Fewer children, smaller families

[vlyons]

When I was in college, back in the 1960s, I went to a lecture about the need for smaller families. The gist of the talk was that human beings were overpopulating. Moving into wilderness, cutting down forests to make crop lands, messing up the ecology worldwide. This was long before discussion about climate warming. That families with just 1 or 2 kids, rather than 6, 7, 10, 12 kids were economically better off. A family could afford to feed, house, cloth, educate 1 or 2 kids, but large families == eh, not so much.

The lecture ended with the saying that it had to be ok to have just 1 or 2 kids, or even no kids at all. I chose to not have children. I practiced various forms of birth control, pill, IUD, cervical cap, condoms. I have never been pregnant.

If contraception is outlawed. Wowie zowie baby. That definitely will not stand.

I think they'll go after gays before they go after contraception, but it's on their list.

[multigraincracker]

1. No kids here too.

In a couple of decades or less, I’m leaving no carbon footprint.

[Wounded Bear]

2. Actually, those things are a normal byproduct of advanced societies...

Modern, progressive societies allow more women (and men, frankly) to make career and lifestyle choices that often bypass childbearing.

We don't need families with 15 children, mostly because half of them don't die in infancy and childhood like they did in the 18th Century.

You are not at all wrong about the "sex is only for making babies" crowd.

[CrispyQ]

3. "Six billion miracles is enough."

I bought that bumper sticker around the turn of the century. That sounds so long ago.

We're on a trajectory where Earth will no longer sustain our current numbers, & millions (billions?) are going to die, yet they want to enforce more births? IMO, the survival of the already living, breathing humans is more of a moral issue than abortion.

[vlyons]

4. We don't need any more unwanted children

The world has enough unwanted children already.

[viva la]

5. Most important-- as soon as women can control their reproduction-

They can become economically more productive, increase their income, and become independent.

That is one of the results the religious right wants to prevent.

[area51]

6. Nazis should empty out the orphanages before demanding more (white) births.

Link to tweet

Text:

Bette Midler: "117,000 children in these United States are waiting to be adopted. Why aren’t you anti-abortionists adopting all of them? What, not what you want to do with your lives? No, but you insist OTHERS to have babies they don’t want, just to satisfy your demented vanity & religiosity."

[jeffreyi]

7. I actually went to a lecture by Paul Ehrlich

Of "population bomb" fame. When I was in high school, 1968 or so. I always thought the natural world would do better with fewer of us. So no replicating here, either.

[vlyons]

9. ,I couldn't remember his name

But it was Paul Ehrlich who gave that lecture.

[jeffreyi]

10. Hmmm, must have been around the same time. Northern California?

[vlyons]

11. Austin, Univ of Texas

nt

[roamer65]

8. I remember even a postage stamp that emphasized family planning.

1970’s I do believe.

https://www.vintagepostagestamps.com/product-page/8-family-planning-25-stamps