Childfree movement

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(Added new argument for childfree, added Michael Snyder to his own section which is modified to expand on counter-argument to his article. Also gave Alex Jones his own section in critics section and updated it to show his hate of childfree movement.)
(Alex Jones: Added references to Stanhope's mentioned views on children and cleaned up section a little.)
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===Alex Jones===
 
===Alex Jones===
  
Alex Jones has taken very rude shots at the childfree movement calling people who refuse to have children control freaks for criticizing people like him for having too many and considers it a cult. Alex has said people have an obligation to have children even if they don't want them saying that will help <s>populate his ideal theocratic society</s> the ongoing fight with the evil [[New World Order | NWO]]. As to the widespread overpopulation that will obviously cause, Alex says that isn't real stating it is a lie to help to carry out a massive [[depopulation conspiracy theory | depopulation plot]] by governments.<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jPvH5Pw5ic He said all of that in this edition of Infowars Nightly News]</ref>
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Alex Jones has taken very rude shots at the childfree movement calling people who refuse to have children control freaks for criticizing people like him for having too many and considers it a cult. Alex has said people have an obligation to have children even if they don't want them saying that will help <s>populate his ideal theocratic society</s> the ongoing fight with the evil [[New World Order | NWO]]. As to the widespread overpopulation that idea will obviously cause, Alex justifies it saying overpopulation is a myth to help to carry out a massive [[depopulation conspiracy theory | depopulation plot]] by governments in on the agenda.<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jPvH5Pw5ic He said all of that in this edition of Infowars Nightly News]</ref>
  
The most memorable moment Jones issued criticism at the childfree came during an heated but hilarious interview with Libertarian comedian Doug Stanhope. Through mainly his stand-ups, Stanhope has passionately advocated people not to have children or at least limit themselves to two. Citing not just his huge dislike of them, he believes such attitudes will stop overpopulation. During the interview, besides waving off the amazingly intelligent counter-arguments Stanhope makes, Alex negatively criticized Stanhope's choice and even blatantly admitted later on he's driven by his religion in such matters.<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cc_Qa5m1e00 Part 1 of Doug Stanhope interview]</ref><ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpOJXGELaGc Part 2 of Doug Stanhope interview]</ref><ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZWQEpohHN0 Part 3 of Doug Stanhope interview]</ref><ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBTDITIVooQ Part 4 of Doug Stanhope interview]</ref><ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVVKVSfRw_k Part 5 of Doug Stanhope interview]</ref>
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The most memorable moment Jones issued criticism at the childfree came during an interview with Libertarian comedian Doug Stanhope. Stanhope, being childless himself, has advocated people not to have children or, at bare minimum, giving birth to only two.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnQY-kZ9d_E</ref> Besides justifying his refusal to have children due to his immense dislike of them, Stanhope not having children will help to curb overpopulation and global warming which, unlike many Libertarians, he admits are huge problems that must be dealt with.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkgDhDa4HHo</ref>.  
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During the interview, besides waving off, deflecting or outright ignoring the well-made counter-arguments and facts Stanhope gave, Alex constantly criticized Stanhope's decision to not procreate. Later on Alex, in a very rare confession, admitted his attitude is driven by his religious beliefs and unquestioning devotion to God.<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cc_Qa5m1e00 Part 1 of Doug Stanhope interview]</ref><ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpOJXGELaGc Part 2 of Doug Stanhope interview]</ref><ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZWQEpohHN0 Part 3 of Doug Stanhope interview]</ref><ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBTDITIVooQ Part 4 of Doug Stanhope interview]</ref><ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVVKVSfRw_k Part 5 of Doug Stanhope interview]</ref>
  
 
==See also==
 
==See also==

Revision as of 09:50, 15 November 2013

If you’re so pro-life and you’re so pro-child, then adopt one that’s already here that’s very unwanted and very alone and needs someone to take care of it, to get it out of a horrible situation. People say, “Why don’t you do that?” and I say, “‘Cause I hate fuckin’ kids and couldn’t care less.” Couldn’t give a fuck.
Bill Hicks explaining why he's ineligible to be a parent

The childfree movement is a grassroots social movement advocating childlessness by choice. People who chose to be childless by choice are known as childfree. The movement was started during the 1970s. Two of the most notable childfree organizations that were established during the 1970s were the National Organization for Non-Parents and No Kidding! The childfree movement is becoming increasingly popular.[1]

Contents

Reasons to be childfree

The international childfree movement does not share any unified political view, but many political ideologies associated with childfree interests are increasingly becoming associated with the movement. The arguments for childfreeism are classified into the following categories:

Arguments from parents' point of view

German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer contributed to antinatalist philosophy.
  • People have the right not to have children.
  • A child may violate a couple's right to privacy, perhaps by popping in on them when they are inconveniently busy making him a sibling.
  • Pregnancy and childbirth disrupt a woman's career. Many feminists support birth control partially for this reason.
  • When children grow up, they may become a disappointment to their parents.
  • The State and/or "society" have no right to impose parenthood and child-bearing on people.

