Childfree, Childless, etc.

[joe hx]

I think this wikipedia link fits in with this thread:

Voluntary Human Extinction Movement

[Dreamstalker]

Until then, it's in our best interests to cooperate with those who raise the next generation.

I look at some "parents" and their kids and think that I wouldn't want them making any real decisions, be it for me or anyone else. Yes, kids can and do change, but it seems to me at least that a portion of kids are being raised to be serious EWs if not worse (I "grew up" with a major bully--come elementary school graduation he is thrown in jail for assaulting a cop...his friend didn't fare much better only a few months into high school).

[DrFaroohk]

Ugh...the co-workers with children...how I don't miss them!

"Hey, I can't work Monday morning because Robbie has a doctor's appointment. And I can't work Monday afternoon because Robbie has a little league game. And I can't work Tuesday morning because Robbie and I are going to visit his grandmother. And Tuesday afternoon doesn't work either. Little League Practice. And I can't come in Wednesday.........Thursday.........Friday........o r Saturday......but I'm free on Sunday!"

"We're not even open on Sunday!"

"HEY! I'LL SUE YOU! YOU HAVE TO WORK AROUND MY SCHEDULE CUZ I HAVE KIDS! THAT'S THE LAW!"

Yeah. Seriously.

[Boozy]

To some extent, the childless need to be supportive of those who do decide to have children. A society cannot continue without people in it. In 30, 40, 50 years, the child-free person and their generation is going to be retired. The younger generation will be growing their food and delivering it to their neighbourhood stores, building their retirement homes, paving their roads, etc. Some cooperation is needed from everyone to ensure the continuation of society.

I don't necessarily agree with everything parents may ask for, but parental leave is important. When infants get plenty of one-on-one attention in their early years, the result is a smarter, healthier population. We all benefit from that.

Maybe one horrible day in the future we will all live in self-sufficient underground bunkers with robot servants. Until then, it's in our best interests to cooperate with those who raise the next generation.

[violetyoshi]

There are several benefits given to parents in our society, just because they had a child. This is the main contention with people who are childfree. That you have to have a child, to get certain benefits. Or you end up having to support people who chose to have a child, such as a mother getting time off after having a baby, and the childfree person having to pick up their slack at the office.

The ideal situation is that parents would be fully responsible for their decision, such as the mother not getting maternity leave pay, while someone childfree does their job for them while they're gone. Many people who hear this first go, "What about the baaaayyyyybbbbeee!" which is besides the point, that the mother knew she was going to have a child, and should have bothered to prepare ahead of time to have the money for it, rather than leeching off others with pleas of sympathy.

There also is the issue of parents being extremely rude to people who are not parents. This concerns me because I have a condition known as Hyperacusis, which means I have a sensitivity to sudden loud sounds. Children are known to make sudden loud sounds, yet when I try explaining my situation to a parent, they act as if I personally went out of my way to offend their child. Stating their child NEVER misbehaves, or other delusional claims, that anyone who isn't the parent can see clear as day.

So in essence, I have to live my life at the mercy of parents who are overzelous in protecting their child, from the world. Now, here is usually where people say, "But you can't expect the world to change for you!" I'm not asking for that. I'm simply suggesting I should be able to eat at a restaurant, without the noise I'd find at a Chuck E Cheese arcade. I've given up on this, since it's easier just to explain the situation to the waiter, and try and avoid the parents altogether because they really seem to be oblvious to the idea that non parents have just a right to share this world as they and their baby do.

[guywithashovel]

This isn't an all out rant, just something that piques my interest and makes me raise my eyebrows on occasion.

A while ago, someone on this board started a thread titled "How Dare You Not Want to Spawn!" In this thread, people who have chosen not to be parents shared grievances about being pestered over their choices. This is perfectly understandable, since we all want to be treated like responsible, sentient adults who can make our own decisions with good judgment. In fact, I was able to identify with many of the people who responded to that thread, since I, too, have pretty much decided that I am not going to have kids.

Other people who have chosen not to have kids have banded together and formed groups. A Google search will turn up several message boards, web sites, and possibly some blogs centered around this decision. Some of them call themselves "Childless by Choice." Others call themselves "Childfree." This gets to the part that sometimes gets to me.

There seems to be this sentiment among many of these people that they are doing something new and trend-setting that no one else has ever done before. In other words, many of them appear to think that willfully living your life as a childless married couple is something that people just started doing within the last ten years, when in fact, people have been doing it ever since contraception was invented. There are several couples in my family who have never had children (at their own choice), and almost all of them are baby boomers or older. My grandmother is friends with a woman in her 70s, and this woman never had children with her late husband to whom she had been married to for over forty years before he died. Though, to be fair, there are many die hard child-lovers who hold these same sentiments as well.

I know this probably sounds petty on my part, but this is something that really stands out to me. Granted, I'm speaking from my own biased viewpoint, since I did come from a family where several people have chosen not to have children. For this reason, this decision has always seemed natural and normal to me. I'm sure to someone who comes from a really large family where almost everyone has several kids, this decision might appear new and innovative.