Intellectual Free For All: The Childfree Movement

[vanish]

Thank you all for participating in last week's Intellectual Free For All, about tax dollars. Feel free to add to the discussion, if you still have something to say! It's never over.

Comments

[ex_annemarie10]

My husband and I are currently childless. We've only been married a little less than two years. Since late March, we have been trying to conceive. I want, and I think he does too, more than anything to share our love with each other with a child

[maereth]

There are 6 billion people on this planet. In my opinion that's about 5,999,998 too many. So I fully support anyone who doesn't feel the need to have offspring

[vanish]

I think the freetards have an overdeveloped sense of self importance, for sure. No, guys, the world really isn't out to get you. That child over there does not exist merely to get on your nerves. It is not a conspiracy against you when you're dying for some Fruit Loops, but all the boxes have a cartoon child on them. I wonder when it goes from "Kids just aren't for me!" to "OMG DIE CHYYYYLDRUN UR EXISTENCE IS OPPRESSING ME

[zinjadu]

I'm in my early twenties, single, and have every intention of staying without children for years yet

[vanish]

I'm all for any kind of response! It's a free for all! ;D Thanks for your input.

I do see adoption as the socially responsible thing to do, but not everyone has the means or the heart to adopt a child. It's more complicated than going to an agency, signing papers, and then being handed a kid. I think that most, if not all, adopted children have some sort of special needs, and there are those who have it in their heads that they will be adopting a perfectly healthy little baby that will reach out to them and go "mama" the first time they meet. I can't say that I understand the mentality that biological is better, but I would rather someone know they wouldn't be capable of caring for an adopted child and not go that route than just go through with it for the sake of parenthood. I wish more people had the means and disposition to do it, though. I just feel so bad hearing about kids who don't have, but desperately want, a family.

Too many people get caught up with the idea of having a kid, that they don't realize that it's an asston

[vanish]

I don't consider myself childfree or childless. I don't feel as though I properly relate to either one.

Currently, I am not at all interested in parenthood, or even children in general. However, I fully expect to have a different opinion in a few years' time. I also have my heart set on adoption, which would mean that a) I would never actually have children, but b) I would be a parent. Ergo, I don't think either term really applies to me.

I do see myself as a person who wishes to delay parenthood. My husband's and my parents all waited until their 30s to start families, so we see nothing wrong with doing the same. As I touched upon in my comment to maereth, however, I know that some people look at us as a healthy, college-educated 25/26 year old couple in a loving marriage and who aren't living in a box and wonder why on earth we wouldn't want to get started now. That's us being measured against someone else's yard stick. I also know someone who is rigidly childfree and believes that many people who want to reproduce do so for egotistical

PS

[vanish]

If I ever come across as too biased in any of the original writeups, let me know. I wanted to come across as neutral in the main post but I'm not sure how well I did.

I'm going to move the "lingo" part to the comments and also add something about extremists from the other side of the argument: People who believe that it is our duty to have as many children as possible.