Involuntary Childlessness

11 Replies to “Involuntary Childlessness”

1. I see the effect in my cohort of friends and family of grandparents age. Those who don’t have any children or grandchildren are missing them, I suspect a lot, though I do not hear this explicitly as it is a taboo sensitive subject. When some of them have at last become grandparents, their joy is palpable.

2. The City State of Sparta collapsed due to having no children. Only citizens could be soldiers in their military culture and no immigration.

   Roman Empire same thing. The causes might have been different but having children just went bye-bye.

3. Declining birthrates are a problem… but not to the government. Because they just import more people. Problem solved.

   Because to a socialist, one human body is as good as another. Remember that, there’s a test later.

   I’d like to propose a cause for this decline. The cause is SOCIALISM. He’s naming off all the high income, high tax countries with cradle-to-grave social safety nets. Canada, Europe, USA, Japan, the Big Guys.

   Two things. First, if you don’t -need- children so you’ll have someone to look after you in your old age, how many are you going to have? One or two, right? Because otherwise the -cost- associated with children is absolutely crushing. Raising a normal, healthy child to age 18 costs the parents more than a Lamborghini. How many Lambos can you afford on your carpenter salary? And how many Lambos can you afford if you can’t get a job because “youth” unemployment (meaning anyone under 30, in some places) is running at 80%?

   Second, did anyone think that taking more than half of everyone’s income in tax would not have consequences? (Yes Lefties, if you add up all the taxes, fees and levies from every layer of government, they take more than half. That’s how it is.) You work ten hours, but you keep the money from four hours.

   If you can barely afford to feed the kid you have, will you start another one? No, you won’t. No way.

   And now the test, to see if you can think like a socialist: The Old Line Canadians are falling down on the job of producing taxes and children to be taxed in future? No problem, just bring in #moose limbs and tax them instead. Can’t get the productivity out of your run-of-the-mill #moose limb that you used to get from a Canadian? No problem, BRING IN MORE AND TAX THEM HARDER.

   See? Easy.

   1. Except for the fact that bringing in more muslims and other thirdworlders is almost always a net drain on the treasury.

      Easy entry makes absolutely no sense, especially with technology and AI increasingly replacing the need for workers, especially low-skilled ones.

4. It’s a mistake to call it “Involuntary Childlessness” because it very much arises from conscious and deliberate choices… From how things turned out for my wife and myself, I would call it “Unplanned Childlessness”. So very many life changes intruded and delayed an active choice for children, and then, all too suddenly, it was too late.

   Our choices were VERY voluntary, but our understanding of the consequences of those choices did not become apparent until it was too late to change. I suspect that is the case for the vast majority of childless couples.

5. For my sisters and friends who are childless, it is a deliberate choice. Kids are icky and they poop and they prevent you from extending your teenage years into your 50s. Women must have a career and can’t be doormats raising kids and government-approved daycare where a stranger will raise your kids are like so expensive you can’t afford that second Lexus.

   1. ” … and they prevent you from extending your teenage years into your 50s.

      A very wise statement … as LIFE is a series of PASSAGES. Which confirms your suggestion that some people are unwilling to grow up and enter the next passage of life.

      What I find remarkable is how DRIVEN I was to have children and build a family in my early twenties. Part of that drive was personal as I wanted to replace the shitty childhood I had with weak, incapable, parents. But a large component (I believe) was biological and ingrained into my DNA. I was physically ready to have children. If my Johnson got anywhere NEAR my wife … she got pregnant. There’s a strong biological component to populating the earth. We had three kids.

      We’ve interrupted that biological urge. We’ve interrupted it with urbanism (more on that) , we’ve interrupted it with the high cost of living, we’ve interrupted it with STRANGE interpersonal relationships in the digital era, we’ve interrupted it with our high standard of living, where we don’t struggle with our needs … but struggle with our WANTS.

      When I graduated from HS, I went to work on a ranch in Klamath Falls, OR. I read the local newspaper and was SHOCKED to see all the new HS graduates … 18 yo kids my own age were getting married and/or were pregnant. Everyone my age in the toney suburbs were going to college and following a career path (girls included). The urban experience was wildly different from the rural experience.

      My wife and I started our family early, in our mid twenties. We both had good jobs, had already purchased a home, and had good prospects. However, the cost and dedication of our life to children cost us … nights out to the bars, trips to Europe, and all manner of fun in our twenties. For us, that was a fair trade. Our adorable, wonderful children more than made up for the ‘loss’ of fun. Loss of personal indulgence. Now’s the time for that indulgence. Now’s the time to spoil grandchildren. Now’s the time to travel. Yes, thankfully we’re in good health … but when you live a clean life and happy and hopeful life … you tend to keep good health. Giving up some goodies of your life to give what you have to your children is good for the soul, and good for your health.

6. To DaveK and Pappy Gunn.
   This whole topic is convoluted and not easily surmised.
   My wife and I chose not to have children because, simply put, we did not want to have children.\Why? Not because we are the “narcissists” suggested by Peterson and Pappy, but merely because we did not want to have children…and we didn’t choose so to extend our teenage years or want a Lexus when our old Tacoma serves us well.
   We both have been productive contributors to the larger effort of society, and, in fact, we love kids in our neighborhood.
   My point is simply this. Some people choose not to have kids and don’t regret the choice and refuse to be judged by some standards for doing so,
   Have a nice day.

   1. My best friend, now dearly departed, and Christian mentor … was intentionally and voluntarily childless. Which was somewhat ironic as we shared similar backgrounds as we both came from broken families with alcoholic loser fathers. His solution was to never repeat that by not having children. My solution was to BREAK that chain and create a healthy family. And ironic because he was a Christian. He was like a big brother to me.

      Yet we were the best of friends, slightly sarcastic, steely Dan aficionados, and rugby players. He drove a Porsche … very fast. He was funny as hell, with the driest sense of humor.

      His being childless was never an issue between us. I admired him a lot.

7. L – The most important issue facing advanced, industrial societies. Yet, neither governments, nor academia, nor. “legacy” media even acknowledge it.

   2. “They, who have a why, can bear most any how!” Send out a search party to find that “why” which mysteriously went missing…

8. No Fault Divorce:
   … Pierre Trudeau 1968 took away the provinces jurisdiction of marriage and divorce law

   The Pill:
   … Say no more, to having kids.