I think you missed his point. I got it.
We have a culture that is elevating their pets to children status. If you will notice that some stores have larger pet sections than the one for infants... That is serious cultural suicide.
It has not dawned on our pet loving generation that these animals will not carry on an ancestral legacy. Or maybe they just do not care. I say this as a dog lover too. While my beloved lab has been gone for about 5 years, I noticed this pet obsession really elevated itself about 10 years ago.
Grant it some people do not carry on an ancestral legacy for various reasons, and there is nothing wrong with having animals as companions. As long as we see the reality that pets (and I am talking dogs for the most part) live only 10-17 years. On the other hand, barring a tragic accident or illness, children should outlive their parents and procreate succeeding generations.
And it is not happening my FRiend...
I’m glad that there are some people who carry on the race. That’s necessary for a future as the Shakers should have discovered. But as an outsider to the process, I find almost no interest in children and barely glance at the picture of a child unless it has some specific area of interest. They’re being raised poorly these days and are terrors in stores and restaurants and take many years to turn into responsible adults for society to make them at all interesting. My first masters was in education in order to prepare myself if I did have children and would have had to homeschool. I didn’t, so I didn’t. And it was great training to teach adults. But it still didn’t make children any more interesting.
I’m glad someone is raising them. It’s not me and it’s not a great many of my friends, many of whom really dislike children. I don’t. I’m just uninterested. I hope everyone raising them is enjoying them. I’m enjoying NOT raising them, even though I would have been interested in my younger days. Now I’m just as glad not to have them.
But pets! Those are the wonders of love and happiness that are worth my time and my effort and the joy of my friends. Their pictures bring bubbles of happiness to the heart and I couldn’t exist a day without one.
When a tragedy occurs, I contribute to the saving of animals. Other people can contribute to the people. I’m not wrong. The ones who contribute to people aren’t wrong. We just have our own interest. If society was about to end for lack of people, I might have to put some effort into children. It’s not, so I don’t. Thank goodness.
Pets aren’t going to be the makers of a new civilization. I don’t think robots are either. But I’m not very impressed with the people coming out of schools uneducated and we might be going to one end of the pendulum swing of society and have a while before our society improves.
Groups like FR help immensely. They fight for education, for good government and for individual freedom. Which includes the freedom to prefer pets to children.
The idea that someone does virtue signalling that they’re better because they value children over pets is absurd. Each has their place and the level of society says what that can be. We’re in a first world nation where we can afford to let pets have a high pedestal place. I’m so grateful to be born here and not in a place of starvation. But that is the situation so I can rejoice in being able to make pets the center of my husband and my lives. Let someone else enjoy and raise children. And hopefully turn them into good members of society.
You make a very good point about cultures today not reproducing themselves. As long as dependent cultures reproduce and the cultures that create don’t, we’ve got major problems. But it’s happened in the past and it will happen in the future. As much as it’s possible to identify what encourages good, solid nuclear families to want to be together long enough to produce an adult ready to become a productive member of society, we should be doing that. To me that means supporting working people raising children, and not encouraging children among people who aren’t productive. Thanks to democrats, our tax system seems to be absolutely opposite to that goal.
And my deepest sympathies on the loss of your lab. I’ve never had one but I understand that they’re absolutely marvelous companions. I’m sure it had a good and contented life with you at its heart. I’m glad it had you to keep it safe and loved.