AIBU to feel sorry for the children of today?

They could work in industry, politics, the third sector….. we need well informed, critical thinking and compassionate young people in the world

you seem to be very sure of your “facts” about my children and how they compare to other humans. do you have children @ThePeppyOpalScroller ? You don’t sound like you like them very much.

are you sure Mumsnet is the right place for you? Do you get a nice wee kick out of goading people on a parenting forum, who already have children? ☺️

They wont. Tech advancements are made by industry, not consumers. There's a 0.0000000000000000001% chance that one of your kids grows up to be the next Elon Musk, but the reality is they will be a regular consumer like the rest of us.

What rubbish! Our children could drive major technological advancements that could undo the damage our generation did.

No. There is nothing your children can do that will mitigate the damage their existence will do to the planet. Doesnt matter how."green" their lifestyle. They will be consumers. Food. Housing. Transport. Clothing. Internet. Technology. You name it, they will use it.

Ah right, that all makes perfect sense now ☺️

Well, at least I offered.

Beef (and arable) farmer - I’ll pass thanks as I’ve better things to do with my time, you know, like growing crops and rearing cattle.

Here we go ….

What sort of things are you referring to? Genuinely interested and not being snidy. My family already live as environmentally lightly and ethically as we can but I am always open to other things we can try.

I’ve not eaten meat or fish for 30 years and am extremely well researched and not at all “disgruntled” about it ☺️ Thank you so much.

insulting me is a classic and fairly obvious ad hominem attack move.

would you like a full list of research references supporting my statements? Facts are easy to research online yourself but if it’s too difficult I can pm a plentiful list of evidence based, independent research.

There is still an opportunity to minimise the future risk if people are prepared to act. Now.

and yes , individual actions do count

that’s why things are not worse already - some of us have actually made a measurable difference since the 1980s. Things could have been worse today , we have bought some time !

But OP is right, unless more people get on board then the situation for our children is unpleasant

Im sure I did ….

Back to the mushrooms - fair point but just because they don’t produce methane doesn’t make them totally agriculturally sound. Do your research and come back to me when you sound more like someone who knows what they are talking about rather than a disgruntled vegan/veggie person.

I was asking why the op felt it was necessary or useful post this thread (to attack / make people feel bad) on a forum designed for people who already have children.

And your response is - it is necessary / reasoned because….there are already (according to you) posts on this parenting forum from parents who seem to feel bad for having children?

So a sort of “kick them while they are down thing”? Or some other reason ?

And “damage”. What exactly do you mean by “damage”? The births of the children of the parents on this parenting forum?

What “virtue signalling” are you referring to exactly? I’ve not seen any on this thread

all very wooly

I mean there's plenty of parents making threads about how guilty they feel for having children, no point virtue signalling how bad you feel after the damage is done either.

You haven’t successfully refuted a single point I’ve made.

”you could say that all food is unnecessary” - erm, no. You couldn’t say this.

Mushrooms - oh yes, I had forgotten they were sentient methane-producing beings.

yet hotter countries still survive ?

Im not sure your own research is on point really with the reasons you’ve given.

It’s a probable carcinogen- many many foods are, not just meat and if you’ve ever drank alcohol or eaten a slight burnt edge of pizza, toast etc etc you’ll have had carcinogenic food.

Cruel… depends how you define this.. also depends which type of farm produces your meat and in particularly which country.

Unnecessary - well you could say that about absolutely all foods really. I think growing mushrooms is unnecessary because I don’t eat them 🤷🏼‍♀️

Bad for the environment- being a vegan or vegetarian can also be bad for the environment unless you’re always purchasing local produce

Sorry, didn’t want to high jack the thread.

So just to attack / make people - who have already had children - feel bad / shamed / distressed, then?

Or is there some other helpful reason?

Presumably because they are the ones having children...

I think you need to do a little research!

its-

a carcinogen

not necessary

cruel

bad for the planet

but you keep munching on your beef ‘cos…. Well I can’t think of a reason but you must have a pretend one. :)

Anti parents, yes. Why post it on a parenting forum?

How do you know that my children will cause
more environmental damage than these two? I’m raising them to be extremely environmentally aware and critical thinkers.

You’ve just made your “fact” up, haven’t you?

Do you have children?

I was just responding to the idea the OP was somehow anti-children which made no sense. Anti having children maybe, anti parents-probably! But how can anything OP said be described as "anti children"?

According to the last four podcasts I’ve listened to on Stephen Bartlett’s DOACEO covering AI, we are all heading for the apocalypse well before climate change gets us. There is literally zero good news to be had. The poor guy I listened to yesterday who had resigned from the company behind ChatGPT was pretty much a gibbering wreck for an hour talking about what was coming over the hill. He was so worried he’d tried to stick to only one child because of what he could foresee.

My instinct is to very much try and enjoy the present as there’s literally nothing good coming.

Not all LA allow it. And from 2030 you wont be able to by a petrol or diesel car.

What is your 2 mile down the road meat fed?

Eh?

We are making sure our old age care can be self funded. And finding £150k net to put two young adults through uni - one wants to go into nuclear fusion research which would considerably help balance the climate the other wants to hold politicians/world leaders accountable via maths/law /politics he will probably get shot in the processes but that’s a way off

so yeah totally selfish!

Obviously if you have no children you need to fund your own old age care unless you outlive your capable partner, but as it costs what £200k (net) to just raise a child nowadays with compound interest those childfree will be sitting flush in the 5-star luxury care homes of the future, staffed by (er…. ) children of today. Dilemma there surely?

Just try to put the OP’s mind at rest that there isn’t no need to worry so much about the future of our children. They are, and will be fine.

Perhaps a conga round our workplaces/homes is something we all need from time to time, you can learn a lot from the youth if you let them.