I thought about putting it that way initially but then thought not only as a rebuke to the public societal pressure and shaming many childless people endure, but also on a certain level in today’s world anyone who doesn’t want to have children and then actually doesn’t have them should be admired for being so damn…

living past 30 also is pretty privileged in the context of human history.
And I damn well intend on cashing both those privileges.

Of course we are doing better than middle ages humans, but while it’s true a lot of indicators are going the right way, we are still racing into several different walls and considering how…

Fuck those people. Almost all of my friends (late 30s) are childfree. I haven’t asked them if it’s by choice or otherwise, and it’s none of my business unless they choose to share.

Yeah, my wife and I used to give a whole spiel about not wanting to pass on past traumas and mental illness and blah blah blah, but now when we are asked why we aren’t having kids all people get is “We don’t wanna.” and a shrug. No one deserves or is entitled to more of an explanation than that.

Doesn’t require justification. “I don’t wanna” is good enough.

There is also the whole “the planet is fucked” thing that makes creating a human you’ll love more than anything and leaving him this crapass planet filled to the brim with crapass people he’s gonna have to deal with for close to a century not a really appealing thought...

I’m in France, so massive social and medical…

Yeah, when you actually think about it, what are the reasons that anyone has kids? In the modern day, there’s no practical reason for it, so people have kids because they want kids. (that, and social pressure, but being childfree is increasingly acceptable)

I can’t even imagine how much my life would be profoundly fucked up by having a kid. I’m disabled, barely able to take care of myself. I forget things CONSTANTLY, often within moments. I suffered head trauma as a kid, I’m autistic, severe depression and anxiety, PTSD. I’m basically just a barely functional human…

I love every baby I have ever met and want to meet more. I also really worry about friends who are planning on having kids because it’s an opportunity to “really care about someone other than yourself.” Like, if you don’t do that pre-kid, I’m not sure you should be charge of raising a human. Also, makes me rethink the…

Exactly. Even countries with incredibly generous social support systems in place have seen their birth rates drop consistently over time.

The problem with your statement is the assumption that people can continue to work into old age instead of getting laid off first and unable to find another job because of age discrimination.

Always appropriate to remind people: Anyone who does not want to have children... and DOES NOT have children should be applauded.

. . . it is highly unlikely that the urge to procreate has been stimied by progress alone, leading one expert to label declining birth rates a “barometer of despair.”

My partner and I have "joke" about digging a paupers grave in the yard and shooting each other at the same time when it's time to "retire."

you mean to tell me that you don’t want to work until the day you die under the thumbs of billionaires because a handful of jerks don’t want to tax the rich?

So it’s my responsibility to have a baby because I’m supposed to support other people in retirement even though I’m never going to get to have one?* I mean, I’m not one of those people who’s unwilling to pay taxes in to support the public good. I’m happy to pay a higher tax rate (obviously based on income with…

Also a fun time to remind everyone that we’ve never actually seen a generation retire with the 401k system rather than pensions, and the general assumption is that it’s going to go terribly.

I’m torn on this issue because no amount of trans rights legislation will change the fact that there are real and measurable differences between men’s and women’s athletics. It’s why most sports are separated by gender in the first place. It may not matter in casual settings but when talking about competitions where…

To add on that, it wasn’t just her, but another trans athlete then took that other top spot while competing. While the article does mock a lot the fact that the girl who made the complaint came in sixth in the race, it does ignore the girls who came in 3rd and 4th. It is true that those girls did not complain, at…

I didn’t see it mentioned in the article, but it wasn’t really that she finished 6th, it was more that she missed her regional qualifying by two places. From that context, her argument at least makes a little more sense.