The Big Lie - Newsweek

http://www.newsweek.com/id/143792

Apologies if this has already been posted. I was unable to get my husband to even LOOK at the article.

I read part of the article and just closed the tab. How could anyone believe the childfree neighbours' disaster was due to being without kids willingly. If that was the case, the tsunami would not have hit Indonesia in 2004. Most Indonesians have children. It is cultural. I get a brain hemorrhage from stupidity. Gotta get some stuff done so I did not even log in...

Actually, I thought the article was pretty well balanced. Of course the hate mail this professor received is not surprising. I just wish I could find an addy for her and tell her she has supporters out there.

Yes, there are some trade-offs.. there are some. We have chosen that we can live without the benefits, so called, of family. (Provided it is not dysfunctional.)

Hurry for those folk mentioned in the article who made it plain they did not want kids by choice. The snoots around them .. never mind..

What an excellent article.

But I'm sure any breeder that runs across it will just think the author is bitter.

http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/families/article4232385.ece

Here is a quote from the article:

"In pre-industrial America, parents certainly loved their children, but their offspring also served a purpose—to work the farm, contribute to the household. Children were a necessity."

Children used to have economic value. Now they are an economic liability.

Children no longer work or do any household chores - instead, they do all kinds of expensive, extracurricular activites, like karate lessons, soccer camp, space camp, tuba lessons, ballet, etc. etc.

I remember when I was growing up, it wasn't unusual to see teenaged boys out mowing the lawns. You don't see that anymore.

Wives are also refusing to work now. This puts the sole burden on the man to pay all the bills, and also pay maids and nannies, since the wife and the kids refuse to do household chores anymore.

No wonder so many men refuse to marry or have kids!

Rose Red Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/
> women/families/article4232385.ece


Having read that article, I'm pleased others (including some parents) are waking up to this 'everyone's a winner' crap, giving both the winning and losing team a trophy etc.

When I was at high school (wasn't too long ago, I'm 24 now) the examination system was the usual sensible system. You had to get over 50% to pass, but if you got over 90% the government sent you a cheque for $200. If you got between 80%-90% you got a cheque for $100. So if you got 80% in say, five subjects, you'd get $500. There was something to strive for. Furthermore, the percentages were also graded A down to F.

However, when I was in my final year of high school, the government decided to completely overhaul the school exam system and replaced the above with the sort of touchy-feely crap described in the article. It became you have to get over 50 to pass, however the grades are simply pass or fail. So it doesn't matter if you get 50% or 99%, you get the same grade (a pass). And they abolished the cash prize. I think it's ridiculous and was glad that I was virtually done with school by the time it was implemented.

On the bright side, since this new system came about, many teachers AND parents AND pupils have lodged complaints, so hopefully it will get changed someday back to something more logical. I remember reading a letter written to our local paper by a 15-year-old, who complained about the system and basically said, 'Why should I bother studying hard and trying to attain 90% when I'll get given the exact same grade as if I had just barely scraped through? There's no motivation for students to try and do really well.' It was good to hear that even the students themselves realise it's bollocks (at least some of them anyway).

They had some good reasons to NOT have kids. Where they lost me was that the childfree see less purpose in their lives. Well, I have news for these asshats. I don't need a loaf or sprogs to give my life purpose. I have enough purpose with DW in my life. If breeders have a problem with that, they can go straight to hell!! I don't live my life to make them happy.

married with rabbits Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yeah, I hear all the time, "People don't have
> large families of 10+ kids at the frequency they
> used to."
>
> We also don't die from cholera as we once did.

:yr

Mercurior has pointed out that many intellectuals are childfree. Writers, philosophers, etc. I read a book this weekend that said professional storytellers are often childfree and that librarians tend to be because children demand too much time and attention! So, the logical conclusion is that mentally advanced people seem to understand that there are enough people here now.