When I was a kid, there was a hole in the ozone layer and we were just going to be blown up by a nuclear war, or get AIDS.

It's always been the end times.

So no, I don't worry that much about kids. I do wish that embodiment was not a forced choice, you can't ask a baby if they would like to be born. I'm sure there are planets where the 'people' have a much harder time than we do here. Sure I am incredibly angry that we are squandering this glorious advantage we have so soon. But no I am not sorry for the kids of the future and also the past really sucked for most people, you can't compare a hard life of the near future to some idealized imaginary easy life of the past.

I think the next generation is going to start feeling it hard. Current generation will slip by but barely. I'm not pressuring my kids to have their own. Just do you fam.

Not really. Time flies fast, they are newborn today, but in 60 years, they'll be the elderly every yougster wished do be (if there's no war) and we, will be the misunderstood great grandfathers who lived an unknown time.

Whatever the world would become, they would live an interesting but very harsh time of population shrinking, due to demographic transition (except african children), and even if we fear about their early ipad brainrotting process, they'll figure out how to make their way in life, because it'll be chaos if they don't.

They'll be the beta generation who were born with the ol' AI generative tools, knew a bit about life without mass surveillance, lived the VR revolution, and worked to make nuclear fusion possible. (some guesses about future, let's be optimists)

Yes I do. I am an anti-natalist because I care about people.

Yup. Between climate collapse, wealth shift to the ultra wealthy, and the global surge in popularity of right wing extremist authoritarianism, I don't see things improving any time soon.

Things are rapidly degrading, and intentionally dropping a child into the dumpster fire we're turning our planet into is an act of cruelty and selfishness that few others measure up to.

Having a vasectomy was probably the best decision I've made - not for my sake, but the kid's and any even less fortunate grandkids and so on.

My own parents have finally fucked off a bit about when their grandchildren are coming, and lecturing me on how I'm cheating myself out of life's greatest joy or some shit... I think current events have finally become so glaringly bad that even they can't ignore it, but reminding them constantly about how unfair that would be for the kid was so fucking tiring.

Having a child in 2025 is just plain selfish.

I mean, I made a conscious decision not to have children, so...

As a parent in the US, yes. The future looks very dim among climate change, water overuse, corruption of civic institutions by the capital class, etc.

Even people born 20 years ago have it rough - they’re just now graduating college into a crummy job market and massively inflated housing market, with MAGA policies and AI destroying the economy for both blue and white collar folks as quickly as possible.

It seems cruel to create new life in this environment. Are you going to tell the kids that it’s their job to fix the world that the previous generations abused and degraded for short term gains, because it’s somehow our duty as sane humans to produce more sane humans to continue the fight? Many people today already live a worsening paycheck to paycheck existence, with too little free time to focus on systemic change. How will adding to that help?

Nearly every generation has felt pessimism at one time or another that the world is the worst it’s ever been. But it sure seems different this time.

The folk heroes of tomorrow will be people like Greta Thunberg and Mario’s brother, and that’s not a great existence to root for.

"I miss the good ol' days" is basically how a certain country's fascist got elected. There's nothing to miss about the past, what's to miss? Casual "gay humor" (homophobia), racial stereotyping, misogyny and toxic masculinity, ableism, refusal to ackowlege other's mental health stuggles, or conversely, locking people up for neurodivergence, the fact that "lobotomy" is a legal thing to do, fuck that world.

It’s the main reason I’m not having children. While there are other reasons the main one is a combination of global warming made worse by late stage capitalism and the resulting political instability that comes with that.

While I refuse to make the choice to bring someone new into this world myself I do see it as my duty to help as many of the kids around me who were brought into this world regardless. The world they were bron into is not their fault and I appreciate being able to use my resources to help them and their parents.

Hell id definitely have been better off being born 20 years earlier

You personally, maybe. But a lot of other people no. I'm thinking about disease we found and will find cures for, acceptation of differences (gender, neurodiversity etc...), advancement in prosthetic technologies and all the other things.

As history advances some people will be better of, some less and the tides always turn.

China, US, and Russia are all having growing economic issues right now. Executives and government officials are all sold on the idea that AI will replace labor and create a massive unemployment population. Resources like farmable land, water, and rare minerals will be fought over. There is a global power shift towards authoritarianism. All signs point to the fact that your kids will become cannon fodder.

No I feel jealous lol

Everyone here knows the solution; Eat the rich.

Yes. It's one of the checkmarks in the don't-have-kids column.

no im jealous because i miss screaming and shitting and puking constantly

No. I felt sorry for people born yesterday, but I think today's kids will be OK.

Not sure about tomorrow, though. :P

No I find that line of thinking cringe and a terminally online position

Not specifically today, just generally born. Some things are worse, some better.
It's just that it's impossible for anyone to consent to being born. And not many people can say that they're living happily.

People be fucking.

There were kids conceived and born during the Holocaust.

I am envious of people being born today. Barring advances in medicine that are uncertain to come in time, they're going to see a lot more of the future than I am.

Sure, there might be rough patches in the timeline ahead. There have been rough patches in the timeline behind us, too. I don't feel sad for people born right before World War I, for example.

No, I try to keep in mind that most situations are transient and I don't really know what people born today are going to be dealing with.

Climate change looks pretty bad for people going into the future, don't want to discount or downplay that. But other things, from the terrible political trends and hatred to wars to failed or booming economies will ebb and flow over lifetimes, and it's hard to say in many ways if the future holds better or worse for today's children.

I don’t. We all have to deal with the pain of existence.

I used to.

Kids have never been something I never saw myself having. I have nephews and nieces and I used to worry about them.

They’ve grown up a bit and the kids are actually doing alright. In my family they are all loved and they’re well behaved kids.

They’re getting proper diagnoses and treatment for their adhd that my brothers and I probably should have gotten as kids. Instead we all got countless detentions and suspensions in school.

School these days is kind of a mess, but my nieces and nephews all have parents who step in and help. The biggest thing for one who was getting bullied was switching schools, it was a total 180 in his life after leaving that environment.

The omnipresent tech and AI stuff is a mess too. I think having involved and caring parents helps a lot with that. It’s harder to fall into the traps when you have good examples in life. Hopefully that keeps up.

As for money/job prospects that was a huge concern when I was coming of age too. 2008 fucked everything up. This too shall pass the youth job market has always been tough for the last 25 years. They’ll figure it out with a bit of help. They’re not doomed here. As long as there are people there will be needs to fill.

I do worry about the climate. I don’t know how to help with that. I try to do good but it’s beyond my control to stop. All we can do is try to mitigate and adapt.

Partly yes.
If I could choose, I would take 10 years earlier than I was actually born.
At least I could have experienced the early internet for longer.