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.
"Sure, then they can take time off from their obsession with sex and various kinds of inebriation, I’m sure they have a few good thoughts. "
So if what you say is true, you want the sex obssessed and chemically dependant to procreate more. Makes a lot of sense...
I guess if you are going to Hell for the things you have been told, and I am going for the reasons I have been told, I'll see you there. And I am willing to bet we will not be lonely, as some of those who have told us we are going will be there as well for making their judgments.
"Hope you don't need the same assistance.
"
No doubt we will at some point. We have the financial resources to pay for that care, when we need it. Did you know that you can hire a full-time live-in attendant with medical skills for about $3000/month? There's one right now, living in my in-laws home to help after a recent hospitalization. She's a very nice person and is very competent. She'll be leaving in about a week, since my FIL has improved.
If you have the financial resources, it's very easy to live the last years of your life and be cared for. We're not worried.
Just as soon as you pay 100% of the costs for the roads you use, the police and fire services you consume, buy all your books rather than use the public library, personally equip and train your fair share of the military, and, well, you get the idea.
So, all childless people are the same? (AND we're all real estate brokers and junk bond dealers?)
Oh, no. You're not judgmental.
Nope. Not at all.
Indeed. He is a textbood case of rectocranial inversion.
I don't want anything from you anyway.
Already done... plus extra to carry you, parasite.
"So, all childless people are the same? (AND we're all real estate brokers and junk bond dealers?)
"
Don't forget, you're all sex-obssessed drug addicts too..
Careful, you might be mistaken for a Rat. Since when did voting only have to do with the future of the children? I'm childless and there's plenty for me to vote for. I have plenty of interest in the future of this nation with or without kids.
I worked for many years in an industry that does full state and federal background checks on every employee, including speaking to former teachers/bosses, neighborhood home visits, drug and alcohol screening, lie detector tests and full psychological exams. The cost per employee was NOWHERE near 20-30K.
Even with the tax credit for adoption, the upfront fee's for private adoption make doing so prohibitive for many people.
You are indeed fortunate to have enough money to not want children. Aren't you glad that other people did so you can pay them?
Already done... plus extra to carry you, parasite.
What do you mean, already done? Depending on your income, you could be paying far more or far less than 100% of what you consume of public goods and services. The top income categories pay far more as a percentage of their income than do the other income categories. The lower categories pay little to nothing.
So, are you so rich that you’re carrying the parasites?
Oh, yeah. I forgot.
Well, I'd better get back to my junk bond dealing so I can pay those school taxes for FreedomPurge's kids.
There was supposed to be a new paragraph after the 'going to Hell' stuff, making the last comment to be a general "to everyone" kind of comment rather than directed towards you. Sorry about that. Me and this computer are going to have a little talk soon.
ROFLMAO!
BTW, off topic, how's the "Civil War" going over there?
I've already made that "mistake."
Actually, I've "mistaken" him/her for a dictator wannabe.
A lot more civil than what's going on on this thread. ;-)
(I haven't found the civil war yet. I keep looking for it and the news keeps talking about it, but I just can't find it. I wonder where it is?)
LOL, unfortunately for me, it is usually my fingers and questionable typing skills and not the computer.
What a load. The only economic 'free riders' in this nation are welfare recipients, and most of them have plenty of kids.
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