\nchildfree and I’m proud<\/a>” post, both here and on Facebook<\/a>, argued that I’m just
\nthe sort of smart, eco-groovy person who should be having kids, to ensure that
\nthere’s a new generation of thoughtful and active citizens to carry on the good
\nfight. Thanks for the compliment! But I have to respectfully disagree. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
For starters, I’ll turn again to wise words from There were well-intentioned folks Also, remember, as a number of commenters note: You don’t get to pick how your kids turn <\/p>\n For evidence of this, I need look no further than my own <\/p>\n **<\/p>\n <\/p>\n To respond to some of the other issues brought up in comments<\/a>: <\/p>\n <\/p>\n One reader admonished me for not talking about “the waste in <\/p>\n Another reason for my positive approach was to counter the <\/p>\n Yes, of course, adoption and foster parenting are wonderful <\/p>\n Lots of other topics were also beyond its scope: The huge issue of overconsumption. The <\/p>\n If I had addressed everything I wanted to in <\/p>\n I’m thrilled by the great comments submitted so far; Related Links:<\/strong><\/p>\n Say it loud: I’m childfree and I’m proud<\/a><\/p>\n Population growth should be curbed, argues Jane Goodall<\/a><\/p>\n New York City gets big reaction to new sex symbol<\/a><\/p>\n
\nStephanie Mills<\/a>, who heard similar arguments after she announced her
\nintention to remain childfree in 1969:<\/p>\n
\nwho told me that I was just the kind of person who should be having children. I
\nwould respond that given the presence of the then three billion people on
\nEarth, there were already plenty of promising babies in the world, a multitude
\nof whom could be well served by some economic and racial justice so that the
\nprivileges I had enjoyed wouldn’t be such an extraordinary qualification for
\nmotherhood.<\/p>\n
\nout. Good parents try their best to
\ninstill in their kids strong social and environmental values, but ultimately
\nkids determine their own destinies, parents be damned. <\/p>\n
\nimmediate family. My mother and father, despite their best efforts and
\ncommendable parenting skills, completely failed in their endeavor to raise
\ntheir four children into Christian conservatives. Instead, they ended up with four apatheistic<\/a> liberals.<\/p>\n
\ndiapers, in awful disposable toys, in the massive industry of junk peddling
\naimed at parents and kids.” But everyone
\nreading this already knows about all the cheap and disposable junk that’s part
\nof living as an American (and if you somehow haven’t been clued in yet, just
\nwatch Annie Leonard’s “The
\nStory of Stuff<\/a>”). I didn’t want to
\ntake cheap digs at parents, so I decided to focus on the positive aspects of
\nbeing childfree instead of the negative aspects of trying to raise a child in an über-consumeristic society. <\/p>\n
\ntraditionally negative vibe that so many environmentalists give off when laying
\nout all those should not‘s. In the (now rare) instances when enviros talk
\nabout bypassing child-rearing for ecological reasons—as Stephanie Mills did—it’s often couched in the language of sacrifice. I wanted to make the point that it isn’t
\nalways a sacrifice; it can, for some people, be a rewarding personal choice, as
\nso many commenters have attested.<\/p>\n
\noptions for people who want to experience parenthood without bringing a new
\nbeing into the world. Those issues were
\nsimply beyond the scope of my original article. <\/p>\n
\nunwillingness of most environmental groups to touch the population issue. The touchy intersection between immigration
\nand population. The bogus
\n“selfishness” charge leveled against the childfree. The need for a global campaign to make
\nfamily-planning services available to women around the world, as well as
\neducation, equality, and political empowerment, so all women can have the same choices
\nthat we’ve been debating here.<\/p>\n
\nthat first post, I would have produced a novel-sized opus that no one would
\nhave read to the end. But I plan to
\naddress many of these topics in future posts, so stick around. <\/p>\n
\n(almost) everyone has been uncommonly gracious, introspective, and candid, with
\ninteresting insights on personal fulfillment and the movement to build a more
\njust and green future. I look forward to
\ncontinuing the conversation.<\/p>\n