Arguments that a child may be harmed merely by its own birth

  • If a parent is financially unstable or low-income, this may cause misery for the child. Since the child has nothing to do with the financial breakdown of the couple, it is unethical to give birth to a child only to cause it misery.
  • A slightly more broad version of the above argument goes that to live is, by definition, to suffer, and so to have children is merely to perpetuate suffering.
  • If a parent has a genetic disorder, the child may inherit it.

Philosophical arguments

  • People have a responsibility toward the environment. Thus to prevent overpopulation and other environmental problems, they should choose not to have children.
  • People have a responsibility to help those already here. Having children deprives people from helping them fully due to the extra burden of child-rearing.
  • Childbirth is an act of selfishness that only serves to boost people's ego.
  • Antinatalism is a philosophy which holds that giving birth to a child is a negative value, thus it is immoral to have a child. Many of the above reasons given are often associated with it's tenets.

"Selfish" and other questionable arguments

It is fairly probable that at least some of the childfree individuals who utilize one of the arguments listed above are just quacking bullshit as a smoke-screen to avoid voicing one of the following pro-childfree arguments:

  • A baby keeps a person awake at night.
  • A baby makes its parents into horrible-looking frumpy people in serious denial about what is really important in life, such as (pick one: fancy cars, lofty ideals).
  • A baby consumes money, thus (pick one: depleting the fancy-car fund, requiring the compromise of the lofty ideals).
  • Children are worthless parasites who do nothing to contribute to society.
  • They smell.
  • "I wish those stupid breeders would keep their damned crotch droppings out of my sight!"

Some individuals will be blunt enough to give the above reasons for not having children. It's preferably for the best that such people, or those adamant to directly give the above reasons, who don't have children anyway. Such statements should be proof enough they're not fit to be parents. Expecting or encouraging them to have children is about as logical as asking John Wayne Gacy to babysit or asking Ayn Rand to start a parental advice agency. It's just not a good idea in the long run, especially for the children they could bring into existence.

Also

Laws that explicitly or effectively require individuals to procreate (e.g., laws permitting marital rape) are generally frowned upon as violating civil rights. Certainly many adults would be found in violation of such laws, whether they be perpetual Babylon 5 fans virgins, confirmed bachelors, homosexuals, developmentally-disabled (where an individual wouldn't be physically or mentally capable to take care of a child) or, more commonly, infertile. Still there have been taxes on childlessness and awards for big families.

There are, however, a number of similar laws, such as those that force sterilization upon their perpetrators (such as rapists) as either a penalty for a crime or a condition of release, or China's limitation of families to one child.

Organizations

There are several childfree organizations throughout the world. No Kidding! is a prominent international organization, active in New Zealand, Canada, and the United States. Its membership grew after it launched a website in the 1990s.[1]

Critics

Given the growing popularity of the decision to not have children, a number of critics have begun slinging stones. These include, unsurprisingly, mostly right leaning people who are often militant in their natalist view that humans have an obligation to have children. Often this is due to religious reasons or, more commonly, plain ignorance.

Other more insane reasons they justify their criticisms include overpopulation denial, believing that those who refuse to have children a part of a plot to depopulate the planet of people of a certain ethnic ancestry or that the government plans to depopulation the whole population in general. Such reasons are, of course, arguably nonsensical and illogical.

Here are some notable opponents of the childfree movement and their audacity to act like free-willed human beings and remain without children.

Bryan Caplan

Bryan Caplan is an anarcho-capitalist, adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute and economics professor at George Mason University (three huge warning signs) who has taken issue with people's choice to remain childfree. His response is the book Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids: Why Being a Great Parent is Less Work and More Fun Than You Think. Besides having a huge-ass title, is his attempt to counter-argue points made by the childfree. It's also become something of a Bible used by militant natalists like himself.

To save people some reading, and preserve brain cells, here are some of the main arguments and counter-arguments summarized:

  • Don't want kids? Have them anyway.
  • Don't like kids? Have them anyway.
  • Don't have any urge to be a parent? Have them anyway.
  • Too busy to have kids? Have them anyway.
  • Don't have the money to take care of children? Have them anyway.
  • Hate kids? Have them anyway.
  • Are you a selfish prick? Have them anyway.

And so and and so on. Every reasonable excuse not to have children in the book is waved off as being incorrect with Caplan prescribing a "just relax" approach to parenting which, though he claims will allow people to have more children for less money, amounts to a feel-good scheme used to trick people into procreating.

