Slightly newsy. But not really.
When I mentioned that Maclean's cover story a few weeks back - 'The Case Against Having Children' - one of you mentioned that it seemed kinda dumb, like people wouldn't really be shocked to discover that some people don't want kids. And I read dismissive things about the piece in one or two of your journals.
However.
The author, Anne Kingston, has a piece in the current issue about the response, and it makes me so angry!
“It made me nauseous to read the article…in fact, I’m not even sure what was the point of the article aside from promoting yet another fad and the ultimate age of selfishness.”
[...]
Chris Boyd, who writes that he has one young child after years of thinking children weren’t for him, summed up the sentiment: “I now feel genuinely sorry for those who focus on their selfish existence too long and end up lonely and bored and childless,” he wrote, adding: “Oh, and number two is due in December, I guess our lives are over based on 40 Good Reasons to Not Have Children. Really, I could give you 100 reasons you should.”
[...]
One email referred to people without kids as “living a ‘lifestyle’ of barren self-gratification.”
[...]
“Why worry about nuclear waste, global warming and extinction of species, if you and your offspring won’t be affected?” asked one reader. Marcia Redmond echoed the theme: “I am a 58 year old mother of three adult children-soon to be a grandparent. I am content, even grateful for all that experience has brought to my life-and it has not been all easy, what life is? I feel my choice has tied me to the future-something I do not see in friends my age who chose the ‘no kids’ option.”
Oh my god does that shit ever make me angry. People who are opposed to childfree folks seem to be cut from the same cloth as people who are opposed to atheists: they argue that it's something inherently immoral, inherently selfish - that it automatically disqualifies someone from being a decent human being.
***
Speaking of not-decent human beings, Michael Vick has signed with the Philadelphia Eagles. I don't know why people are upset - he's done his time, and there are people who've played in the NFL after they've done equally bad things to human beings.
Why anyone thinks the NFL should exact more punishment on him, beyond what, you know, a little thing called the criminal justice system already has, I do not know. The man's not in jail anymore, so he deserves an absolutely fair shot at earning a living.
***
Also making me so angry is the healthcare debate in the United States, not that I really have any place being angry about that.
However.
The author, Anne Kingston, has a piece in the current issue about the response, and it makes me so angry!
“It made me nauseous to read the article…in fact, I’m not even sure what was the point of the article aside from promoting yet another fad and the ultimate age of selfishness.”
[...]
Chris Boyd, who writes that he has one young child after years of thinking children weren’t for him, summed up the sentiment: “I now feel genuinely sorry for those who focus on their selfish existence too long and end up lonely and bored and childless,” he wrote, adding: “Oh, and number two is due in December, I guess our lives are over based on 40 Good Reasons to Not Have Children. Really, I could give you 100 reasons you should.”
[...]
One email referred to people without kids as “living a ‘lifestyle’ of barren self-gratification.”
[...]
“Why worry about nuclear waste, global warming and extinction of species, if you and your offspring won’t be affected?” asked one reader. Marcia Redmond echoed the theme: “I am a 58 year old mother of three adult children-soon to be a grandparent. I am content, even grateful for all that experience has brought to my life-and it has not been all easy, what life is? I feel my choice has tied me to the future-something I do not see in friends my age who chose the ‘no kids’ option.”
Oh my god does that shit ever make me angry. People who are opposed to childfree folks seem to be cut from the same cloth as people who are opposed to atheists: they argue that it's something inherently immoral, inherently selfish - that it automatically disqualifies someone from being a decent human being.
***
Speaking of not-decent human beings, Michael Vick has signed with the Philadelphia Eagles. I don't know why people are upset - he's done his time, and there are people who've played in the NFL after they've done equally bad things to human beings.
Why anyone thinks the NFL should exact more punishment on him, beyond what, you know, a little thing called the criminal justice system already has, I do not know. The man's not in jail anymore, so he deserves an absolutely fair shot at earning a living.
***
Also making me so angry is the healthcare debate in the United States, not that I really have any place being angry about that.