Posted on 03/06/2006 7:12:09 AM PST by FreedomSurge
Economically, every society needs children.
Children are the producers of the future This means that children are in a sense a necessary economic good. A society that does not produce enough children, or that cannot produce enough children who grow into economically productive adults, is doomed to poverty.
Every long-term investment we make, whether in the private or public sector, is predicated on the idea that there will be a future generation which will actually produce a return. It doesn't matter what economic or political system rules the present, it will need children to secure its future. Even the most self-centered individual would eventual realize that if the next generation cannot produce, his own welfare will suffer.
So, collectively we all need children and benefit when they grow into productive adults, but the cost of raising children is increasingly being borne by fewer and fewer in the general population.
Childless adults are rapidly becoming economic free riders on the backs of parents.
In the pre-industrial era, children almost always contributed to the economic success of the family directly. Agriculture depended heavily on the labor of children, and children brought further benefits by extending support networks via marriages. In the industrial era, however, children began to contribute less and less while consuming more and more. Nowadays, children usually return very little if any economic benefit to the parents.
Being a parent costs one economically. Although we socialize some cost, such as education, parents pay most of the cost of raising a child. Parents also lose out in non-monetary ways such as in a loss of flexibility in when and where they work. If an individual sets out to maximize his lifetime income, avoiding having children would be step one.
In our atomized society, children do not provide a boost in status, networking or security that offsets their very real cost. I think this economic loss may explain why many people shy away from having children. Many people simply do not want the loss of status that will come from having their disposable income consumed by rug rats.
Like all free-rider situations, this one will eventually cause a collapse that hurts everyone. As the percentage of parents in the population shrinks, the cost of being a parent will rise. More and more people will be tempted to conserve their own resources and let someone else shoulder the burden of creating the next generation. Eventually, the society will either produce too few children or, probably more likely, will not produce enough children with the skills and habits needed to carry on the economy
There is already grousing in some blue zones by the childless that they shouldn't have to subsidize the "breeders'" children. How long before child-hostile places like San Francisco become the norm?
I'm not sure how to address this problem from a public-policy perspective, but the next time you run into someone bragging because he chose not to have children, call him a parasite and see how it works out.
I think that Surge of Freedom you had has fried your brain.
LOL, I've lost count of how many times I had to work late, work a holiday or otherwise get assigned a crappy shift because Jane or John has a child and can only work 9-5, M-F.
That's the same thinking as the Bible's exhortation that sex only be used for procreation, isn't it?
Shouldn't married couples who have 3 children be limited to having sex just those three "succesful" times? After that, shouldn't they revert to celibacy? That's my take on it. LOL.
People who believe this and the person who wrote this tripe can add ignorance to their list of shortcomings. Those of us without children are often in that situation as a result of a cruel twist of fate rather than choice. In addition we do more than our share of subsidizing those with children through our tax dollars. I suggest you find something else to whine about.
Your screen name needs to change to "IDon'tUnderstandFreedom".
I pay taxes so your crotchfruit can go to public school, but you don't hear me whining about it. My money is confiscated for schools, after school programs, health care for kids with irresponsible parents....all unconstitutional.
MY right to vote has nothing to do with my decision not to perpetuate the wheel of suffering.
Fine,
You can take it out of the refund us private school parents get back (snicker) for our taxes to fund those same schools.
Comments like yours just seem to reinforce the author's characterizations pretty completely.. thanks for making his point.
You should pat yourself on the back. So what about the 95% of the population who hasn't saved. Ultra-silly girl, Can you see where they would be burdens (free riders) on society?
"That's it. No Social Security for you!"
THAT WOULD SUIT ME JUST FINE AS LONG AS THEY STOP TAKING THAT MONEY TODAY FROM MY PAYCHECK TODAY.
You have the right to express our opinions no matter how absurd and moronic and unsubstantiated they are.
You should change your screen name to "ICanNeitherReadNorComprehend". I never endorsed additional taxation. I said the childless should not be allowed to vote.
Funny. I didn't think BraveMan's comment was fascist at all.
I think your comments on here scream of fascism, however.
This thread's going to hit at least 500 posts, maybe 1,000. You hit the jackpot.
Funny. I didn't think BraveMan's comment was fascist at all.
I think your comments on here scream of fascism, however.
Funny. I didn't think BraveMan's comment was fascist at all.
I think your comments on here scream of fascism, however.
How about this...you take full responsibility for paying for EVERYTHING for your kids. No more tax breaks for dependents, no subsidized education. I'll save even more for my own retirement with the several thousand dollars per year I now give to you and your kids.
C'mon, Dash.
This is just another case of some socialist trying to 'equalize' everyone by forcing them to act against their wishes in order to achive some supposed 'benefit' to society.
The website this came from, "Chicago Boyz", is described as 'Commentary from a group of University of Chicago alumni students and their friends.'
Don't waste perfectly good brain cells trying to rationalize the spew of some old Marxist fart sitting in front of a keyboard!
:-)
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