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people often ask why i didn't have kids. then they get upset when i start to talk about shit like this.
I could never imagine wanting to bring a child into this world right now. Poor babies will grow up in a hollow husk of a once beautiful world. They will never get to experience so many beautiful things and will be forced to live in a world that will be fighting over water resources.
i love the phrase, "i come from a long line of people who shouldn't have had children."
While many beautiful things are passing away, that implies that there aren't still beautiful things here worth fighting for. I see value in bringing new people into the world and helping them love it and it's life like I do. The world needs more people who care fighting for it, not less.
I think for a lot of people, its a matter of seeing it as most of the beautiful things will be gone within 20 years, and the only thing left to admire will be lichen and cockroaches. In that scenario, what quality of life will your hypothetical child have?
I definitely get it. Ecological fallout keeps me up in cold sweats more nights than not. I'm not sure most people realize how bad it could get, either. All the trees in the world don't make enough oxygen to replace the oxygen we'd need if the cyanobacteria in the ocean dies out, and it's getting perilous with the acidification of the ocean.
That said, I do still see raising a child well as an act of hope for the future. As a parent, that's my most important mission. Could they possibly die/suffer? Yes, but unfortunately that's a risk that all parents run by having a child (and all people run by being alive), no matter what the cause turns out to be. Climate disaster, leukemia, car wreck, it all nets the same thing— pain and suffering for your child. I guess I just take the stance of the Man and the Boy in the Road: we're the ones that carry the fire, and we have to keep carrying it to keep hope and other good things alive.
I'm not saying everyone needs to have kids though! It's rewarding, but this shit is hard as fuck. It's not for everyone. Hell, it wasn't for me until I aged about three decades and did serious work on myself. Adoption is also an option, though harder to do than most people think unfortunately :/
I get it. People tend to get turned off when I explain the ecological messaging behind Cattle Decapitation’s lyrics
"it's a baby shower, tom."
I guess this is why the Republicans crippled the NOAA. Can't have reefs of color, no sir. Probably try to deport them, even.
When I was a kid I was lucky enough to go on a Boy Scout sailing trip around the Florida Keys and snorkel around the reefs there.
I still distinctly remember the captain telling me to enjoy them while they're around because they'll probably be wiped out by 2030. Seems like that might have been optimistic.
And then there's an invasive starfish that eats reefs
this post was submitted on 28 Apr 2025
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