Oct 12, 2021

https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/please-dont-give-up-on-having-kids

 

Please Don't Give Up On Having Kids Because Of Climate Change

It will probably make things worse, and there are better ways to contribute

22 hr ago

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I.

A recent poll finds that 39% of young people “feel uncertain” about having children because of climate change. And sure, people say a lot of things on polls, but people seem to be talking about this more and more. For example, from NPR: Should We Be Having Kids In The Age Of Climate Change?

Standing before several dozen students in a college classroom, Travis Rieder tries to convince them not to have children. Or at least not too many. He's at James Madison University in southwest Virginia to talk about a "small-family ethic" — to question the assumptions of a society that sees having children as good, throws parties for expecting parents, and in which parents then pressure their kids to "give them grandchildren."

Why question such assumptions? The prospect of climate catastrophe. For years, people have lamented how bad things might get "for our grandchildren," but Rieder tells the students that future isn't so far off anymore.

Or, from CNBC, Climate Change Is Making People Think Twice About Having Children: