this post was submitted on 21 Sep 2025
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[–] henfredemars@infosec.pub 43 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Climate change is a part of my choice not to have children, but it's not the only part. Mainly it is the cost of living that drives up the sacrifice to such an extent that it's just not worth it to me.

You may argue that I'm not committed enough to the prospect, and you are right! That's why I don't have kids. I wouldn't make a very good parent, then.

[–] umbrella@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 week ago

the things regular working parents i know have to do to feed their kids?

yeah, i see no point in living like that, especially considering our climate is collapsing and things will only get harder.

i don't wanna breed in captivity.

[–] rowinxavier@lemmy.world 29 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I disagree that it is immoral inherently to have kids. I think that people who have kids should be people who actually want to have kids. At this point lots of people who have kids do so for bad reasons. Someone got pregnant accidentally, family or peer pressure said to have kids, or they just think that is what life is supposed to be.

If you make a child they cannot consent to it. They are forced to live and can't make choices until they become adults, meaning that their entire life it without consent, it is foisted on them. If it were basically anything else happening that would be immoral, but being alive enables all other choices, so you are also giving them all of the other options for choice they will ever have. They are also gaining the ability to end their own lives, so they really are free to opt out at some point.

I understand the antinatalist position, just as I understand the pronatalist position. I think both suck because they lack nuance and neither really avoids the cloud of eugenics and nationalism that surrounds the birth/population conversation.

I also think that the individualistic view that characterises the boomer culture is the context for people in my generation. We are made to be independent to a toxic degree and all social supports, formal and informal, have been removed. This makes parenting much harder and less likely.

If you start from reducing the demand for people to have kids and make a society which has a strong culture of making the world better for the next generations to come you will find that people who currently are dissuaded by economic issues will be more likely to have kids, raising the birth rate. After a few occilations around some specific population size we will balance out and end up fairly stable. Whether that number is above or below 9 billion is irrelevant, our planet can supply a population of 10 billion sustainably if we manage our farming and environmental practices well. Right now we have a top heavy population in many countries and as that rebalances there will be more space for people to have kids at which point they will. In my opinion.

[–] al_Kaholic@lemmynsfw.com 16 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I didn't choose to be born. It was forced on me. If I didn't choose to have sex and you force me to because "you really want sex" that is still rape and immoral you see where this is going? What fucking choice do I have as an adult? Oh yeah I can pick the type of wage slave I get to be or starve. Awesome total cool totally moral.

[–] calliope@retrolemmy.com 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Yep, it’s easy to ignore that those who want kids literally just want something, but are convinced it’s their right.

They completely ignore their own abilities because they think they deserve to have children.

I was actually talking to my mom about this. I said “everyone who wants kids is essentially just bored” and she said “no, I wanted children!” like it was better somehow.

[–] coaxil@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 week ago

They just want a dopamine hit

[–] HumanOnEarth@lemmy.ca 12 points 1 week ago

Today? Yes they are correct. Just a handful of years ago there was a faint sliver of a chance. Not anymore.

All today's children will see unbelievable worldwide pain and suffering in their life. I'd say it's pretty unethical to bring someone into the world knowing they'll definitely see that.

[–] EndlessNightmare@reddthat.com 9 points 1 week ago

The government in this nation is actively funding a genocide and attempting to suppress dissent. A world where a genocide can be openly livestreamed in 4K without being stomped out is not the kind of world to bring children into.

No amount of whining and crying from the likes of Elon will change my opinion on this.

[–] Shelbyeileen@lemmy.world 7 points 1 week ago

I'm so glad I got sterilized. Besides the fact that I have a degenerative genetic disorder; housing isn't affordable (and no roommate or landlord wants messy/loud children in their home), food prices are ridiculous, pregnancy is too risky, there's dwindling social programs to help mothers, the US doesn't have maternity leave, the earth's climate is changing drastically, and war is looming. It's literally the best time to be sterilized.

If I change my mind, I'll adopt. The US foster system is overflowing with hundreds of thousands of children, whose parents were forced to birth them, but couldn't care for them. 11% more children have been filling foster homes because of RvW.

[–] 0_o7@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 1 week ago

That image has the kid below the point of being thrown or caught. I know some of you hate kids, but this is not the way to do it. Lol

[–] HootinNHollerin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

A couple having more than 2 certainly is unethical

[–] Evotech@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago