Posted on 02/14/2002 7:09:10 AM PST by Artie_Kay
Much the same here; becoming a dad at 39 was a rough adjustment, for all of the reasons stated in the article. But what a reward. Yeah, everything changes; almost all for the better. The best dividend for me was realizing how self-absorbed I was.
My brother, a father of 2 grown boys, said that until you have kids, you don't know what love is. Before my daughter was born I didn't believe him. I do now.
All the parents I knew expressed similar sentiments. They were right.
You realize, of course, that you are spewing propaganda that could have come right out of the Communist Manifesto. The Founding Fathers didn't write that we were born to be "taxpayers contributing to a healthy economy." They wrote "WE hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness -- " People don't exist for the state. The state exists for the people. This is the difference between communism and the republican form of democracy.
Regarding having children... I just wish that those who chose to be childless wouldn't treat parents as if we were polluters and disrupters of their worlds. And, by the way, if you choose not to have children, you give up the right to complain about it if your particular socio-economic or ethnic group appears to be on the wane as the birthrates of non-white immigrant populations continue to boom.
Anybody wants to remove themselves from the gene pool, that's their business. Who am I to tell them it's a mistake. They'll be dead, maybe someday my kid will be running their business or decorating his house with their fine antiques and collectibles.
And the system would be ended, pay those that paid into it the amount they paid, adjusted for inflated, and the system will be over.
But whining about people not having kids so they can pay for SS is extremely selfish. And coming from one Catholic to another, I know Catholics aren't supposed to be selfish people.
Ludicrous. For every Hitler, there are innumerable Schweizers, Edisons and Dvoraks. Even if they don't scale such heights, almost everyone born gives far more to the world than they take out of it. Almost everyone who ever lives generates tremendous love and friendship for large numbers of other people, and tremendous creativity and productivity over the course of his or her career. This continues to be true even after discounting all the resources that person consumes duriing his life, as doomsdayist environmentalists are so prone to do. If the effects on the rest of humanity are your criterion for having a child (and I'm not saying they should be), you ought to have as many as you can.
"When your mother says, 'You're gonna regret it,' if that doesn't send a chill through you or wake you in the middle of the night …" says Cain, who interviewed 125 childless women for her book. "Those are terrible things to hold over someone's head."
I find it striking that Ms Cain would interpret that remark as an attempt to make her feel guilty instead of the sharing of an older person's accumulated wisdom and experience. She apparently thinks that advice must be given in the spirit of callously trying to deny her something, rather than in the spirit of loving guidance. It is an illustrative remark.
Ain't just dogs - that works for kids, too.
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. Just kidding, just kidding, lay off ;)
People are put into nursing homes by their children.
No I don't think you are wrong at all. I beleive that men and women that don't want children should not become preganat and bear kids. It should be a couples choice and I never ask a person when they are going to have kids. It's none of my business.
I have one child that my husband and I have devoted ourselves too. I don't regret having him but one was enough for us. I don't particularly care for other peoples kids (except infants) but would die in a heartbeat for my son.
No its' fair. They are, after all, paying taxes to support the schools that other people's children go to.
On the contrary. Childless old folks counting off their days in a rest home can look forward to all kinds ov visitors. Unfortunately, the visitors are flocking from churches and charitable organizations looking for bequests of money and property. One organization, according to my sister who worked as a recreation counselor at a "home," told me that one particular religious organization with a brand of oats named after them sent young attractive "missionaries" of the opposite sex to wine, dine and chauffeur the wealthier clientele. The other organizations were more discrete, but just as greedy.
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