Be fruitful and, uh, what was that middle thing?
Malthus was terribly, terribly wrong. It seems that while people are screwing around as much as ever, they are not making babies. And as we all know, not making babies leads to a dearth of adults somewhere down the line. While I have been doing my part, having spawned two offspring and planning for another, there is only so much that I can do to make up for the shortcomings of a global population of billions. At a stretch, maybe I can cover Johno's depressingly liberal childlessness, but the rest of you are on your own.
And it turns out that the problems of depopulation may in fact be worse than the problems of overpopulation that gloomy and pessimistic Malthusians have been trumpeting lo these many centuries. If you stumble, you can sometimes run faster to save yourself from a spill. And that is not a bad analogy for the overpopulation and technology. But with depopulation, we may find ourselves with our legs cut out from under us.
Also, there will be a lot more Baptists.
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Why do I get the impression
Why do I get the impression there's a subtext here you've not chosen to share with us?
Oh, and "My God! Not more Baptists!"
Hey... just because I haven't
Hey... just because I haven't had kids, doesn't mean I (meaning my loving wife and I) won't.
And rest easy. Our easygoing spiritually vacant overintellectual tofu-snarfing bebirkenstocked yogurt-knitting earnest and wholesome whole grain tract-reading hybrid-driving pinko Massachusetts lifestyle is absolutely sure to result in Johno offspring who grow up to be, in fact, Baptists in protest.
Unless we can manage to bring them up Unitarian first! Save us, Unitarians!!
heh.
"Our easygoing spiritually
"Our easygoing spiritually vacant overintellectual tofu-snarfing bebirkenstocked yogurt-knitting earnest and wholesome whole grain tract-reading hybrid-driving pinko Massachusetts lifestyle is absolutely sure to result in Johno offspring who grow up to be, in fact, Baptists in protest."
Truer words were never spoken. You seem to have a gift for intuitive parenting, Johnno. Who better to raise a few sets of, say, triplets?
Allison, that would be, what
Allison, that would be, what's the saying, an embarassment of riches. And also terrifying. I've come around to loving kids the past few years after a lifetime of more like fearing them (if only they came with a manual), but three? At once??
Only if their midnight feedings all come at the same time.
Even though I'm being a bit over the top in my description of our lifestyle (we're certainly DIY intellectual tofu-snarfers, but not earnest, pinko, or birkenstocked, and vacant is putting it a bit strong), I'm also serious. My wife and I aren't huge churchgoers, not that we're militant atheists or anything, but spirituality is just not a huge part of our life. And it seems unfair to our as-yet theoretical kids to just cut them off from such a huge part of human experience by not ever taking them to a church of some kind.
I mean, my wife and I made decisions for ourselves to not remain members of a church, and I at least am not perfectly comfortable about making that decision FOR my kids. Spiritual reflection is definitely NOT something, it strikes me, best undertaken in the spirit of telling your parents to get bent.
I know I'm going to screw up my kids somehow. I just want to get the big things more or less right.
Sorry. I was actually joking
Sorry. I was actually joking about the triplets. I really think multiples would be my worst nightmare, personally, and I feel fine about babies/parenting otherwise.
I do think you have a pretty healthy attitude about childrearing though. I think it's too easy for us to assume our kids will turn out exactly the way we want them to.
J:
J:
You're still a bit younger than I was when I got married, let alone when my daughter graced us with her presence. Based on my happy results, I'd say you're not even close to behind the curve, timeline wise.
Oh, and that entire bit about "unfair...to cut them off from such a huge part of the human experience..." is quite a valid concern, but trust me, it's not a BIG valid concern. Miss Natalie gets to church considerably more often these days (once or twice a month) than she did prior to her 10th birthday (never, not even once that I can recall) and she seems no worse for the wear. Perhaps coincidentally, having a few miles on the odometer allowed her to enjoy it when she started going.
Oh, and further, I'm living proof that only one of the parents has to go with the kid to church.
Which works for me. And might work for you. Or for your wife, now that I think about it.
We'll miss the French,
We'll miss the French, Germans, and Italians. They always had the best wars - not like the crappy ones we're in now.
Since Social Security is a pay as we go system, benefits should only be available to those who have rasied replacement tax payers.
My wife and I are anxiously awaiting this September when our youngest starts public Kindergarden. We can put the nine years of $1,000+ a month of daycare for our two children behind us.
Malthus was wrong; Julian
Malthus was wrong; Julian Simon was right. That's the main reason I favor significantly expanded legal immigration (to go along with border security). The greatest resource of any nation is human ingenuity. We're not anywhere near carrying capacity in the U.S., so more humans ought to be a net benefit once the perverse incentives are out of the way.