, physical abnormalities)

So... I was the first that answered "yes"

The proper word is REAR children. You RAISE corn.

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

[akarunway 1]

Quote

It depends on your definition of "selfish" and whether you are "excessively burdening" others with your decision to have children.

If you have 7and 8 and 9 children and on welfare and have no desire to actually RAISE those children to be productive members of society. . . . then I believe that that is inappropriate. But..... some people can "support" that many children. (finanically, educationally, emotionally). Do they then unnecessarily burden the planet? Perhaps, but we (as a global community) are not able to come to the "only 1 child per person" belief system. (I am impressed that China could, but even that system isn't perfect - because then you have to be very selective with which child you have: male/female, developmental disabilities, physical abnormalities)

So... I was the first that answered "yes"

So you codone Chinas' policy of whacking kids (unborn) to have a male child. Hey. 2 kids per two parents. The parents die the kids carry on. Hopefully. I had 4. I died. The eldest daughter is a total fuckup. Ya never know. They may turn out to be the next Einstien or a Bill gates. I'm hoping for the best.

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

[kbordson 8]

Quote

Quote

It depends on your definition of "selfish" and whether you are "excessively burdening" others with your decision to have children.
If you have 7and 8 and 9 children and on welfare and have no desire to actually RAISE those children to be productive members of society. . . . then I believe that that is inappropriate. But..... some people can "support" that many children. (finanically, educationally, emotionally). Do they then unnecessarily burden the planet? Perhaps, but we (as a global community) are not able to come to the "only 1 child per person" belief system. (I am impressed that China could, but even that system isn't perfect - because then you have to be very selective with which child you have: male/female, developmental disabilities, physical abnormalities)

So... I was the first that answered "yes"

So you codone Chinas' policy of whacking kids (unborn) to have a male child. Hey. 2 kids per two parents. The parents die the kids carry on. Hopefully. I had 4. I died. The eldest daughter is a total fuckup. Ya never know. They may turn out to be the next Einstien or a Bill gates. I'm hoping for the best.

Did you see where I stated that that system isn't perfect?

I am personally on of 6 with 3 surviving. I was number 5, and wouldn't have been too happy if the government had told my parents to stop at 1 or 2. But, I also realize that had all 6 of us survived.... it would have been a lot of feet on the soil, a lot of food, a lot of demands. But... I also said that some people do have the ability to care for that many, to teach them to respect the Earth and to become "productive members of society." (I wonder if you read my post at all or if you just trying to start a pissing contest) I have not had any of my own, but I did RAISE (not rear... I don't think that word is appropriate) one son since he was two (he is now almost 23).

[Squeak 17]

Having kids is neither selfish or altruistic. it's a biological concern.
The worlds current poor situation is not due to the amount of people on the planet.
It's due to how some of the people utilise the resources on the planet, the world can sustain many more people than currently occupy it, just not to the same standard that western society has grown accustom to.

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[Lucky... 0]

Quote

Having kids is not selfish. Exceeding the carrying capability of the place you live (or the planet) is extremely foolish.

And when people see the population exceeding the carrying capaciy and they individually shrug their shoulders it is foolish and selficsh, IMO. However, having 1 or 2 children isn't bad, having 7 or 8 is pathetic.

Don't worry tho. the planet has a way of.....adjusting for such foolishness and selfishness via disease, famine, etc...

[Lucky... 0]

Quote

My pop says that we're selfish, because we dont want kids.... I never understood that.

Each to their own.

Was he Chistian? Sounds like a Christian statement as we are all supposed to bring all the babies for Jesus into the world (puke).

[Lucky... 0]

Quote

perhaps it's best that she doesn't reproduce.

Not an uncommon sentiment. It amazes me how many people think of human beings as numbers.

When you're examoning carrying capacity we are numbers. When the population exceeds the carrying capacity we will encouter some/all of these things: run out of food, not be able to dispose of waste, run out of room, and those kids of things.

[Lucky... 0]

Quote

My parents had 8 children and they're the least selfish people I know. Everything about their married life was geared toward raising decent, productive, well-mannered people. My parents wanted a large family and got one. No regrets.

What I think is selfish are the people who have children and don't make them their priority in life.

>>>>>>>>>What I think is selfish are the people who have children and don't make them their priority in life.

That's irresponsible, selfish is ignoring the ecology and pumping out a brood of kids, regardless of your fiscal abilities. Of course when you were born the ecology wasn;t screaming as it is now. Remember the days of no smog systems, no brown clouds over most cities.....the product of selfishness.

[Lucky... 0]

Quote

Having kids is neither selfish or altruistic. it's a biological concern.
The worlds current poor situation is not due to the amount of people on the planet.
It's due to how some of the people utilise the resources on the planet, the world can sustain many more people than currently occupy it, just not to the same standard that western society has grown accustom to.

However true, you can't seperate the population and western civilization, as the rest of the world is trying to immitate the poluting aspect of us, so it will come down to more population = polution, less population = less polution.

[shropshire 0]

<>

No not at all.. I think that he and mom just wanted (more - my sister has 4) Grandkids. They've become much more relaxed of the past few years and realised that they wont be getting any more.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[Shotgun 1]

Most of the choices we make in life are selfish in one way or another. This woman has decided that the planet is of great importance (to her), so her decision to not have children (which she perceives as somehow protecting the planet) is a selfish decision.

And most people who choose to have children probably have somewhat selfish reasons for doing so. But that's not necessarily a bad thing; I doubt that we would still exist if we were not inclined to be selfish.

[Channman 2]

As one of the many members of "I survived Roe V Wade" club, maybe Toni, needs to look no further than a mirror and determine if it is not selfish to continue on with life.

The preservation of her own life dispite that of her unborn child seems to be selfish. But Toni Vernelli has in my opinion done a great service to her fellow man by sterilizing any future off spring that would foster such wacky ideas.

[peregrinerose 0]

Until there are no more kids in foster care, no more abandoned kids, no more kids waiting for people to adopt them, then yes, to some degree having kids is selfish. I've never wanted kids of my own for that reason... any kid I have is one less I can adopt out of the foster care system. Sure, I'd love to have a mini version of my husband and I, but genetics is over rated and not directly correlated with love.

The person who aborted for eco reasons is a bit nuts though. Sounds like she's trying to justify her abortion, maybe feels guilty about it? And there's no reason that she couldn't know 'first hand what it is like to cradle her own baby, to have a pair of innocent eyes gazing up at her with unconditional love, to feel a little hand slipping into hers - and a voice calling her Mummy.' Adoption does provide all of those things.

Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

[Skyrad 0]

Again John the choices are a bit limited. In some cases yes parents might be selfish in wanting t have children, in others not at all. As is often the case there is no hard and fast rule.

When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

[JackC 0]

People decide they either want kids or they don't. If they do want kids, they know how to go about making them. The kid doesn't get asked if it wants to be born. In fact, the good of the planet is not usually a motivating factor in the decision to reproduce. Having a child is just about the most eco-unfriendly thing you can do in the normal course of your life. The decision to reproduce is usualy in response to the feeling that "I want kids". Note the words "I want". The world is not short of humans, in fact there are too many of them and many of those are unwanted. There are kids who don't have a family of their own, who would be glad of the chance to become part of your family.
But people want kids of "their own" because they have a selfish desire to further their own genes. They go to extraordinary lengths (via IVF treatment for example) to get "their own" kids because someone else's cast-offs are not good enough. So yes, in the vast majority of cases, having kids is extremely selfish.