Worse is that the book has been noted by opponents to ignoring or barely touching points which undermine his arguments. The biggest of these is, obviously, overpopulation which Caplan strangely seems reluctant to deal with in the book. This is explainable as Caplan already discussed the subject before the book's publication in an online article for the Cato Institute. The article torpedoes the book's credibility, and Caplan's, for giving sound parental advice saying that the overpopulation can be fixed... by having more children to benefit the economy.[2]

As you expected, Caplan and his book have been criticized, and rightfully so, by critics and, most especially, the childree for his stances that boil down to his stereotypical Libertarian worship of the market. Opponents have also pointed at facts he neglects to cover mainly that the planet is finite and that unsustainable population growth is far worse than he makes out to be.[3]

But why worry about the planet or making responsible choices? The economy is obviously far more important than that crap.

Mike Huckabee

Mike Huckabee, with his talent for making new friends, showed dislike with the childfree movement during a panel on FOX News on August 2013 regarding a recent featured article in Time Magazine about it. A shame too because the first sentence he reportedly made about it seemed like he was going to make a good point.[4]

Well of course you can [have a good life without children], and I recognize it for some people that's maybe the the best decision. Especially for people, ugh, maybe who write articles like this. It's a good thing they didn't have kids, seriously. But on the other side, I don't want it ever get to the point where we diminish the the idea of not only creating the next generation, but training them to be our replacements, which is the highest particular calling that I think that we have as human beings, is to create an ongoing process of humanity and then to train it to be better than we are.

Huckabee, despite obviously trying hard not to let slip his true reasons why he feels people have an obligation to have children, let the cat out of the bag when fellow panelist Alisyn Camerota jokingly referred indirectly to Genesis 9:7 in saying Huckabee should go forth and multiply. Huckabee responded saying " I will do... yeah, I've already done it."

Huckabee's answer is tell-tale evidence he holds to the standard Christian fundamentalist view that it is an imperative people have children. Of course, had he and his fellow believers actually read it, the Bible, specifically Jesus Christ, is okay with the idea of people choosing to not have children thus invalidating Genesis 9:7's ordinance.[5]

Michael Snyder

The growing popularity of choosing not to have children has attracted a number of conspiracy theories who taken to the idea that the movement is part of some evil plot. Michael Snyder, a regular contributor to the Alex Jones network, wrote a piece blasting the movement as a form of brainwashing designed to destroy families, marriage and, as usual, part of some sinister plot to depopulate the planet mainly through, as usual, abortion.

It's worth pointing out Snyder says all that AFTER pointing out the average cost of raising a child in 2011 will cost approximately $234,900. More hilariously he goes on to say that there's a horrific plot to encourage children to "put off marriage until their educations are done and their careers have started." In other words: waiting until you can pay for your potential children and take care of them entirely out of your own pocket is not rational behavior.

From there Snyder goes into standard wingnut mode urging readers to reject liberal thinking, fight against thinking critically about whether having children is the right thing to do and taking precautions the selfish desire to be childfree, and even gives abstinence education a free vocal promotion too. Pretty much the usual [6]

The actual reasons the childfree movement is growing, if understood, causes Snyder's article and views to fall to bits. The movement is the result of more people questioning whether having children are right for them. That's not because of some dastardly plot by malicious entities who want traditional conservative values to be destroyed but is the result of these people often being very educated and also living in equally well-educated environments. This education often results in a better evolved consciousness making people greatly question the act of procreation.

It's not in America either, something Snyder strangely forgets to mention in his writing. It's happening many developed societies like Japan and Germany who are both experiencing huge drops in their birthrates because people are choosing not to have children of their own accord. Like America, they're both experiencing a bad economic state and worsening conditions which have both added to people's desire to refrain from having children. Again, those are factors Snyder fails to take into account in his rant against the childfree.

Case in point: The choice to remain childfree is a choice, not a conspiracy, that is result of people thinking critically. That and Snyder hates doing actual research for his articles as well as making educated choices.

Alex Jones

Alex Jones has taken very rude shots at the childfree movement calling people who refuse to have children control freaks for criticizing people like him for having too many and considers it a cult. Alex has said people have an obligation to have children even if they don't want them saying that will help populate his ideal theocratic society the ongoing fight with the evil NWO. As to the widespread overpopulation that idea will obviously cause, Alex justifies it saying overpopulation is a myth to help to carry out a massive depopulation plot by governments in on the agenda.[7]

The most memorable moment Jones issued criticism at the childfree came during an interview with Libertarian comedian Doug Stanhope. Stanhope, being childless himself, has advocated people not to have children or, at bare minimum, giving birth to only two.[8] Besides justifying his refusal to have children due to his immense dislike of them, Stanhope not having children will help to curb overpopulation and global warming which, unlike many Libertarians, he admits are huge problems that must be dealt with.[9].

During the interview, besides waving off, deflecting or outright ignoring the well-made counter-arguments and facts Stanhope gave, Alex constantly criticized Stanhope's decision to not procreate. Later on Alex, in a very rare confession, admitted his attitude is driven by his religious beliefs and unquestioning devotion to God.[10][11][12][13][14]

See also

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