This. All of this. This was how I learned to lie my way out of things as a kid, because I was terrified of what would happen when I made a mistake.

My partner was once telling me an “amusing” story about how his Nonno, who he worshiped, used to hit him with a belt. Half way through the story he trailed off, looked at me, and said “actually, I think that really fucked me up” and burst into tears.

Soooo perhaps having good education about safe sex, easily and cheapily available condoms and birth control, and readily available abortion are the way to go, hm?

the issue is not necessarily direct cash assistance, but actually providing people with educations, job training, subsidized child care, and treatment for substance abuse and mental health problems. things that make people poor, and are also correlated with abuse.

yes, I’m sure poor people who have kids sit down and have a reasonable discussion about the long term risks and benefits of having children, carefully considering each factor and ultimately reaching a logical conclusion and making a plan accordingly.

can you imagine a shark tank, of 1000's of sharks, synced to shark week?

My mom is a FINE mom, issues and all we love each other... but she was pretty violent for a mom, and my earliest memory of her is her biting (HARD!!!) my arm to show me I should not mistreat my little sister. It terrifies me to this day. Physical punishments are terrible and scarring.

Clearly it was shark week and she just wasn’t having it.

...This comment feel like a slippery slope into eugenics. The old “poor people shouldn’t have kids” argument, which makes me super uncomfortable.

Yet the same people who fight against making things better for impoverished and abused kids want to make more impoverished and abused kids by advocating for the restriction of abortion. I’ll never understand conservatives.

But we care so much about children! That’s why we fight every day to make sure as many get conceived as possible by vilifying reproductive healthcare.

demonizing anyone who uses social services like food stamps, telling the rest of the privileged masses that these people on assistance are the ones robbing them blind, and not the downright evil people in power.

“Assault” is the correct term for hitting someone with a fucking hockey stick.

we don’t spank our kid but, yeah, if you’re bringing objects into it, it’s a whole ‘nother ball game.

Yeah, that sounds more like a beating.

spanked their 14-year-old daughter with a hockey stick and a jump rope

Free childcare would be an amazing step forward that I cannot see this country ever taking.

Or, if she already has steady, reliable income... maybe make sure she can go to work without worrying about childcare options.

Once the country made a conscious choice to prioritize money over children it became easier to make that choice again (fighting maternity leave laws that ensured mothers could stay with their children longer) and again (push backs against nutrition laws for public schools) and again (disapproving of gun control laws…