"The Growing Trend of Childless Leaders" with Pearl Clutching June 29, 2019 | Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 12,425 |
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At the end of June, Japan will host the annual G-20 Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy, a gathering of leaders from countries with the most powerful economies in the world, including the European Union. Of the 20 leaders likely to represent member states at the summit, five don’t have any biological children. That number would have been six if Theresa May were still prime minister of the UK.
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This trend is even more severe within the European Union. The EU comprises 28 member countries. The number of those countries with childless leaders is now 10. If you include the first minister of Scotland, that number is 11, and, again, it would be 12 if May were still in office. In addition, the current president of the European Commission—the executive branch of the EU—has no children.
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These statistics reveal that one-quarter of the world’s most powerful leaders and nearly half of the leaders of Europe don’t themselves have a biologically invested interest in the next generation. And the record-breaking low birth rate in the United States demonstrates that the condition of childlessness is becoming increasingly descriptive of the American people in general. For some, of course, not having children is a personal tragedy, but for a growing number, it’s merely a choice.
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Having children to care for, though, gives you a more concrete interest in the well-being of both a specific people and a specific place in which to raise them. More importantly, having children offers you an enduring perspective on politics that moderates an otherwise immediate urge for radical justice in regard to all the perceived imperfections in society.
If you know that your children will have to live in the world you leave behind, you’re less likely to burn it down in order to purify it of defects you believe it had when you inherited it. The numberless sacrifices that mothers and fathers make for their children are tangible investments in their children’s well-being and which often redound to the benefit of their community. This investment constitutes a vested interest in the future that is difficult for the childless to rival.
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Human beings are wired to be concerned about justice. If they are less attached to their own political community through generational familial ties, they will likely be less concerned about facing and fixing problems in their own town than in showing support for more glamorous global causes.
Re: "The Growing Trend of Childless Leaders" with Pearl Clutching June 29, 2019 | Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 1,970 |
Re: "The Growing Trend of Childless Leaders" with Pearl Clutching June 29, 2019 | Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 12,425 |
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LoveToLurk
Just because someone does not have biological children does not mean that they do not care about the next generation having to live in an overheated hellhole or Walking Dead-esque collapsed society. And why the emphasis on biological children? Is he implying that adoptive parents don’t really care about the future of their children, because said children are not little DNA replicants?
Re: "The Growing Trend of Childless Leaders" with Pearl Clutching June 29, 2019 | Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 2,696 |
Re: "The Growing Trend of Childless Leaders" with Pearl Clutching June 29, 2019 | Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 12,425 |
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Peace
Here is the author's twitter page: https://twitter.com/cphumphrey
Here is his bio on the Federalist: https://thefederalist.com/author/cliffordhumphrey/
Here is his bio at Hillsdale: https://www.hillsdale.edu/academics/graduate-school/clifford-humphrey-2/
Re: "The Growing Trend of Childless Leaders" with Pearl Clutching June 29, 2019 | Registered: 10 years ago Posts: 2,351 |
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Re: "The Growing Trend of Childless Leaders" with Pearl Clutching June 30, 2019 | Registered: 11 years ago Posts: 438 |
Re: "The Growing Trend of Childless Leaders" with Pearl Clutching June 30, 2019 | Registered: 10 years ago Posts: 2,351 |
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bop
Oh no! A diverse population might be served by a non- homogenous group of leaders!
Re: "The Growing Trend of Childless Leaders" with Pearl Clutching June 30, 2019 | Registered: 9 years ago Posts: 3,702 |
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Having children to care for, though, gives you a more concrete interest in the well-being of both a specific people and a specific place in which to raise them. More importantly, having children offers you an enduring perspective on politics that moderates an otherwise immediate urge for radical justice in regard to all the perceived imperfections in society.
If you know that your children will have to live in the world you leave behind, you’re less likely to burn it down in order to purify it of defects you believe it had when you inherited it. The numberless sacrifices that mothers and fathers make for their children are tangible investments in their children’s well-being and which often redound to the benefit of their community. This investment constitutes a vested interest in the future that is difficult for the childless to rival.
Re: "The Growing Trend of Childless Leaders" with Pearl Clutching June 30, 2019 | Registered: 9 years ago Posts: 88 |
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