Hopelessly Having Kids

How paradoxical that this recommended action to show faith in the future will guarantee there IS no future for our species.

Show the World You Have Hope in Tomorrow — Have More Kids

Columnist Cynthia M. Allen has bought into the hand-wringing over declining birth rates. Economists and other priests of the church of growth everlasting have convinced her that a world population of 7.6 billion and climbing is a good – indeed, important – thing.

“…while some progressive thinkers (like those who believe large families are unethical or that slowing population growth means greater sustainability) welcome this news, most observers understand the profound policy consequences of a nation with fewer and fewer babies.”

Concerns about our impact – climate disruption, peak water, energy and food, and species extinction – are just minor annoyances next to the challenge of funding social security, dying without a crowd at your bedside, and having to hire people to run the vacuum and cart your body off to the funeral home.

I’m sorry, Cynthia, but I want the kids we DO have to live decent lives – on a habitable planet with healthy ecosystems; clean, breathable air; water that doesn’t kill most fish; a diversity of species; and fertile soil that renews to grow abundant food year after year. THAT’S why declining birth rates give me hope. That is our only hope.*

*It’s our only hope because all the technology solutions to provide for and clean up after 7.6 billion people just nip at the margins. They will only help if we also scale back the size of the human enterprise. We are daily proving this to ourselves.